P&Z Commission Discusses Take-Out And Waterslides

Several items were discussed during Tuesday night’s monthly Planning and Zoning Commission meeting, including a return to the discussion of the expansion of the and the addition of a waterslide to the Hampton Inn pool on Bridgeport Ave.

The public hearing on the expansion of the Hunan Pan at 303 Bridgeport Ave. was closed last night after reviewing adapted plans that included the minimum required parking on the property, with a deferred parking installment should the demand be greater than the current proposal can accommodate.

Commissioner Thomas McGorty raised issue with the amount of parking spaces, saying the lot already overflows due to take-out orders during dinner hours on Friday nights. However, Richard Lewis, a resident near the Hunan Pan, said the overflow was due more to the snow accumulation this winter.

“Sometime after Labor Day, you have to have an evaluation,” said Planning and Zoning consultant Tony Panico.

Lewis thought the evaluation wouldn’t be needed however, because if the Hunan Pan’s lots were not enough and people took to parking along the street, “you’re going to be hearing from me first,” said Lewis, “I’ll come to the board.”

With the public hearing portion closed, the matter will be added to the agenda of a future meeting to be voted upon.

Another significant item on the agenda was a minor modification to a previous proposal concerning the Hampton Inn at 695 Bridgeport Ave.

The new plans reduce the expansion of the fitness center so as to keep it within the confines of the current building. The plans also include a waterslide addition to the hotel pool, which would have several loops of the waterslide’s tube located on the exterior of the building, but with both the entry and exit of the slide internal to the building.

The hotel and their attorney, Dominick Thomas, had hoped to place a line of trees around the exposed tubes to reduce their visibility, though the Commission was not keen on the idea, suggesting instead that they add a fence of at least eight feet to screen the tube on three sides, so as to discourage vandalism and children from climbing on the structure.

“At the end of the day, it’s their responsibility to keep people off of it,” said commissioner McGorty.

The commission accepted and approved of the proposal on the conditions that they install the desired fence.