Stamford Zoning Board Meeting – May 23, 2023: Hotel Continuation, Cannabis Dispensary Hearing, and Other Items
STREAMING COPY IN PREPARATION — RECORDING AVAILABLE FROM THE ORIGINAL SOURCE
Stamford Zoning Board Meeting – May 23, 2023
The Stamford Zoning Board met on May 23, 2023, at 6:39 PM via Zoom, chaired by David Stein. The board heard two major applications: a continuation for a proposed 11-story hotel at 160 Atlantic Street (Application 221-24) and a public hearing for a hybrid cannabis dispensary at 111 High Ridge Road (Application 223-15). The meeting also briefly opened two other applications (223-13 and 223-14) related to a hotel expansion and a prayer room addition, which were continued to June 5, 2023.
Consent Calendar
- No consent calendar items were identified.
Public Comments & Testimony
Hundreds of residents and stakeholders spoke during the lengthy public hearing on the cannabis dispensary (Application 223-15). Opinions were sharply divided:
- Supporters (including residents, business owners, and a union representative) argued that the dispensary would provide safe, regulated access for medical and adult-use consumers; reduce the black market; bring tax revenue; create local jobs; and be a neighborhood-friendly business similar to other retail. They noted the applicant is Stanford-based and stressed the facility's stringent security, parking availability, and low traffic impact.
- Opponents (including parents, educators, business owners from nearby child-focused facilities like Tutor Me SOS, Firefly Pediatrics, and the Spire School) raised concerns about proximity to schools, a tutoring center, a pediatric urgent care, and a coding school; traffic congestion in the already busy Bulls Head area; the potential normalization of cannabis use among youth; and the possibility of diversion to underage individuals. Several speakers also questioned the adequacy of parking and the traffic study’s methodology, noting that the lot often fills up during peak hours.
Many speakers on both sides emphasized that their position was about the specific location, not cannabis legalization in general.
Discussion Items
Application 221-24 – Hotel at 160 Atlantic Street (Continuation)
- The applicant requested a two-week continuation. The board agreed and set a new hearing date for June 26, 2023.
- Board members requested updated plans including: south facade elevation, turning movement plan, updated landscape plan, revised ground floor showing new entrance, draft parking agreement, proof of HPAC compliance, updated traffic report, verification of ADA accessible route and EV charging requirements, and elevation view for the rear (east side). The applicant agreed to provide these.
Application 223-15 – Sweet Spot Hybrid Cannabis Dispensary at 111 High Ridge Road (Public Hearing)
- Attorney Lisa Feinberg presented on behalf of the applicant, along with Ben Herbst (co-founder) and Blake Costa (COO/Director of Security). They detailed the company’s security protocols, operations (including a video walkthrough), and compliance with zoning. The proposed 2,400 sq ft dispensary would occupy a former retail space and operate from 10 AM to 7 PM (Monday–Saturday) and 10 AM to 5 PM (Sunday).
- Traffic engineer David Sullivan (SLR) presented a traffic study showing minimal impact: weekday PM peak of 46 trips, Saturday peak of 70 trips, with adequate parking (90 spaces controlled by landlord plus 30 city spaces, with a peak observed occupancy of 55 vehicles leaving at least 65 spaces available). He recommended additional signage to prevent wrong-way driving on Halpin Avenue.
- Board members raised concerns about parking (especially the inclusion of city-owned spaces), traffic from nearby developments (Whole Foods, Shake Shack), and the proximity to child-oriented businesses and a public school (AITE about 700 feet away). The board also discussed the lack of a buffer between dispensaries and schools (a text amendment was pending).
- The public hearing included extensive testimony from both supporters and opponents (see Public Comments above).
- At the conclusion, the board voted to close the public hearing but left the record open for the applicant to submit additional requested materials: a revised parking table excluding city spaces, a parking circulation plan, and a delivery operations diagram. The application will be continued to the next meeting on June 5, 2023, for further discussion and a decision.
Applications 223-13 (Text Change) and 223-14 (Armon Hotel Prayer Room)
- These two applications were briefly opened and immediately continued to June 5, 2023, due to time constraints. The planning board had recommended approval for both. No public testimony was taken.
Key Outcomes
- Application 221-24 (Hotel): Continued to June 26, 2023, with a list of additional materials requested from the applicant.
- Application 223-15 (Sweet Spot Cannabis Dispensary): Public hearing closed; record left open for applicant to provide additional documents (revised parking table, circulation plan, delivery plan). Decision deferred to June 5, 2023.
- Applications 223-13 and 223-14: Continued to June 5, 2023.
- The meeting adjourned at approximately 10:00 PM.
Meeting Transcript
Wait, wait, hold it. Hold it. I'll let you know when it's time. Thanks. Okay. Um, I'd like to welcome everyone and call tonight zoning board meeting to order. I'm David Stein, chair of the zoning board, and it is 6 39 on May 22nd, 2023. The members of the board and the staff are holding this meeting by Zoom video conference. The public is in attendance both on video conference and by teleconference. First, I'd like to do a roll call of the board and the staff. Bill Morris. Here. Roseanne McManus. Here. Jerry Bozak. Present. And Raquel Smith Anderson. Here. And now for our staff, Ralph Blessing. Present. And Benita Matter. Yeah. Okay. Good. We have everybody. The um during tonight's meeting, the microphones for the board will be on throughout. The applicants' mics will be on during the public hearing portion of the meeting when their application is being heard. I would ask the applicants, however, to please mute your mics when you're not speaking in order to reduce background noise. The first part of the meeting is the public hearing during which the public will have an opportunity to speak. Each member of the public will be muted until it is your turn to speak. Here is the procedure for the public to let us know you want to speak.gov slash zoning. Can I get the seat? Good. Thank you. And for those who don't speak Spanish, I understand that these were the instructions for how to log in to the Spanish option when you log in and to get the uh the Spanish translation. You'll have simultaneous translation. Um there is something in the QA that they cannot see the globe for Spanish. Where would they find that? Um that might actually be just the three dots if they're using a cell phone uh rather than being on the computer. So you still don't uh cellular in best uh computadora's no way el globo. I thres puntitos are bajo eligen esos thres puntitos uh usted eligen este prefiero escuchar esta um uh reunion and los thres puntitos el globo okay hopefully anyone who wants to uh log in to the Spanish simultaneous translation will be able to um and they can do this on their laptop desktop or phone, right? Should work for all the phone, not on the phone, only if they're on a computer or on Zoom through their um uh you know on the phone on Zoom, it's possible, but if they're calling in using the collin numbers, that's when it's not possible. Yeah, okay. Thank you. Um if you would like to just go ahead as far as the interpreters, go ahead and send us over to the Spanish channel. Sure. And we'll just go ahead and start translating. Sure, I'll do that. Um so now it shows here language interpretation is available, and you can click the cloak now to get you know get to the other channel if you need Spanish language. Oh okay.
openpublica.com