Long-Vacant Southington Bank Building OK'd For Restaurant Use

SOUTHINGTON, CT — Plans to turn a long-vacant bank building into a restaurant received a major vote of confidence from the town recently.

The Southington Planning and Zoning Commission last month voted 5-1-1 (one abstention) in favor of a site plan regarding the old Bank of America property at 22 Main St., Southington.

Southington-based A & K Woodworking LLC is slated to purchase the property from the Town of Southington, and it filed a site plan application to turn the bank building into a restaurant earlier this year.

That document was officially received by the PZC on Oct. 7, with the commission approving the application on Oct. 21.

According to the application on file with the PZC, the site plan is sought for a restaurant with alcohol service and indoor/outdoor rooftop dining.

The applicant has already received a special exception from the Southington Zoning Board of Appeals for the alcohol service component, as the site is located in the central business zone.

As for which restaurant will go there, those details have yet to be finalized and were contingent on the applicant officially acquiring the site from the Town of Southington.

Farmington-based attorney Gregory Piecuch, representing the applicant, said at the meeting that those details are still not set.

He said the owner of the property is not a restaurateur and is looking to hire someone to develop and operate the yet-to-be-named eatery.

Piecuch went over various technical details associated with the plans last month with the PZC, adding that the number of dining and bar seats is expected to be about 243.

Ultimately, the PZC — with chairman Robert Hammersley abstaining and member Caleb Cowles voting "no" — approved the permit with some conditions.

Those conditions are that Southington building department staffers must approve the project's lighting, staircase crash protection, grease-handling plans, and the garbage gate mustn't impede parking.

Cowles voted "no" because he said he felt the plans were "very conceptual" and more details were necessary, adding he "doesn't feel it is ready."

According to Cowles, the prime downtown location of this building makes the development key to that part of town.

With the site approved for a restaurant, the actual builders/operators of the restaurant would then have to come back to the PZC once those plans are finalized.

When or if a new restaurant is built there, it would end a long saga in Southington of having a vacant building downtown.

The Town of Southington purchased the bank site last year for $2 million as a way to increase parking in the business district.

Before the town's acquisition of the bank site, it had been vacant for three years.

At the time, town officials said Bank of America sold the site to Southington as a "goodwill" gesture, despite the town being outbid.

Under the plan, Southington would keep the parking lot portion of the property as a municipal lot, while the building would be converted into a restaurant.

For the minutes of the Oct. 21 Southington Planning and Zoning Commission meeting, click on this link.

For documents related to the 22 Main St. restaurant site, click on this link.

From Oct. 14: 'Town-Owned Bank Site May Become New Southington Restaurant'