Wegmans Store Plans Approved By Norwalk Planning & Zoning Commission

NORWALK, CT — Plans for Connecticut's first Wegmans store in Norwalk received unanimous approval from the city's Planning and Zoning Commission during a recent meeting.

A planned Wegmans supermarket at 47 Richards Avenue was first announced back in March. The property is currently occupied by an office complex owned by MBI, Inc., which plans to move its operations to a new office space in town.

Steve Leaty, a Wegmans project manager, said the company's owners have wanted to open a Connecticut location for a while.

"We have looked all over [Connecticut] in the past 25 years...we'd never been able to find anywhere we could really fit, physically, that made sense," Leaty said. "Norwalk fits all of our criteria: population and income demographics, a higher percentage of food enthusiasts that would appreciate what we have to offer, a site that has great transportation, access and visibility and a site that we can physically fit on."

William Hennessey Jr., an attorney for Wegmans, told the commission in an Aug. 24 presentation the company plans to demolish the 110,000-square-foot MBI office building to make way for the 91,000-square-foot store and a two-level parking structure.

He also noted the company has addressed a request made during a previous hearing in July to install solar panels on a portion of the store's roof, as well as the parking garage.

Wegmans will join a roster of stores offering grocery items in the Connecticut Avenue area, including Costco, Walmart and one of the city's two Stop & Shop stores.

See also: Wegmans Supermarket Chain To Open First CT Store In Norwalk

During a public hearing held before the vote, some residents voiced their support for the current plans to bring Wegmans to Norwalk.

Mike Wilbur, MBI's chief financial officer, submitted a written comment read aloud during the meeting praising the "obvious and significant benefit" the development would provide to the city and its residents.

He also noted the company has already signed a lease at the Merritt 7 complex in town, which is contingent on the sale of MBI's current building going through.

"Given the significant time and money that we have spent on this project to date, we are very hopeful that the Wegmans project receives approval from the commission," Wilbur said in a written statement. "Any delay would be harmful to our objectives and a rejection would be devastating."

Some residents who live in the nearby area voiced concerns over traffic that will likely be generated by the new store, which could entice customers from all over Norwalk and surrounding areas such as Westport, Darien and Stamford.

"If you enable Wegmans to locate one of its store at the Connecticut [Avenue] and Richards Avenue intersection," Paul Cantor, a Fillow Street resident, said during the meeting, "it's going to create a traffic nightmare for the surrounding residential neighborhoods and for students on their way to the many neighborhood schools."

According to The Norwalk Hour, the company plans to alleviate traffic concerns by demolishing a pair of retail buildings at 677 and 651 Connecticut Avenue and creating a new roadway to enter the store. The company also plans to upgrade traffic lights at a few intersections along Connecticut Avenue to increase the efficiency of the roadway.

Hennessey noted the property, in its current state, already contributes to traffic on the road associated with office use.

"That traffic is already in the network on the streets, if you will, albeit at a slightly different peak hour time," Hennessey said. "It's there, and it will be removed and it will be replaced with the traffic from the Wegmans."

Hennessey said the company was confident the "traffic fears" for the area would not materialize.

He also laid out a number of benefits the new development will bring to the city, including 180 new full-time job opportunities and over 250 new part-time job opportunities.

"There's some great prestige over being able to be the home of Connecticut's first Wegmans," Hennessey said. "I know, just walking around town and talking to people, people are excited about it."