Stop & Shop’s Future on West Main in Limbo

By Tobin A. Coleman, The Stamford Advocate, Conn.

Jun. 26–STAMFORD — Work on Stop & Shop’s store on West Main Street is nearing completion, but a zoning appeal lodged against the project could force the company to close or remove the building.

The 82,880-square-foot store being built by Quincy, Mass.-based Stop & Shop Cos. and Alvord Investment LLC, a unit of Fairfield-based developer Cerruzzi Holdings, is slated to open before summer’s end. Alvord Investment owns the 6.9-acre retail condominium on the 35-acre Cytec Industries property where the supermarket is being built.

In September, a judge ruled against an appeal by a group of neighbors who opposed the project. State Superior Court Judge Theodore Tyma said the Zoning Board of Appeals acted “illegally, arbitrarily and in abuse of discretion” when the board rejected Stop & Shop’s plans in 2004.

The board had ruled that the site needed subdivision approval from the Planning Board, though the zoning enforcement officer decided the company could build as-of-right under existing zoning.

The neighbors hoped a subdivision approval process would grant them input on the site plan, which could affect planting schemes, screening, light abatement, hours of operation and late night deliveries. They want a proposed driveway off Alvord Lane moved, concerned that heavy traffic would clog the residential street.

“How can you tolerate trucks rushing back and forth, 24 hours a day, by your window?” Alvord Lane resident Nina Bruckner said at the time of the ruling.

Tyma ruled that though Cytec, a chemical company, and Stop & Shop are in different businesses, they represent a “common interest community” and therefore the subdivision was not necessary. In a common interest community, owners may share property, though they might not have common uses. Subdivisions are typically required when uses are so different the properties might fall under substantially different uses, requiring the application of different master plans or zoning regulations.

The neighbors appealed that ruling, and briefs have been submitted to state Appellate Court by the neighbors’ attorney, Daniel McCabe. Legal briefs by Stop & Shop are due in a few weeks.

“What they did by ‘condominium-izing’ was they bypassed planning and zoning regulations,” said McCabe, who is representing the neighbors on Alvord Lane. “We think that it’s a viable appeal. We think we’re in good shape, which means obviously the Stop & Shop people are building despite the appeal. If we prevail, they will have to cease operations and discontinue the use.”

Attorney Michael Cacace, representing Stop & Shop, said the company decided to move ahead with construction despite the appeal and the potential that a court could rule against the company.

“Based on the legal analysis, Stop & Shop made a business decision that they would proceed with the construction,” Cacace said. “The simple fact of the matter is supermarkets are permitted in this (zoning) district and the building is being built to the height and bulk requirements in the district and it’s a permitted use. The state traffic commission has reviewed all the plans and approved them. The Stamford people have reviewed all the plans and approved them. We have met with the neighbors and tried to come up with other traffic calming improvements and we believe that it will work fine.”

Cacace said oral arguments before the Appellate Court could come by early next year with a final decision possibly not being settled until September 2007.

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Stamford Advocate, Conn.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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