A Business Bonanza for Trumbull

Two gyms, a restaurant and a Firestone are coming to town.

As Christmas approaches, the town is getting four new businesses with the blessing of the Planning and Zoning Commission.

The projects contain an 8,560 square-foot shopping center with 4,360 square feet of retail space and a 4,200 square-foot restaurant near the Home Depot on Monroe Turnpike, which opened last March. The Firestone will occupy 8,255 square feet.

The Fitness Edge will be 25,000 square feet at 41 Monroe Turnpike, near the Woodland Hills condominium complex.

Also, in a nearby commercial park, former U.S. Marine and Trumbull resident Kevin Quinlan won approval to establish Semper Fi Fitness LLC at 100 Corporate Drive.

The Plans

The Fitness Edge will be "state-of-the-art" and a long-term lease has been signed, said Attorney Ray Rizio, representing the developer. The Fitness Edge also offers child care for its customers.

Rizio said, "all of the uses really fit well and compliment each other."

The businesses' hours will be staggered, with the gym open morning and evening, the restaurant in the afternoon and the Firestone from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

"We think this is going to be a tremendous success, a true amenity to the town. It's a clean look. It's a sharp look. It's a sexy look," Rizio said.

The restaurant will have a 160-person capacity and will be upscale. "The restauranteurs know Trumbull is lacking restaurants," Rizio said.

The commission asked about having a Firestone next to a restaurant next to a Firestone. "They do not look like an automotive repair facility," Rizio said.

A traffic analyst did not report a significant increase in traffic because of the project.

Town Planner Bill Levin said "most of the concerns staff has had have been addressed."

"All my questions were answered and it looks pretty good to me," said Tony Chory, zoning chairman.

Commission member Tony Silber and Vice Chairwoman Arlyne Fox asked for more time to review the proposal but said they supported it. 

"We want it to be successful. We have an opportunity/responsibility to make it look like what Trumbull residents want it to look like."

Chory said the proposals "should look pretty nice."

Semper Fi

The other gym, run by Quinlan, will open soon because its location was to be the site of an earlier gym approved by the zoning commission.

"It's been a dream of mine," said the Trumbull resident. He compared its fitness regiment to college athletic training.

It will offer personal training and group classes of 10-12 people at most, he said.

It will not have locker rooms or showers in the facility but have a single bathroom.  Its hours will be 6-11 a.m. and 5-9 p.m.

The two new gyms add to L.A. Fitness, opening in the former Circuit City at the Westfield Trumbull Mall, and Planet Fitness, on Linden Avenue off Reservoir Avenue.

Two medical buildings by Robert Scinto are also being built, as well as one on Church Hill Road by another Trumbull doctor.