Russian, Ukrainian And Slavic Nonprofit Cultural Club Proposed In Darien

DARIEN, CT — Plans to establish a Russian, Ukrainian and Slavic nonprofit cultural club and school in Darien have been submitted to the town’s Planning and Zoning Commission and are scheduled for further review May 5.

The commission on April 28 heard a presentation on the proposal from Amy Zebatakis, an attorney representing the applicant, Connecticut Cross Cultural Project Inc., which seeks a special permit to open the social club in the vacant building located at 2 Squab Lane next to the Darien Train Station. The two-story building is on a 0.331 acre parcel in the CBD Zone (Central Business District).

The meeting can be viewed on demand on DarienTV.

CCCP Inc. was formed "to promote Russian, Ukrainian, Slavic cultural heritage within the United States," Zebatakis explained.

The applicant proposes to lease the building and provide Russian language-based extracurricular classes and activities for elementary school-aged children, as well as evening Russian language classes for adults, chess lessons and tournaments for both adults and children, and cultural programs.

Darien Assistant Director of Planning Fred Doneit said nonprofit clubs or lodges are a use permitted by special permit in the CBD Zone. The school use would be an auxiliary use of the actual club or lodge that's being proposed.

"We're very excited about this," said Andrew Beer of CCCP Inc., noting the prime location. Beer said his wife is Russian and grew up in the Soviet Union. "Particularly in this time, the idea of having something in the community that brings people together in a very, very different way... We thought it was something we could bring to the community."

Children's classes would take place on weekdays from 3:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., most likely three days per week, according to Zebatakis. Some adult classes would take place from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m., as well as some evenings.

Weekend use would be less frequent, except for special events.

"There is a hope that the demand would be such that they might run some weekend classes as well," Zebatakis said.

Based on Russian language classes at the YWCA of Darien, classes would likely feature no more than six people, with up to three classes running at a time, Zebatakis added.

A restaurant and expansion to the building were proposed in 2019, but the plans ultimately fell through, Zebatakis said.

The current proposal does not anticipate any changes to the building's footprint, but aesthetic improvements spearheaded by landlord Dan Dolcetti would be planned for the roof, the staircase on the side of the building, as well as the staircase and walkway to and from the Darien Train Station parking lot.

As part of an earlier zoning approval covering the building as well as two buildings on the Boston Post Road, a shared parking plan was approved.

As part of the lease for the building, CCCP would have six total employee parking passes in nearby municipal lots, while six spaces on site and within the shared parking area would be available for visitors.

Dolcetti said there are around 47 spaces in the shared parking lots that service a restaurant, dress shop, bank and jewelry store.

"The hope is obviously that, if we're talking about parents, they will park, walk around town, while their kids are in classes, or if we're talking about the adults, same idea, maybe they'll take their class and go to lunch in Darien," Zebatakis said. "We're hoping this will bring, and we believe it will, based on where the people who are interested in these classes are being pulled from, it will bring new people into Darien into the Central Business District."

Zebatakis said her office with Rucci Law Group isn't far from 2 Squab Lane so she's frequently in the area. She said she hasn't had problems trying to find parking, and noted the proposed use is less intense than the previous restaurant plans.

"I think we just need to be careful that we might be getting close to maxing out the parking between all of those businesses," said Commission member Adam Balgach.

The proposal is listed under "deliberations and possible decisions" for the Planning & Zoning Commission's May 5 meeting, which is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Darien Town Hall.

The full agenda can be found here.