Questions and concerns are being raised over a proposed fitness studio in Cos Cob, located next to an apartment complex on East Putnam Avenue.
file photo
GREENWICH — Concerns about traffic congestion, parking and circulation were raised during the preliminary review of plans for new fitness center in Cos Cob during a Planning & Zoning Commission meeting.
Commissioners said they were not convinced at the early stages of their review that a proposal to open a new fitness center at 100 E. Putnam Avenue would be a good fit for the neighborhood.
Article continues below this ad
The proposal for a new fitness center at a new apartment complex there would require a change to the zoning code, a text amendment. Fitness centers are not permitted in the zoning category at the site, “local-business-retail (LBR)” The change would allow a fitness center to operate in that zone on the ground floor with a special permit. An M&T bank branch previously operated at the location.
The preliminary proposal from Happy Hour Fitness says the operation would serve up to 10 clients at a time for yoga, pilates and other exercise routines. But the space was a large one, some 1,800 feet, and questions were raised over how many people might actually come to work out there.
Chairwoman Margarita Alban said the commission had negative experiences with fitness and yoga studios that attracted a far higher number of clients than had been proposed during the review process.
Article continues below this ad
“We’ve had a ‘not-positive’ experience with that, where people have filled the space to overflowing and have created parking problems,” she said. There was a tendency, she said, “to jam them in.”
The commission said it wanted to avoid using the town’s code enforcement staff to do head-counts at fitness centers to see if they complied with zoning approvals, and using an enforcement mechanism to monitor fitness studios would not be a good outcome for the town.
Since the proposal requires an amendment to the zoning code, as well as a special permit — with higher thresholds to meet than standard approvals — the commission has wider latitude in its decision-making process when factoring in what potential negative impacts to the community might be.
Article continues below this ad
Patrick LaRow, the town’s Planning Director, told the commission there was a reason why fitness centers were not allowed in the local-business-retail zone. “These sort of class activities are not ideal, or conducive, to the district that it’s in.”
Casey O’Donnell, the attorney representing the planned operators of the proposed exercise studio, Happy Hour Fitness, said the studio was likely to attract neighborhood residents. The Happy Hour Fitness operation would be related to an existing medical-spa currently operating there now, Pause Greenwich.
“They’re drawing from the neighborhood, they have walk-in clients, it’s all Greenwich clientele, it is a substantial Cos Cob clientele, and they’re looking for this complementary use,” he said.
O’Donnell said the operation could be a benefit to local residents.
Article continues below this ad
The commission was told that the current medical spa there now, Pause Greenwich, was a less intensive operation, with one-on-one client services and an appointment process that limited the number of visitors there.
The commission said it wanted more information on what a text change would do to other local business retail zones in town, since it would impact them as well. More information on parking and traffic was also requested when a formal application is filed.
A lawyer, Mario Copplola, representing a nearby business, expressed opposition to the proposal.
“For many good reasons, the zoning regulations have traditionally not allowed fitness classes and gyms on first floor commercial space in the LBR zones,” he told the commission during the public-comments phase of the meeting.
Article continues below this ad
“If you allow this expansion of the use, you’re going to have more people coming into the area and creating parking issues, traffic issues, etc.,” he said, and the planned studio would be in conflict with the town’s master plan that encouraged “low-intensity” and highly localized business operations in neighborhood commercial centers.
The proposal was left open for further review when it moves on from a preliminary application.