Zoning Board to Deny Stop & Shop Gas Station

Members of the Planning and Zoning Commission have adopted a resolution of denial for the installation of a gas station at 65 Danbury Road. They have also requested a denial for the special permit application pertaining to the proposal, which will likely be adopted next week. Official voting on the entire resolution will be done at a later date.

Reasons for denying the construction of the gas station according to the resolution are as follows:

Traffic Safety:

P&Z sided with the Ridgefield Police Commission, to dissuade approval for project.  P&Z cited the issue of there being 27 accidents in the last three years within the area across the street from the proposal, at the South Street and Danbury Road intersection, They also cited that “the location of the proposed curb cut for the high-volume use, as it conflicts with traffic exiting from South Street and the driveway immediately to the south (servicing businesses 54-58 Danbury Road” were also safety factors which they weighed.

P&Z also took issue with the site’s topography, stating that since the gas station would be on a slope and a curve “where there is significant grade” which would make for “dangerous conditions during icy weather for tanker trucks” and vehicles going in and out of the proposed gas station.

Limited Sight Distance

While P&Z noted that Stop & Shop had “made every attempt to provide adequate sight distance” for vehicles exiting the station, they also stated that “there is still a deficit of 50 feet in the optimum sight distance to the north, and a curve in the road in a high-traffic area at this location where vehicles are traveling at speeds that average above the posted limit.” While the Police Commission said in their letter that with the nearby brush clearing Stop & Shop said they would do “accomplishes the required sight standards” of the Department of Transportation (DOT), P&Z felt that there was still too little visibility to be safe.

Closeness to nearby residences

P&Z stated that the “nature of the business and the intensity of the use is inappropriate” and would presumably disrupt the most immediate neighbors at the adjacent street of Island Hill Road.

Backed up traffic

The resolution of denial sites their traffic engineering consultant who advised that drivers entering and exiting the gas station would  be predicted to “experience very long peak-hour delays and queuing” and that more “delays and queuing for motorists exiting South Street are expected to at least double” should the gas station be erected. P&Z also cited the Police Commission’s statement that left turns into the gas station would “ ‘no doubt cause a several car back-up on the northbound lane’” of 35 which would also affect cars exiting South Street and cars attempting to turn left from the Parma Deli/Dunkin’ Donuts shopping plaza. Some P&Z member also feared that this queuing would lead to more accidents as they stated in

The Police Commission’s letter of disapproval similarly said that the gas station would “cause a several car back-up” on Danbury Road and, in turn, on South Street.

The resolution of denial is expected to become effective this coming September 21.