Business & Tech

Fish Truck Public Hearing Continued Until December

Anton Gnoch is seeking to move his fish truck to the Sherman Village Plaza.

 

No decision was made by the Woodbury Zoning Commission on Anton Gnoch's application to move his fish truck to the Sherman Village Plaza.

The November 13 Zoning Commission public hearing on Gnoch's application for a special permit was continued until the 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 11, meeting, taking place at the Senior Community Center.

There was some confusion in the beginning of the public hearing due to an e-mail sent to commissioners before the public hearing took place. Zoning Commission Chairman Martin Overton said an e-mail from the land use office contained 18 questions and/or concerns from members of the public. That e-mail was sent to commissioners and then retracted by land use staff, he said.

He said the e-mail was an attempt to get the commission to act on the information without being formally convened. Woodbury First Selectman Gerald 'Jerry' Stomski said he merely asked staff to send the e-mail as an "FYI" and asked that commissioners consider the points noted in the e-mail.

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"And the correct way to do that is at the meeting, not before," said Overton, "during the hearing but not before it starts."

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The Application

Gnoch said if his application is approved, he will park his truck on the first peninsula of the plaza's parking area, near Ovens of France.

"It seems that the majority of my customers think it would be a more viable, safe place with the traffic light, and more parking," he said.

Overton expressed concerns over traffic and safety.

"The last thing we want is for a little child to be running around a truck and get hit by another truck," he said.

Gnoch said that could happen in any parking lot, to which Overton replied that he doesn't want to make a traffic situation worse.

Stomski said he received a lot of phone calls from residents about the fish truck. He shared 18 comments from people on the application, including questions on the pedestrian traffic flow, the availability of parking spaces for the other businesses in the plaza and how it will impact existing businesses.

"The traffic pattern is certainly a concern," he said. "I would request the Zoning Commission ask for a site plan that addresses this."

Gnoch said the other businesses in the plaza support him and his fish truck.

"We share a tremendous amount of customers," he said.


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