A prominent Connecticut developer who proposed building a 114-room hotel, big-box retail store and 100,000-square-foot industrial building in a Southington woodlands lost his bid for a zone change on Tuesday. Domenic Carpionato’s Southington 2 LLC told the town that in conjunction with an already-approved 283,000-square-foot warehouse and other buildings, the project could bring $2.1 million a year in new tax revenue to the town while creating 360 jobs. But neighboring homeowners were skeptical about any upside for the town, and hammered away at two public hearings on their concerns of worsened traffic and noise coupled with new demands on Southington’s public works and police departments. Opponents also said it would be a mistake to lose dozens of acres of space intended for industrial development in favor of adding more retail. The Planning and Zoning Commission agreed, voting down the zone change after the last hearing late Tuesday night. Engineer Kevin Solli spoke on behalf of Southington 2 LLC, saying the developer would bring nearly $15 million of infrastructure improvements to the sprawling parcel that’s just west of I-84 near Exit 31.
Rejected: Large industrial, retail and hotel plan near I-84 in central CT
