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.
And yet, planning and zoning approved a new little mini mall right there... Someone please explain.
---> 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” <--- uhmmmm, don't the gasoline tanker trucks already go up that slope to make fuel deliveries to the Pamby and Mobil gas stations? Why is it okay to send tanker trucks up the hill for those other gas stations, but not the stop and shop gas station?
Im a redneck? Explain?
Lucy McGrath 11:14 pm on Thursday, September 13, 2012 tom, are you a Ms Cruz moving to Maine and going to together? Then this stalker (ex sebastian) remembered that he needs to be tolerant of gays, so he decided that if he accuses people of being gay, he is the redneck and needed to change. Not surprised---the guy pretends everything.....
5:51 am on Friday, September 14, 2012 Lucy McGrath 11:16 pm on Thursday, September 13, 2012 tom, when are you and Ms Cruz moving to Maine to set up your happy redneck home there? Basically i was born in redneck country. I am a native. By the way you should not use words you dont know the meaning of. It makes you look SILLY and !!! You see Ridgefield was RED NECK COUNTRY BEFORE THE INVADERS. That is why it was so nice, Now it is YUPPIE LAND AND INTRENCHED WITH LIBERALS. That is why the place STINKS NOW!!!
The United Mine Workers of America (UMW) and rival miners' unions appropriated both the term redneck and its literal manifestation, the red bandana, in order to build multiracial unions of white, black, and immigrant miners in the strike-ridden coalfields of northern and central Appalachia between 1912 and 1936. The origin of redneck to mean "a union man" or "a striker" remains uncertain, but according to linguist David W. Maurer, the former definition of the word probably dates at least to the 1910s, if not earlier. The use of redneck to designate "a union member" was especially popular during the 1920s and 1930s in the coal-producing regions of southern West Virginia, eastern Kentucky, and western Pennsylvania, where the word came to be specifically applied to a miner who belonged to a union.
6:01 am on Friday, September 14, 2012 So Lucy as a liberal you should be proud that the term was for basically MINERS wanting better working conditions. You know liberal dems always support the the unions. THAT IS JUST PLAIN FACTS. So i would sggest not using the word if you dont know part of its meaning. It has changed to a degree by liberals that call conservatives this. Basically it is like the word ASSAULT WEAPON. Words that mean nothing that the libs make up or miss use. You should be proud that you use terms that you dont even know what they mean. And if your definition of me is what you think!!! You are 100% right. I like not to be SCAMMED. So what is it the price of gas under this administration or the lack of the quality of life in this town??? Very sad very sad
Not sure what you mean by Ms Cruz. I have been checking and if the same person MR Cruz ia a VET and served in country app the same years as me. Now this is not 100% fact as i dont know this persons real name. But from what i can find he was in the ARMY. So with you massive wisdom and worldly knowledge on RED NECKS do you care to answer. I am all ears. But coming from someone that is heart broken over a gas station i will think this will never be answered. WHEEEEEEEEE!!!!
Saving $0.10 under the current arrangement would be good, except the base price at Shell is too high, so all it does is bring the price back to normal. I don't find this to be a workable solution to obtain inexpensive.gas. But if Stop and Shop had their own station, then we'd get real savings.
But if Stop and Shop had their own station, then we'd get real savings. (is there only 1 shell station? Nope...so while I agree that the shell station that sits opposite stop and shop is way too high, other shell stations offer same rebate and are more market priced.) I dont buy 300 dollars worth of groceries, and I have no idea if the majority of folks do in order to qualify for the 30 cent discount--but --the same deal applies currently---the trick is just to find the shell station that isnt as high as the one right there. Still, "listening" your determination that declarative statements are useless---is shared by me. However--the article above gives the reasoning that P and Z had when making the decision....therefore, the explanations are in fact listed.
I find your declarative statement to be immaterial to the thread. I find your declarative statement dismissive & personal in nature. There is no requirement that I engage, debate or convince anyone of anything. The Patch presents / suggests one offer a comment on any article. I've done that. I offered my comment; you can take it or leave it.
If you had a donut shop that made great donuts... and people came from miles around to buy your donuts... so much so that your parking lot was constantly full, making it hard to park... would you: A) Purposely make the donuts taste bad so people would stop shopping there, freeing up spaces in the parking lot. B) Expand the parking lot. If Danbury Road is such a draw with its many stores, so much so that the road is sometimes clogged with cars, should we: A) Stop good stores from opening there, so that people lose interest and stop shopping in Ridgefield. B) Expand the road. By expand the road, I mean you could add more lanes to both Ligi's Way and Danbury Road, or make better use out of Ligi's Way by promoting it, or you could add traffic lights to improve safety, or add traffic speeding cameras to make it safer. Just anything so you don't discourage new business and new customers from coming to Ridgefield. Wouldn't this make more sense than stopping a new store that would add great value to the local shopping experience?
but why are you asking questions A and B? Are you thinking that you actually would make your donuts worse, if your parking lot was full? How about option C--Do nothing. people obviously are coming despite the parking lot being full and if I expand the parking lot, and lines for donuts get bigger, it may result in disgruntled people and my whole donut biz falls apart. The option A-is not ever going to be an option, but you make it, in order to result in the only option available to be expansion....sorry but not realistic. P and Z's mandate is to balance commercial interests with other interests. The answer to your question , requires you to include your expected costs and benefits. I have no idea what it costs to expand a road--but I doubt it will offset the 4 bucks a week 40 consumers will save after shopping for tons of groceries.
How about this Make the place a park. Other wise the owner is going to build more SLUMS TO SATISFY THE LIBS LUST FOR SOCIAL ENGINEERING!!!
ps: when you leaving for your non-lib society, where men are men, and sheep are nervous?
10:34 pm on Wednesday, September 19, 2012 Yo Tommie, since when are tea-baggers in favor of more government control over our lives? ps: when you leaving for your non-lib society, where men are men, and sheep are nervous? Not sure when i will be doing this But not like you i post my real name and where i actually live As for you !!! YOU TALK THE TALK CAN YOU WALK THE WALK ???