BRANFORD, CT — Branford's Planning and Zoning Commission is scheduled to take up the proposed BJ's Wholesale Club development on East Main Street again Thursday, Oct. 15, at 7 p.m. on Zoom. Residents' main chance to speak comes two weeks later, at an in-person session Thursday, Oct. 29, at Branford High School.
The commission's agenda set the public hearing on the application, PZ-26-39, to open Oct. 1. The order of business the commission published for the hearing, which Branford Patch reported Sept. 30, carries it over two more sessions.
What the Oct. 15 session covers
The Oct. 15 session is set to open with a presentation from the intervenor, a party other than the developer that has formally joined the hearing. The applicant then gets a chance to respond, followed by a report from town planning staff and questions from commissioners.
The meeting is remote only, through Zoom (meeting ID 827 7242 0034), and BCTV is scheduled to carry it live. The Branford High School auditorium will be open for residents who want to follow the meeting there.
Oct. 29 is the night for public comment
Spoken testimony from the public is mainly scheduled for Oct. 29 at 6 p.m. in the Branford High School auditorium, 185 East Main St. That session has no remote option, though BCTV plans to broadcast it. Speakers will be called from a sign-up sheet and will ordinarily get three minutes each, and the chair will invite anyone who did not sign up to speak before testimony ends. Residents who cannot be there Oct. 29 may be heard at the Oct. 15 session at the chair's discretion.
Written comments can be dropped off at the Planning and Zoning office, 1019 Main St., or emailed to PlanningandZoning@branford-ct.gov, according to the commission's legal notices. The commission asks for them at least 24 hours before a session, but the published procedures say that is a request, not a cutoff, for as long as the hearing stays open. If business is not finished Oct. 29, the procedures say the hearing will be continued rather than closed.