The owner of a commercial building on Vitti Street is seeking permission from the Planning & Zoning Commission to allow retail on the first floor.
A dry cleaners, State of the Art Cleaners & Tailors, used to occupy the first floor at 43 Vitti St. (The second floor of the 6,300-square-foot building is occupied by the .46-acre property’s ownership organization, Columbus Center of New Canaan Inc.)
“The current proposal is to convert the first floor dry cleaner space back to its retail and office use,” New Canaan attorney David Rucci of Lampert Toohey & Rucci LLC told P&Z in an application.
Under the New Canaan Zoning Regulations (see page 80 here), site plan approval from P&Z is required in the Business B zone for “specialty sales and services which would be in keeping with the service business nature and stated purpose of the zone.” P&Z is scheduled to take up the application at its regular meeting Tuesday night.
Rucci said in a site plan narrative that forms part of the application, “The applicant meets the standards set within that section . There is a significant amount of on site parking and the new use will be even less demanding on the current site parking. We are requesting the approval of the site plan in order to allow the owner to rent to a new tenant. The conversion in this case will not have any adverse effect on the site.”
It isn’t clear from the application what type of retail business would move into the building. A floor plan attached to the application refers to “84 Way of Life” and “84 Logo,” with a retail area and fitting room, an area designated “Hangout” with candy and balloons, and a large “Production” area in the rear of the building, with a meeting room and office.