HOTEL PROPOSAL DROPPED
A $15 million hotel and conference center on Fort Trumbull in New London is no longer on the table now that the developer and City of New London have parted ways. Attorney Gordon Videll, who represents New London Seafood, said new ideas are needed to help spur some development. He plans to pitch a restaurant, clam bar, clothing and gourmet food shops, motels and tourist services and special events to the Renaissance City Development Association. Videll said the idea would lead to an expansion and not a relocation of the existing fishing fleet.
APARTMENT COMPLEX UNDER FIRE
Waterford residents are still concerned that 53 studio and efficiency apartments proposed at a long-vacant nursing home on Rope Ferry Road could wreak havoc on town roads and flood a relatively rural area with people. More than a dozen residents Monday told the Planning and Zoning Commission the plan would increase traffic volume and create parking and safety concerns. Responding to a resident’s suggestion last month that the owner should consider a new medical facility instead of housing, the developer’s engineer said that would generate 11,000 trips per day, “two to three times the traffic volume being proposed.” Updated data and a complete drainage report will be presented by the developer when the public hearing continues on March 12.
NO COMMENT
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) – The U.S. Department of Interior is not commenting on a request by Connecticut officials for an investigation of the agency’s failure to act on agreements between the state and two Native American tribes that are needed for the tribes to build a new casino. An Interior Department official on Monday referred questions about the request to the Department of Justice, which did not return a message. U.S. Sens. Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy, and U.S. Reps. John Larson and Joe Courtney, asked the Interior Department’s Office of Inspector General to investigate Monday. The Mohegan and Mashantucket Pequot tribes are planning a joint casino in northern Connecticut to compete with an MGM casino in Springfield, Massachusetts, that’s expected to open in September.
APPEAL TO BE HEARD
Three Masons Island residents say the St. Edmund Retreat Center is not violating zoning regulations and have appealed a ruling by the Stonington Department of Planning with the Stonington Zoning Board of Appeals. The appeal is on the board’s agenda for it’s seven o’clock meeting tonight at the Stonington police station. The board is expected to set a public hearing date on the appeal.
BOA BRANCHES CLOSING
Bank of America will be closing both of its Mystic branches, at 54 West Main St. and 31 Williams Ave by May 15th. The ATM at the autobank on Williams Avenue, across from the Sea Swirl, will remain open. Bank of America owns the West Main Street financial center, and said the building will go up for sale. Customers received letters early last week informing them of the respective closures. Bank officials said the decision to close the Mystic branches came because customers’ banking habits have changed over the years.
