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Record of Proceedings

Middletown Zoning Board of Appeals Special Meeting - April 7, 2026

Common Council & Commissions — Tuesday, April 7, 2026
BodyMiddletown, Connecticut
SessionCommon Council & Commissions
DateTuesday, April 7, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
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Transcript — Verbatim
0:18

This meeting is being transcribed and summarized.

0:30

Do I wait till I said no?

0:34

I'd like to call the meeting to order.

0:38

The time is five o'clock on Tuesday, April 7th, 2026.

0:44

This is a special meeting.

0:47

I would like to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance, please.

0:52

I pledge allegiance to the flag.

1:01

Under God, indivisible liberty and justice for all.

1:08

Okay, I'd like to do a roll call.

1:11

Richard Pelletier.

1:17

Rich.

1:19

I'm here, sorry.

1:20

Okay.

1:21

Andrew Santaniello.

1:23

Present.

1:25

Nicholas Ficaro.

1:27

Here.

1:28

And Tom Hazel representing the city of Middletown.

1:32

Don't remember yourself.

1:34

And Callie Grippo.

1:36

Here.

1:37

Okay.

1:38

We are now entering the public comment.

1:41

Is there anyone that would like to make a like to speak on anything that is not on the agenda this evening?

1:49

Okay.

1:50

I'd like to call for an approval of minutes of the February 5th special meeting.

1:58

Do I have a motion to approve?

2:01

Motion to approve.

2:02

And a second.

2:03

A second.

2:04

And all in favor.

2:06

Aye.

2:07

Okay.

2:08

Old business.

2:10

There is none.

2:12

New business.

2:14

There is none.

2:16

So we will be going directly into the special hearing.

2:20

The special hearing is a request for a variance of section 5.6.13.

2:26

This is a drive-thru businesses regarding minimum lot area and a variance of section 4.18.4.6.

2:35

Directory signs regarding the number of permitted signs of the Middletown Zoning Code located at 733 Washington Street and 35 Boston Road in the MXC zone.

2:48

The applicant and agent is Attorney Richard D.

2:52

Corella Esquire from Updike Kelly and Spelly C PC.

2:57

V two oh two six-1.

3:00

Is there anyone here to present the application?

3:19

All right, good evening again.

3:20

Uh Attorney Rich Carella, Updike Calian Spellassy for the applicant.

3:25

And uh joining me is James Vagel from Stonefield Engineering.

3:29

He's a project design engineers uh and architects.

3:32

Uh first of all, thank you for rescheduling your meeting and coming here tonight.

3:36

Greatly appreciate you guys taking the time out of your schedules to get us onto this agenda so that we can go forward tomorrow night with our planning and zoning meeting.

3:44

So again, thank you.

3:46

Um as was announced, this is uh application for two variances of the minimum lot size in the MXC zone and also for some of the sign requirements.

3:57

Just as a matter of housekeeping, maybe Mr.

3:59

Hazel can confirm we got the public hearing signs posted, and the notice to a butters was circulated correctly, correct?

4:06

That is correct.

4:06

Thank you very much.

4:08

So I'm gonna turn it over to James to go quickly through the site plan just so you understand what we're talking about here.

4:15

Um this is a drive-thru only business, it's kind of unique to Middletown.

4:18

Uh there's no inside seating, so it's just a drive-in, drive-out coffee shop.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Zoning Regulations███████████████████████████████████████████43%
Procedural███████████████████████████27%
Environmental Protection█████████████13%
Engineering And Infrastructure███████████11%
Public Health Awareness██████6%
Summary of Proceedings

Middletown Zoning Board of Appeals Special Meeting - April 7, 2026

This special meeting of the Middletown Zoning Board of Appeals was held on April 7, 2026 at 5:00 PM in the Council Chambers of City Hall. The board considered a single application for a variance to allow a drive-through coffee shop (Seven Brew) on a substandard lot and to permit additional signage. After a public hearing and deliberation, the board voted unanimously to approve both variances. Note: The agenda listed the meeting as Thursday, April 7, 2026, but April 7, 2026 is a Tuesday; the transcript records the meeting as Tuesday.

Consent Calendar

  • Minutes of the February 5, 2026 special meeting were approved by a motion and unanimous vote.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • Peter Frank Smith (212 Sisque Street, Middletown) raised concerns about tree removal, compliance with the Dark Skies ordinance for illuminated signs, air pollution from idling cars, traffic impacts, and the proximity of two existing coffee retailers. The board clarified that these issues pertain to the Planning and Zoning meeting scheduled for the next evening (April 8, 2026) and are not within the scope of the variance request. The applicant noted that 13 trees would be removed but 31 would be planted.

Discussion Items

  • Variance Request V2026-1 – Applicant Attorney Richard D. Carella and engineer James Vagel (Stonefield Engineering) presented a proposal for a two-lane drive-through coffee shop at 733 Washington Street and 35 Boston Road in the MXC zone. The site is a combined parcel of two lots, resulting in approximately half an acre, created by the state's widening of Route 66 in 2010. The requested variances were:
    • Section 5.6.13 (Drive-Through Businesses) – Minimum lot area of 1 acre; the combined site is less than 1 acre.
    • Section 4.18.4.6 (Directory Signs) – Number of permitted signs; the applicant proposed 60 square feet of signage, exceeding the allowance by about 10 square feet. The applicant reduced directional signs to 3 square feet each (exempted by code) and added a pylon sign. The building has only 50 linear feet of storefront, limiting the sign area calculation.
  • Board members discussed the hardship: the lot's irregular shape and size resulted from the state's taking, making it unsuitable for a sit-down restaurant. The building's small size (15 ft × 35 ft) also constrained sign placement. Member Andrew Santaniello noted that signs on Route 66 are often larger, and the proposed signage is appropriate for the road. Member Nicholas Ficaro expressed mild concern that the sign size was a self-imposed hardship from the franchise's branding standards, but he ultimately voted in favor after hearing that the building's configuration limited sign options.

Key Outcomes

  • Motion to approve the variance request (Section 5.6.13 and Section 4.18.4.6) was made and seconded. The board voted unanimously in favor (all members present: Callie Grippo, Andrew Santaniello, Richard Pelletier, Nicholas Ficaro, with Tom Hazel as staff). The motion passed.
  • The meeting was adjourned by unanimous vote following the decision.

Meeting Transcript

This meeting is being transcribed and summarized. Do I wait till I said no? I'd like to call the meeting to order. The time is five o'clock on Tuesday, April 7th, 2026. This is a special meeting. I would like to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance, please. I pledge allegiance to the flag. Under God, indivisible liberty and justice for all. Okay, I'd like to do a roll call. Richard Pelletier. Rich. I'm here, sorry. Okay. Andrew Santaniello. Present. Nicholas Ficaro. Here. And Tom Hazel representing the city of Middletown. Don't remember yourself. And Callie Grippo. Here. Okay. We are now entering the public comment. Is there anyone that would like to make a like to speak on anything that is not on the agenda this evening? Okay. I'd like to call for an approval of minutes of the February 5th special meeting. Do I have a motion to approve? Motion to approve. And a second. A second. And all in favor. Aye. Okay. Old business. There is none. New business. There is none. So we will be going directly into the special hearing. The special hearing is a request for a variance of section 5.6.13. This is a drive-thru businesses regarding minimum lot area and a variance of section 4.18.4.6. Directory signs regarding the number of permitted signs of the Middletown Zoning Code located at 733 Washington Street and 35 Boston Road in the MXC zone. The applicant and agent is Attorney Richard D. Corella Esquire from Updike Kelly and Spelly C PC. V two oh two six-1. Is there anyone here to present the application? All right, good evening again. Uh Attorney Rich Carella, Updike Calian Spellassy for the applicant. And uh joining me is James Vagel from Stonefield Engineering. He's a project design engineers uh and architects. Uh first of all, thank you for rescheduling your meeting and coming here tonight.

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