Four Seasons Limousine has been serving the Sherman CT area since 1989 with professional and reliable service. 203-746-8300

Airports,Cities or to the next town .let Four Seasons Limousine and their experienced staff take you there. our prices are the best along with outstanding service.

Colin with Four Seasons Limousine in Sherman CT

After four months, hearing closed on new soup kitchen

The Zoning Commission now faces the choice of approving or denying Loaves & Fishes Hospitality House's application to construct a building at 25 Bridge St.

The commission, after conducting often contentious hearings over four months, closed the hearing process this week.

Attorney Neil Marcus, representing Loaves & Fishes, responded Tuesday to zoning and town engineering concerns about the proposed site, including parking.

"Dorothy Day House operates in Danbury with no parking available, which doesn't seem to be a problem," Marcus pointed out in response to the commission's argument that the seven parking places proposed for the site were not enough.

Marcus noted that no other municipality in Connecticut requires the same number of parking spaces for a soup kitchen as for a restaurant of the same size, which was 21 spaces.

Marcus further noted that no town ordinance exists that would deny use of the Patriots Way parking lot to patrons and volunteers of the soup kitchen. Zoning members have said at several meetings that the parking lot could not be considered -- despite the fact that, previously, owners of the "30 Bridge Street" office building were granted that right.

The design was altered by public engineer Mike Mazzucco and architect Charlie Reppenhagen in hopes of satisfying the dissatisfaction of Town Engineer Jim Rotondo and the commission with the proposed building size, driveway width and truck turn-around space.

They reduced the footprint to 1,908-square feet, making the two-story building a total of 5,723 square feet. This created more space for garbage trucks to turn around; the shared driveway would be widened to 24 feet, a requirement for a business property.

Only three of the four apartments in the front of the property would be rented, freeing up two parking spaces.

The tenor of the four months of public hearings has been adversarial, despite Zoning ChairmanBill Taylor's assurances of impartiality.

"We pride ourselves on treating everyone the same," Taylor said. "If you meet the requirements, your application is approved. If you don't, it's not."

Loaves & Fishes plans to have a drop-in center -- space for consulting professionals like veterans services and Catholic Charities, and laundry and shower facilities -- as well as the soup kitchen.

These plans have caused commission members to question the actual definition of the proposed usage.

"We're going to provide a bathroom for people to use. We're going to provide a space where people won't have to stand outside while waiting to eat," Marcus said. "Don't criticize us for these things."

Taylor said no decision will be reached on the application at the May 13 meeting. The commission has 65 days to render a decision.

"This is an application that will require a good deal of discussion," Taylor said.