Scinto Makes Inroads On Marsh Hill Rd. Development

An amendment to planning and zoning regulations has opened a big door for Shelton-based developer R.D. Scinto's hope to develop a parcel on Marsh Hill Road adjacent to Interstate 95. Scinto hopes to place an office park on the space, where Stew Leonard had once hoped to open an Orange location.

At Tuesday night's Planning and Zoning commission meeting, Scinto Chief Operating Officer Robert A. Scinto and attorney John Fallon told the board a change allowing banks, child care facilities and preschools would allow the developer to draw top clients to a planned office park. The commission agreed, voting to amend special uses in the light industrial zoning district where the land sits.

Fallon told the commission banks and day care facilities are necessary to attract certain high-profile tenants to the planned office park -- "big corporate tenants," he said, whose employees bring their children and dollars to Orange as they commute.

"This is A-1 prime commercial real estate. And I was a part of that dialogue when those comments were made ten years ago. It still is. But the world is a different place, and ain't what it was when you snapped your finger and [tenants] came running. The Scintos prosper because they worked harder than anybody i know to attract quality tenants. But it's not easy. Nowadays the tenants are looking for these types of amenities."

The amendment came with a qualifier specifying a minimum size of 40 acres and 175,000 square feet of habitual space, and limited the property to only one of each business -- one bank, one day care, one pre-school. Pre-existing non-commercial day cares in the district would not be affected.

The amendment comes amid concern over whether retailers could end up claiming the space after all. George Finley offered the commission a counter-argument on behalf of Save Our Neighborhood, who opposed Stew Leonard's plans for years. He said he worried the move could open the door to more retail services and negatively affect Orange's existing banks and day cares.

"We have to have something for Orange," said Finley. "We can't be giving everything up to developers … Many times i've told you the Marsh Hill corridor is a very valuable gateway to Orange, and you've done a good job with it. They pay good taxes without a drain on town services. We'd like to keep it that way."

Finley said increased traffic in the area could cause public safety hazards, especially if a child care facility or pre-school meant more kids in the area. And, he added, there are economic and image concerns for the town. 

"We now see that it's not going to be just industrial or corporate business," he told Patch. "It's going to be a combination that has certain amounts of commercial retail. And that lowers the value of the entire corridor … People see companies like Connecticut Gas, Abalon, Yale, UI -- that gives you a very important impression of the town. If you look across the street and you see a conglomerate of retail, that lowers the value in people's minds."

Commission chair Walter Clark gave his support before the unanimous vote.

"Right up the road we have a strong possibility of that railroad station being put in," he said. "All these things are interconnected. Mr. Scinto's going to help the railroad, the railroad's going to help Mr. Scinto … By having this as special use, we can say it's allowed so we can market it, but we can say you're not going to get it without these restrictions. I think it's a well-balanced approach. I remain opposed to commercial retail on Marsh Hill. I look at this not as an expansion of retail but as an amenity."

R.D. Scinto optioned the land from Stew Leonard about nine months ago, said Robert A. Scinto. Fallon told Patch he believes Scinto is still only working on option to buy and has not purchased the land, but could not comment on any other recent business developments.