Town Counsel Stephen Savarese said the grant for Longmeadow Bridge has been fully funded, there is no additional cost to taxpayers and his was a formal request to the commission for the replacement of Longmeadow Bridge. He said the bridge is deteriorating.

Commissioners unanimously approved the replacement.

Rick Mastrianni, represented County Line Carriage, Inc., on an application for a special exception to put up a second sign at 2160 Straits Turnpike.

County Line wishes to put up a 50-foot tall sign advertising its Suzuki dealership. The property already has a sign advertising County Line's Mitsubishi dealership.

The town's regulations allow only one sign per property.

Chairman Terry Smith asked where the sign was in relation to the property line.

Mr. Mastrianni said about 50 feet from the front property line. Mr. Smith said the regulations require a scale drawing and location of where the sign will be posted, for the record, before the next hearing.

Commissioners unanimously continued the public hearing to November 5.

Attorney Frank Pilicy represented the applicant, Orwell, LLC, on an application for a revision of section 24 of the zoning regulations.

According to Atty. Pilicy, Thomas Briggs, the principal of Orwell, LLC, owns property bordered by Nutmeg and Stevens Road that has been approved for 24 units of senior housing.

"There's essentially no market for that right now," Mr. Pilicy told commissioners.

According to Mr. Pilicy, in order to proceed with development of the property, the applicant is seeking approval to remove the "senior" element/restriction of age 55 and over, which is consistent with section 24 of the zoning regulations, and replace it with the term "central," proposed as section 24-A of the zoning regulations. In doing so, there will be no change to the footprints of the units.

Resident Frank Perrell, who spoke in opposition to the change, said dropping the senior designation would mean an un-restricted number of children could live in the units. He has concerns about the effects on public school enrollment, police and fire services.

Resident Don Stevens submitted a petition signed by 37 residents requesting an onsite review from the Southwest Conservation District "to ascertain the ethicacy of development to the area."

He stated his opposition of any change until the review is completed.

Resident Richard Mollica wondered if the applicant's time limit was running out, considering the applicant had received a prior approval for the application.

Mr. Smith said he estimated the time limit to be at about five years in accordance with state statute; the initial five years could be followed by two, five-year extension periods.

He reminded that this application is only for a zone text amendment, not a site plan approval.

Commissioner Bill Stowell said according to regulations, after approval, a project has to be started and a certain percentage completed by a certain time. He said the applicant has not started the project.

At last month's meeting, Brian Miller, the town's consultant, noted in a letter that he has worked with Mr. Briggs before and commissioners might prefer to hire another consultant for this application.

Commissioners agreed to send the documents to another consultant for review.

Commissioners discussed the consequences of lifting the age restriction: number of people per unit, the capacity of the number of people in the area and the size of the average American family.

The public hearing was continued to November 5.

Atty. Michael McVerry represented the applicant, E & E Realty/Middlebury Station, located at 489 Middlebury Road.

According to Atty. McVerry, Manuel Rocha, the applicant, a principal of E & E Realty, submitted an application for the approval of a Dunkin' Donuts restaurant in the existing building.

Mr. McVerry said Mr. Rocha was negotiating to lease about 3,000 square feet of the building for use as a Dunkin' Donuts restaurant.

He said the application had failed to gain approval in January because of wetlands issues.

Commissioners accepted the application and set a public hearing for December 3.

Vincent Lo Russo, ac 489 Middlebury Road, LLC, also applied for a special exception for a sign at Middlebury Station, 489 Middlebury Road.

He said the location and size of a business directory sign has already been approved, but he is proposing to put up a bigger sign and a clock at the site.

Commissioners accepted the application and set a public hearing for November 5.

Jennifer Yoxall represented Middlebury Land Development, LLC, regarding an application for excavation and grading permit renewal for Benson Woods, North Benson Road.

Commissioners accepted the application and set a public hearing for November 5.

Paul Lavalle, Dymar Engineering, represented the applicant County Line, 2191 Straits Turnpike, for a site plan modification.

Mr. Lavalle said County Line received approval for the construction of a second car dealership in 2007. According to Mr. Lavalle, the project did not go forward due to economic conditions at the time and the applicant's inability to get licensing from the state.

He said the repair portion of the car dealership has expanded, causing County Line to increase its inventory of car parts and its storage. He said the applicant has been storing these car parts in bins at the back.

The applicant is proposing a two-phase construction project. The first phase consists of building a back portion of a pre-fabricated metal building in order to house the inventory of car parts.

In order to do so, the zone line will need to be moved backwards. A grade change of two feet has also been proposed.

Commissioners said they would send the application for review to town consultant Brian Miller and the Architectural Commission.

The next Planning and Zoning Commission meeting is Thursday, November 5, at Shepardson.