#Middlebury #TylerCrossing
Middlebury’s former post office, long occupied by Adams Commemoratives, will become a two-story building when renovated by the new owner as shown in this rendering. The renovated building will be used for offices. (Photo courtesy ECD)
By MARJORIE NEEDHAM
Plans for the old post office building at 896 Middlebury Road (at the corner of Tyler Crossing) in Middlebury aren’t limited to the building itself; the new owner also asked Middlebury’s Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) to approve zoning regulation and zoning map changes for Middlebury Road from Tyler Crossing to Ledgewood Park. Also before P&Z is a request from restaurant owner Dean Yimoyines to build a covered outside bar on the patio at Vyne.
Middlebury’s former post office as it looked when occupied by Adams Commemoratives. The current entrance faces Middlebury Road.
On November 5, 2020, Attorney Michael McVerry spoke to the Planning and Zoning Commission on behalf of Russell Antonacci, the contracted buyer for 896 Middlebury Road, and asked for amendments to the town zoning regulations and the town zoning map. The zoning changes affect properties at 750 and adjacent properties, 778, 818, 840 and 896 Middlebury Road and 52 Tyler Crossing.
McVerry said Antonacci owns three businesses – a property management company, a property maintenance company and a real estate agency – and would like to relocate to Middlebury from Watertown. The subject property (896) is in an R-40 Zone. Because past businesses had a mailing component, they could continue the nonconformity like that of the original post office. Antonacci’s businesses have no mailing component.
He initially appeared before P&Z in March 2020 to explain what he wanted to do and provide some preliminary drawings. It was suggested he apply for a zone change with mixed usage in order for him to include his businesses in that area in addition to the current residential uses.
McVerry reviewed the Proposed Amendment to Zoning Regulations/Map for a Residential Transition District for P&Z. It requests rezoning of properties along Route 64 from Ledgewood Park to Tyler Crossing and includes the old post office, the convalescent home, three homes, wetlands and two interior properties. McVerry said the proposed zoning change would not alter the small town character of Middlebury, but would add more businesses to town.
The minutes show that Hiram Peck of Plan Three reviewed the proposed changes and said the transition zone being proposed “isn’t necessarily the only place that this could be applied – it could be applied elsewhere in town.” Peck said it was important to make the smallest changes possible to help the applicant while also protecting the affected residences.
At a Dec. 3, 2020, public hearing before P&Z, McVerry explained the zone change would be from residential to a transition zone from the commercially zoned Four Corners store area. This added a Section 35 – Residential Transition to the zoning regulations and map. Permitted uses in this district include professional offices and any use permitted in a residence district. P&Z Chairman Terry Smith mentioned adding artisan and antique shops to permitted uses. P&Z unanimously approved motions to amend the zoning regulations and to amend the zoning map on Dec. 3, 2020.
After discovering the building rendering exceeded the 10% ground coverage in the regulations, Antonacci returned to P&Z on April 8, 2021, and asked them to amend the ground coverage to 15%. Following a public hearing May 6, 2021, P&Z unanimously approved the amendment.
The proposed changes to the building, as seen in the photo with this article, were described as follows by McVerry in an architectural review at a June 14, 2021, special meeting of the Middlebury Economic Development Commission (EDC):
The loading dock would be removed in the back, a garage added, and an additional 3,600-square-foot second story added to the existing 3,600-square-feet. A planting buffer of arborvitaes will shield the back yard. The front curb cut would be kept and the back cut removed. The grade will not be changed, but trees will be removed. Antonacci said he would attempt to utilize the existing structure, if possible, and would use asphalt roof shingles.
He said the resulting building would resemble the old post office. The entrance to the building would be at the side by the parking lot, not at the corner where it is currently located. The EDC unanimously approved the proposed building design and the site plan.
The outdoor bar request came before P&Z at its May 6, 2021, meeting. Attorney McVerry, representing 1365 LLC and Dean Yimoyines, presented an application to amend outdoor dining regulations so they would allow a permanent roof above a portion of the patio. The application was scheduled for a public hearing June 3, 2021.
At that hearing, McVerry said the outside bar on the patio would require a roof or permanent covering on it. He presented a proposed zoning regulations amendment that would move outdoor dining from a special exception use to a site plan use. He said some sort of permanent roof would be placed over the patio.
Zoning Enforcement Officer Curtis Bosco said the legislature in recent months passed a bill extending outdoor dining permission put in place during the pandemic until spring 2022. They also gave a mandate to local zoning authorities to encourage outdoor dining in the state and to take the year to devise a set of rules that would be outdoor dining friendly, but still give the local authorities the final say.
A motion was made to continue the public hearing on the proposed changes at the July 1 P&Z meeting. The motion passed unanimously.
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