SOUTHINGTON — Residents are speaking out against a business owner’s request to change the zoning of a Lazy Lane property from residential to industrial.
Kurt Holyst, co-owner of Central Connecticut Resource Recovery on Triano Drive, is asking the town to change the zoning of an abutting property at 322 Lazy Lane from R20/25 to I-2.
Holyst said he is in talks to purchase the property, but has no immediate plans for development. His interest in the zone change is to reduce the required buffer between the Lazy Lane parcel and his business on Triano Drive, he told the Record-Journal Tuesday.
The zone change request came before the Planning & Zoning Commission Tuesday evening. The commission told Holyst to take the time with neighbors to discuss his intentions and present them at the next meeting. The next meeting will occur on Sept. 19, at the municipal center.
The land, made up of 13 acres, connects to the entrance of Central Connecticut Resource Recovery and the HQ Dumpsters & Recycling Maintenance Facility on Triano Drive.
Holyst stressed to members of the Planning & Zoning Commission that he had no immediate plans for the parcel, but added that an industrial development would generate tax revenue for the town, versus residential development, which would increase demand for town services.
“The way I look at it is this: you have four choices,” Holyst said. “You can either have the land made into an I-2, housing, subsidize, or the town can buy my rights to the property.”
Holyst said he was approached to buy the property by the current owner.
Some commission members expressed confusion about Holyst’s plans, while agreeing that the remaining space available for industrial uses in town is limited.
Residents in attendance at the public hearing were not moved by Holyst’s argument about the benefits of industrial versus residential development of the 13 acres.
Melcon Drive resident Ellen Slipski expressed concern about an increase in noise and traffic.
“It is not fair that we have to deal with this traffic,” Slipski said.
Jack Perry, HQ Dumpsters co-owner and a town councilor, said in a phone call before the meeting that few I-2 zoning properties are left in Southington, while adding that his father, Holyst, was acting independently and that the Lazy Lane purchase and zone change application were not connected with HQ Dumpsters.
Planning & Zoning Commission members Tuesday suggested that Holyst speak with residents in the area and come back to the commission with an idea at the next meeting.
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