New CVS OK’d For Dixwell Ave., Minus Left Turns

CVS got the OK to open a new store in a growing Dixwell Avenue commercial plaza — on the condition that it seek to prevent drivers from turning left across traffic.

The company obtained that approval, along with that proviso, at a meeting Tuesday night of Hamden’s Planning and Zoning Commission.

The CVS will replace a building at Dixwell and Putnam Avenues that currently houses Jimmy’s Clothing & Footwear, a T‑Mobil store, and Little Caesars Pizza at the southwest corner of the Putnam Place Shopping Center. DLC Management Corporation, which manages retail shopping centers across the U.S., owns the property located at 1245 Dixwell Ave.

According to Ryan Zelek of First Hartford Realty Corporation, plans for the new CVS have been in the works since the beginning of 2017. His company, First Hartford, was contracted by CVS to handle the site selection and the approval and construction process.

Zelek said that First Hartford and CVS had chosen the location because it’s a visible corner with a large flow of traffic, because the store will have ​“synergy with the existing shopping center,” and because the nearest CVS is 2 miles away.

The new CVS will add to a growing ensemble of retail and other businesses at Putnam Place. Porter and Chester Institute, a for-profit trade school network, will soon be opening a new campus in the plaza at a site that has been vacant since the Stop & Shop closed down in 2013.

Holli Masi, Hamden’s zoning enforcement officer, said that when a major tenant like Porter and Chester moves into an area, it becomes more attractive to other businesses.

According to Assistant Town Planner Matthew Davis, Hamden has gotten inquiries from other potential tenants to move into the plaza. He did not identify those potential tenants.

Davis said that the town welcomes developments like the CVS and the other businesses that may come to the plaza in future years. Though he and the Planning and Zoning Commission have to wade through a number of technicalities in approving applications, which can hold up the process, ​“if you step back and look at the big picture,” he told the Independent, ​“the town is very happy to see investments being made.”

Right Turns Only, Please

CVS and First Hartford Realty submitted their initial application to the Planning and Zoning Commission in August. The commission’s approval gives them the go-ahead to take their plans to the state for further traffic approval.

Though no commission members expressed any misgivings about the CVS opening in general, one stipulation about an entrance to the parking lot generated discussion.

There is currently an entrance from Dixwell to the southern part of the parking lot. Cars can either turn right into it, if coming from the south, or left, if coming from the north. In November, Police Chief John Cappiello, acting as Hamden’s traffic agent, recommended that the driveway be restricted to a right turn-in lane only. He said he worried that cars turning left into the parking lot there would pose a safety hazard for cars traveling south on Dixwell.

This stipulation was added as a condition of approval for the application. Since Dixwell is a state-owned road, the final say about the turn-in will now go to the Office of State Traffic Administration (OSTA) of the Connecticut Department of Transportation.

Lawyer John Knuff, who was hired to help with the application, told the commission that the applicant requested that the condition be removed because the decision is ultimately up to OSTA. The application still has to go to OSTA regardless of whether the application includes the condition because the state owns the road. If OSTA disagrees with the Hamden traffic agent’s decision to restrict the turn-in, the applicant will have to come back to the town and have it remove that stipulation.

Nonetheless, a motion to approve the application without the left-turn stipulation failed in a 3 – 3 tie. The subsequent motion, which included the condition, passed. 

Planning and Zoning Commission members hope that the addition of the CVS will help improve the plaza. Commission member Jennifer Cutrali said that at the moment, ​“people have a lack of respect for this plaza” because there’s no proper signage. She expressed hope that the new tenant and the improved signage that will accompany it will encourage drivers to obey traffic rules.

The timeline of the project will depend on how long the application takes at the state level, and on a number of other factors. According to recommendation of the town planner, however, the project must be finished by Dec. 11, 2023.