New Details About Newly Approved Madison Restaurant

By Jack Kramer, Correspondent

MADISON, CT – Despite the objections of neighbors who would be located near it, the Planning and Zoning Commission unanimously approved plans for a new 2-and-1/2 story building, which would include a restaurant and bar, at 82 Wall Street at its most recent meeting.

The applicant, MAS Property Holdings, is planning to demolish the existing structure at the site and construct the restaurant and bar, and also two dwelling units above.

The new building will be 6,000 square feet, with 3,000 square feet on the first floor and each of two two-bedroom apartments on the second floor being 1,500 square feet; the restaurant will seat 40 patrons, and the bar has seating for 15; there is a porch out front and two entries, according to architect Duo Dickinson.

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Concerns about the proposal expressed to the PZC included: traffic concerns in living so close to the restaurant; there is no need for another restaurant in town; negative affect on the quality of life; opposition to another bar on Wall Street; speeding traffic, traffic safety; well water concerns; and the undesirability of having a bar at this location.

Attorney Christopher McKeon, representing MAS Property Holdings, said he is not unsympathetic to people living near places they do not want to have near them.

However, the public hearing for this application is about the Downtown Village District and the aesthetics of this building, and that is its focus, according to McKeon.

The biggest concern is people who do not want a restaurant near them, and that restaurant issue has been resolved a long, long time ago; restaurants have been allowed for 50 years, McKeon stated.

In creating Madison’s Plan of Conservation and Development, there was a large amount of public input, and 65 percent of respondents felt the town should have more restaurants, according to McKeon.

In terms of the aesthetic issue for this public hearing, it has been addressed and maintained as being a part of the characteristic of the neighborhood’s aesthetics, according to McKeon.

A court has ruled that a designation as a permitted use ensures that it does not adversely affect the district, and this precludes considerations of property values, quality of life, or traffic congestion, according to McKeon. This use is permitted, he stated. What is being proposed is a use and a structure that more than complies with the regulations; it is not the applicant’s role to invent new regulations to comply with others’ wishes, McKeon stated.

PZC members, after hearing both concerns about the restaurant application, and McKeon’s responses to the concerns, voted unanimously in favor of the application.

The member said while they were sympathetic to the neighbors’ concerns there was nothing in the plans that were in violation of zoning standards, and they added, it has long been the town’s intent, and stated goal, to try and further develop the commercial aspect of Wall Street to rival the adjacent Main Street.