A major Connecticut wholesale club is proposing to add a large car wash on its site.
The project proposes to construct an estimated 4,800 square-foot car wash building within the existing BJ’s Wholesale Club parking area in Southington, as well as associated site improvements, records show.
The site plan application is by BJ’s Wholesale Club lnc. 350 Campus Drive , Marlborough, Mass, records show.
The BJ’s Wholesale Club plans are contained in a proposed special permit application for the a new 4,800-square-foot car wash building within the existing BJ’s parking area at 75 Spring St. Southington, records show. The wholesale building size is 109,212 square feet.
In a letter to the Planning & Zoning Commission, Bohler Engineering, on behalf of BJ’s Wholesale Club said the west side of the site is largely undeveloped.
“The property is comprised of a 20.11± acre parcel on the north side of Spring Street. The subject property is bordered to the north by a commercial building containing various business uses, to the south by a storage lot, to the east by a commercial plaza, and to the west by a largely undeveloped lot. The property is mapped within the Business District (Zone B),” the firm said.
“The applicant proposes to construct a car wash facility within a portion of the parking area on the south side of the existing BJ’s Wholesale Club building,” the firm said. “The proposed project includes the construction of a 4,800± square-foot building including a car wash, office space, and mechanical room.”
The firm also noted that the the proposed development includes two pay stations with individual canopies and other associated site improvements.
“These improvements are inclusive of paved areas, landscaping, and utilities to accommodate the proposed improvements. The proposed limit of work is located entirely within the previously disturbed areas onsite and proposes an increase of 5,000± SF of additional landscaped area,” the firm said.
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The Southington Planning and Zoning Commission will hold a public hearing on the BJ’s proposal and other plans at 7 p.m. Tuesday, October 7, in the Public Assembly Room in the Municipal Center located at 196 North Main St.
A traffic review completed by Traffic Planning and Design, Inc. and submitted to the town for the BJ’s site says that In the proposed condition, “a car wash facility will be added as an ancillary use to the Wholesale Club.”
“While the site layout would only be modified to accommodate the proposed car wash, there would be a reduction of 59 parking stalls from the total existing parking supply,” and one parking stall as well as one ADA stall would be added with the proposed development, while “no changes to the existing site access are proposed.”
The traffic planning firm also reports that the property “is situated along Westbound Spring Street, less than 1,000 feet west of Queen Street (CT Route 10). Currently, the site features a 109,212 square foot BJ’s Wholesale Club, including a gas station located on the northwest corner of the property. Access to the site is provided via a signalized driveway that aligns with a distribution warehouse driveway on the south side of Spring Street.”
It notes that Spring Street is a “major collector under Connecticut Department of Transportation jurisdiction and has a posted speed limit of 30 miles per hour. Along the site frontage, Spring Street provides one thru lane in each direction and additional turn lanes at key intersections. Sidewalks are provided on the north side of the road but not the south side. Shoulders are provided on both the north and south sides of the roadway,” the traffic planning firm wrote.
As noted in its data, the proposed redevelopment is expected to generate a maximum of 39 additional one-way trips during the weekday evening peak period due to the proposed addition of the car wash, the firm wrote.
Further, the Connecticut DOT Office of State Traffic Administration “does not consider an increase of 100 or greater peak hour trips, or 50 or greater left turn movements, to warrant additional analysis. Accordingly, the site’s external trip generation is well below the threshold and the project is not expected to have a significant impact on traffic.”
As far as parking, the firm’s report noted that the town requires three parking stalls per 1,000 square feet of gross floor area, and based on that, “334 parking stalls are required for the proposed site redevelopment. The 455 parking stalls proposed in the site redevelopment meet the town requirement.”
“The existing site currently has 514 parking stalls. The car wash removes 61 parking stalls from the existing parking capacity and adds 2 parking stalls (1 standard and 1 ADA stall) resulting in 455 total parking stalls – a net reduction of 59 stalls.”
The firm also concluded in its data that the proposed redevelopment is expected to generate a “maximum parking demand during the Saturday peak period when 277 parking stalls or 61% of the parking supply is occupied. The proposed supply of 455 parking stalls can accommodate this demand with a reserve parking supply of 178 parking stalls or 39%.”
“In conclusion, the proposed project will not have a significant negative impact on site parking or circulation or on traffic flows on the adjacent public,” the firm wrote.
Bohler also notes, “The project proposes to replace and construct new interior landscape islands in support of the proposed development. Shade trees and other supplemental landscape plantings are proposed within the landscape areas. Landscape plantings and shrubs are proposed at the perimeter of the proposed transformer area. Overall, the project results in an increase of approximately 5,000± square feet of total landscape area on the subject site.”
