The Planning & Zoning Commission at its most recent meeting approved a change of use for a vacant commercial space on Forest Street, formerly occupied by pet store chain Pet Valu.
The 1,875-square-foot property at 21 Forest St. sits next to Green and Tonic, and has remained empty since Pet Valu shut down 358 of its stores across the nation, facing challenges brought on by the pandemic.
There has been little news about the building’s use until July, when Paul Tully, a representative of the building’s owner, brought a change of use request to P&Z for the building’s designation to be changed from retail to service establishment.
On an application, Tully states that he has a tenant who has signed a lease to open an optometrist practice at the location, selling “optical retail products, i.e. glasses, sunglasses, and related material with limited optometric services.”
Renovations for the building are still underway, but the fire marshal has already approved several features such as the building’s sprinkler system, Tully said during P&Z’s July 26 meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference.
It will be ADA-compliant, and include parking spaces in the rear, he said. The final floor plan has yet to be approved.
Once opened, this will be the fourth optometric business to open in New Canaan, with three others in business in the town’s primary retail zone.
During deliberations, commissioners said that the store would only need to be defined as a personal service establishment and not a medical office. Due to the optometrist only planning to offer testing for eyesight problems, not surgical procedures, this did not pose any issue, and commissioners referenced the other optometrist businesses’ existence in retail zones elsewhere in town as further precedent for this decision.
The change of use request was unanimously approved by P&Z.
Commissioner John Engel moved to approve the application “based on the fact that it’s in keeping with the neighborhood.”
“There’s already three examples in the retail zones throughout town,” he said, referring to an allowance by the Commission for service businesses to operate in street-level storefronts as long as a front portion is dedicated to retail.
P&Z Chair Dan Radman, Secretary Krista Neilson and Commissioners Arthur Casavant, John Engel, Chris Hering, John Kriz, Tom Benton, Paul Knag and Allen Swerdlowe voted in favor.