PZC Closes Public Hearing on Planned Dental Office

After a lengthy meeting that lasted nearly five hours the Stonington Planning and Zoning Commission closed a public hearing on plans for a roughly 9,000 square-foot dental clinic in Mystic.

If approved dentist Dennis Flanagan would manage the clinic planned for the intersection of Masons Island Road and Harry Austin Drive. According to the Westerly Sun, Flanagan also runs dental clinics in Groton and Willimantic.

The plans from Summit Street Development LLC call for a two-story building although only the first floor would be used as a dental office. The second story would be mainly for storage if needed.

Vocal opposition to the project began months ago with neighbors saying the building was too big to fit into the area, would cause safety hazards for bikers and walkers and increase traffic.

“Think about what our neighborhood will look like if this goes through,” Tiffany Stanton told the PZC.

About ten residents spoke at the hearing, which was continued from a November public hearing. Several residents spoke about the fact that the applicant did not present a 3-D scale model of the plan but rather a digital model. The residents said they didn’t believe the digital model was accurate.

Architect John Patrick Walsh took issue with that and stated that he resented the fact there were people who thought he was tying to optically deceive the commission.

“This is the ascetic we wished to achieve,” Walsh said.

And Summit Street Development LLC Attorney Theodore Harris added that he thought they had tried really desperately to fit into the neighborhood.

The neighbors present at the meeting didn’t seem convinced and resident Mary Blanchet said she was concerned that the property owner had not been maintaining the property.

The PZC has 65 days to make a decision on the plans and scheduled a special meeting for January 8 to deliberate. The location of the meeting has not yet been determined.

Sign up for our free newsletter and follow us on Facebook and Twitter.