Greenwich's Planning and Zoning Commission will consider several applications Tuesday, Sept. 1, led by Berkley Insurance Company's plan to tear down and rebuild its Steamboat Road office complex.
The virtual meeting begins at 4 p.m. via Zoom, according to the commission's final agenda.
Berkley Insurance: demolish and rebuild
Berkley Insurance wants to demolish its four-story, 95,550-square-foot office building at 475 Steamboat Road and reconstruct it on the same footprint. The 1969 structure, visible from I-95, predates current zoning limits on office-building size. That makes it legally nonconforming, meaning it exceeds current size limits but is allowed to remain.
The application also calls for a subsurface parking garage, new site lighting, a reconfigured parking lot and stormwater management systems on the 2.915-acre property.
The proposal follows the commission's denial of a different Berkley plan that would have added 38,300 square feet of new office space and demolished five nearby structures. The commission found that earlier plan would negatively affect nearby residential areas and exceed zoning regulations, Greenwich Time reported.
Attorney Thomas Heagney, representing Berkley, said in that earlier reporting that cost estimates showed demolition and reconstruction was more economical than renovation. "The proposed plan maintains the same square footage, stories and height of the existing building," Heagney said.
He said the new building would address neighbor complaints about rooftop ventilation noise and light from the property.
Six-unit housing at 43 Old Post Road
Commissioners will also open a public hearing on a six-unit residential development at 43 Old Post Road 2. One of the six units would be designated as affordable housing. The project would sit on a 17,024-square-foot parcel in the GB zone.
The application was previously postponed at the commission's June 23 meeting.
Fitness studio and zoning text change
Happy Hour Fitness LLC is seeking a zoning text amendment to allow certain uses by special permit in Local Business Retail (LBR) zones. A related application would convert 1,798 square feet of retail space at 100 East Putnam Ave. into a group fitness studio for up to 10 students and one instructor, with an ancillary retail component. No exterior site work is proposed.
YMCA childcare expansion
The YMCA of Greenwich is asking to raise the cap on children ages six months to five years in its childcare program at 50 East Putnam Ave. The current limit is 28 children. The YMCA wants to increase it to 42. The application has been under review since at least the commission's Aug. 4 meeting.
Other agenda items
Peter Boldt has applied to convert a 2,238-square-foot barn at 295 Taconic Road into an accessory dwelling unit (ADU). The conversion would exceed the 1,200-square-foot ADU limit, requiring a special permit.
The commission will also consider subdividing a 10.37-acre lot at 21 Aiken Road into two parcels, with about 1.56 acres set aside as open space.
Three pre-application discussions round out the agenda. Alpha School is proposing to convert a retail property at 20 East Elm St. into a school. Separately, one proposal at 520 Indian Field Road calls for a new single-family home with a tennis court, indoor padel court and pool. Another would create an oversized residence with indoor athletic uses across four parcels on Maple Avenue and Park Avenue.
Residents can submit comments to the commission or join the Zoom meeting Tuesday at 4 p.m. The Webinar ID is 889 0152 1350 and the password is 0518864. Callers can join at (646) 518-9805.
