Plan to convert vacant Stamford corporate park into fitness center regains momentum

A controversial plan to turn the former Frontier Communications building at 3 High Ridge Park in Stamford into a Life Time fitness center is gathering momentum again following a state Superior Court judge”™s ruling.

Judge Marshall Berger ruled in favor of developer and property owner George Comfort & Sons in its appeal of the city”™s Board of Representatives decision to accept a petition by area homeowners protesting  the project.

Berger ruled that not enough representative signatures were gathered for that petition, which sought to reverse a zoning board change allowing projects like the Life Time proposal, permitting the conversion of mostly vacant corporate parks in residential neighborhoods into other businesses.

Residents near the site have long maintained that increased traffic and noise would have a negative impact on their lives ”“ issues that George Comfort & Sons and Life Time have said have been addressed.

Those parties maintain that their proposed 100,000-square-foot facility essentially would have the same footprint as the building does now, and that “noise-mitigating landscaping” would minimize the sound.

The board of representatives will decide whether to appeal the judge”™s decision at a March 9 meeting. George Comfort & sons, doing business as High Ridge Real Estate Owner, issued a statement saying it will proceed with its plans to build the Life Time fitness center.

The building has been vacant since Frontier moved to 401 Merritt 7 in Norwalk in 2015.