The potential arrival of the Wegmans grocery store chain in Norwalk was not warmly embraced by several city residents who gave public comments at a meeting of the Planning and Zoning Commission on the evening of July 7.
The proposed store, which would also feature a two-story parking garage, is planned for the current site of MBI’s Norwalk offices. The submitted plans call for the demolition of the consumer product company’s current offices to make way for the grocery store itself while the current asphalt parking lot will be partially replaced by the garage and some redesigned surface parking.
At the moment, the lot has entrances from both Keeler and Richards Avenues, and both will receive some upgrades, but a more radical change is planned for adjacent properties. Wegmans hopes to acquire the parcels beneath the nearby Lumber Liquidators, the Wells Fargo bank on Connecticut Avenue and the site of DOCS Urgent Care next door to the Bowlero bowling alley. By purchasing these properties, Wegmans hopes to reach Connecticut Avenue with two access points to the Route 1 corridor.
The plan calls for Wells Fargo to stay but calls for the demolition of the Lumber Liquidators and replacement of the DOCS building with a new retail plaza. The result would see the Wegmans have four points of access, including one at the traffic light, which also serves the Walmart location.
Three residents called in during the public comment period, all of them stating opposition to the current plan.
Judy Philips said she was a “huge Wegmans fan” and would love to see the company come to Norwalk but expressed concerns about the impact the new store would have on local traffic.
“The site that is proposed is adding to an already existing traffic nightmare,” she said, voicing her concern about the methodology of the traffic study that the commission had called for while pointing out all traffic studies conducted in the past year would necessarily include some distortion stemming from the pandemic.
Philips was also concerned about the impact of increased traffic on the local streets, including trucks supplying the store, and expressed dismay that the meeting was timed during a popular vacation week.
Ben Hanpeter expressed opposition to the entire project in its current form.
“It is my opinion that the city does not need more grocery stores of this size in this location along the Route 1 Corridor,” Hanpeter said. “It’s no secret that Route 1 is the city’s dumping ground for all manner of big box stores and in doing so the city has failed to achieve a diversity of uses and is not accessible by any means other than by car.”
After Hanpeter noted other parts of the city can also accommodate grocery stores, he observed the close proximity of ShopRite, Stop & Shop, Stew Leonard’s, Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods along the Route 1 Corridor either in Norwalk or just over the border in neighboring towns. He also described the proposed site as an impediment to the city’s efforts to become more sustainable and walkable.
“Without additional housing and other uses, this is not an appropriate location for a grocery store,” he said
Hanpeter’s recommendation was followed by Diane Lauricella, who also expressed doubts.
“Although I know that Wegmans are very attractive, are very oriented towards their customers, let’s face it: this is just another big box on Connecticut Avenue,” she said.
Lauricella also brought up prior statements made by some of the members to emphasize mixed-use development and asked for information on what percentage of Wegmans shoppers are expected to be Norwalk residents versus out-of-towners, evoking the city’s reputation as the “hole in the doughnut” surrounded by wealth but still poor.
Lauricella, raising some of the same points as Hanpeter, additionally criticized the commission for what she perceived as a soft stance toward Wegmans pushback to suggestions of placing solar panels on the building roof and garage.
William Hennessy Jr., the attorney representing Wegmans, disputed much of what was said during the public comment. He called on other experts who had presented aspects of the plan prior to the public comment.
Project Manager for Wegmans Steve Leaty in particular noted that while he wouldn’t weigh in on the operations of other companies, he believed that the store would have a positive effect even in an area with an already high concentration of grocery stores.
“What we see is that when Wegmans comes into the market, it’s a win-win for everybody,” he said. “Anybody that exists there today has to up their game, their experience needs to be better than Wegmans in order to compete.”
