Business

Is There Still Hope for Shake Shack Coming to Darien? Maybe.

Both Shake Shack Applicants, Zoning Board Say the Other Side Wasn’t Cooperative

GONE? Genovese: After Zoning Board Denies Sign Request, ‘Shake Shack Walked Away’

Mark Rosenbloom Chosen as Chairman of Darien Chamber of Commerce

Eversource, Town Officials Describe Natural Gas Expansion Project for Darien

Latest Darien Restaurant Health Inspections: 4 ‘Poor’, 4 ‘Fair’, 2 ‘Good’

Presentation of Baywater/PG Properties Downtown Development Plan on April 6

Some Planning Commissioners Like Nursing Home Idea for Parklands Office Park

Brooks Brothers Declines to Prosecute Suspected Shoplifter

Multi-Chamber Expo Coming; Business Workshop Season: Taking Care of Business

Some of What the Draft Town Plan Recommends for Darien in the Next 10 Years

New Diner Coming to Town, Palmwich Gone: Taking Care of Business

How to Support a Darien Restaurant in Moffly Media’s ‘Best of the Gold Coast’ Contest

Latest Health Inspection Ratings: Two Restaurants ‘Good’, One ‘Fair’

The Bar Method, a New Exercise Studio, Coming to Downtown Darien

Events Calendar

Business

By David Gurliacci | March 25, 2016

Business

By David Gurliacci | March 24, 2016

Business

By David Gurliacci | March 24, 2016

Business

By David Gurliacci | March 23, 2016

Business

By David Gurliacci | March 22, 2016

Business

By David Gurliacci | March 21, 2016

Business

By David Gurliacci | March 19, 2016

Business

By David Gurliacci | March 11, 2016

Business

By David Gurliacci | March 7, 2016

Business

By David Gurliacci | March 1, 2016

Around Town

By David Gurliacci | February 29, 2016

Business

By David Gurliacci | February 22, 2016

Business

By David Gurliacci | February 20, 2016

Business

By David Gurliacci | February 19, 2016

Business

By David Gurliacci | February 17, 2016

Businesses serving Darienites

Shake Shack has walked away from their application to site a store at 1340 Post Road in Darien after deciding there was too much resistance from the Zoning Board of Appeals to their proposed 24-inch-high signs —but there may still be a possibility they’ll return. Here are two signs of hope:

1. There’s a lot of interest in town
First, the restaurant’s bid to open a store in Darien is of huge interest in town. Take a look at the number of Facebook “recommends” for Darienite.com’s original article about the restaurant chain’s decision to withdraw it’s Darien bid:

That 464 “recommends” is as large a number as any Darienite.com story has had. Darienite.com’s Web page for the article has garnered more than 2,800 unique visitors since it was published Thursday morning, and readers are still flocking to the story.

Gary Greene, chairman of the Darien Zoning Board of Appeals, said he and the board didn’t feel they had a choice but deny Shake Shack a variance Wednesday night. David Genovese, a developer working with Shake Shack to get a restaurant on his Post Road property, said Shake Shack officials didn’t feel they could make any more changes in their signage to get a variance. What zoning officials said

The ZBA needed Shake Shack to make a case that its 24-inch-high name sign was necessary and its hamburger image was central to its branding, and that the way the sign was lit would not look too “glaring” with light coming from the side, said Robert Woodside, a code compliance officer in the Planning & Zoning Department who was at the meeting to assist the Board on Wednesday night. The board offered to postpone its decision if Shake Shack would show them a live mock up of the sign or something similar to it so the board could see how it would look, but the company declined, Greene said. __________

Shake Shack “walked away” after the Zoning Board of Appeals on Wednesday night denied the company’s request for larger signs at its proposed location on the Post Road, developer David Genovese said. “[T]he Zoning Board of Appeals denied our application tonight for Shake Shack’s signage program,” Genovese said in an email late Wednesday night, after the board meeting. Shake Shack was on the agenda for a public hearing to get a zoning variance for a Post Road site. Genovese is principal of Baywater Properties LLC and owner of the site through a related company. “Shake Shack walked away,” Genovese continued.

Darien Chamber of Commerce is pleased to announce that Mark Rosenbloom has been named as chairman of the Darien Chamber of Commerce board of directors. Mark was officially elected as executive board chairman at the Nov. 16, 2015 annual awards meeting. His appointment was effective Jan. 1, 2016 and is a two year term.

Starting this summer, Eversource wants to start digging to install natural gas pipes along West Avenue and up to Darien High School and Royle School, according to a company official. Chris Luca, a project manager for Eversource, told the Board of Selectmen on Monday that the utility and the town are close to an agreement on a $4.2 million project to lay 18,700 feet of pipes in town — about 3 1/2 miles. Town officials and the utility plan to get streets near schools dug up and repaved before students return in the fall. The company is aiming to have gas service ready for spring of 2017, when developers of major commercial redevelopment projects in the Noroton Heights business district and Corbin Drive/Post Road hope to get construction started. Middlesex Middle School and the Noroton Heights Fire Department would also get gas service, which has been less expensive in recent years than oil heat.

Darien food-serving establishments fared worse than usual in the latest inspection ratings released by the town Health Department. Only two inspections rated restaurants “Good” under the Darien ratings system. Of the four (or possibly five) “Poor” inspection ratings, one restaurant improved so much two weeks later that it received a perfect “100” score (Estia’s Back Porch Cafe), and another, Fjord Fish Market, received a second “Poor” rating two weeks after the first. A third, Darien Diner, received a “Fair” rating two weeks after what appears to have been its initial “Poor” rating (the inspection report didn’t say it was “Poor” but the reinspection indicated that it was). Four other restaurant inspections around town resulted in “Fair” ratings (details below).

Downtown Darien Redevelopment Baywater Genovese 3-19-16

On Wednesday, April 6, 2016 at 7 p.m, David Genovese, founder of Baywater Properties, will present to the public an overview of the downtown Darien redevelopment project proposed by Baywater Properties and its partner, PG Properties. A full presentation of the project will be given to attendees, with significant time available for questions and comments. The presentation takes place at Darien Library. The Baywater venture began work on acquiring the properties from Corbin Drive to the Bank of America Building, including the US Post Office at 30 Corbin Drive and 10 Corbin Drive, in 2005. ________________

Editor’s note: This is an announcement from Baywater Properties and PG Properties.

Planning & Zoning Commission members in a recent discussion said they’re impressed with the proposal to replace an office building with a nursing home at the office park on Parklands Drive. Parklands Office Park LLC is proposing to replace one of its two office buildings on the 7.9-acre Parklands Drive site (located off of Old Kings Highway North near the Exit 13 entrance to I-95 North) with a 105-unit nursing home, with 27 units in a “memory care” facility for people who have lost their memory and need to be kept from wandering. The new facility would have more parking than the minimum demanded by zoning regulations, and it would result in less traffic than the current office building would have if it were full, according to a presentation developers made to the board. A conservation easement would be put in place for an area at the southern end of the site. Developers also said they worked with neighbors to allay concerns about the development, which would result in more of the parcel being covered with a building and parking lot space.

Although police believe they identified people who stole thousands of dollars worth of shoes from the Brooks Brothers store in Darien, the store says it prefers not to press charges for reasons not specified, Darien police said. Police previously gave this account of the thefts:

On Jan. 22 a thin man walked out of the store with nine pairs of shoes he didn’t pay for, with the price for five of those pairs totalling more than $1,000. On Jan. 28, the same man came back with an accomplice, but the two left after several store employees stood by the front door.

Here’s a roundup of Darien business developments in the past week:

You can get a table and join about 90 exhibitors at the Multi-Chamber Expo coming Wednesday, March 23 at Norwalk Community College, the Darien Chamber of Commerce just announced. About 250 to 300 attendees are at the event each year, which is free to the public. Participating chambers, along with Darien, are from Fairfield, Norwalk, Stamford and Westport/Weston, along with the Bridgeport Regional Business Council. “This is an exceptional chance to gain exposure for your business, network, and reach more prospective customers,” the Darien Chamber of Commerce said in the announcement. “Tables are $350 each, a limited number of positions are available with electricity for $50.

Buy land as it becomes available near public schools; consider building a public indoor swimming pool; consider digging a tunnel under the railroad tracks to connect Old Kings Highway South with Old Kings Highway North; “investigate parking options for the library.” These are some of the ideas for what the town government could do in the next 10 years in the draft of a plan to guide local decision-makers for the next decade. The document, called the Town Plan of Conservation and Development, is mandated by state government. The plan doesn’t mandate what the town necessarily will do over the next 10 years, but it does influence town decision-makers. The town Planning and Zoning Commission wants to know what you think of the draft plan before they adopt it as a guideline. You can email your reactions and ideas to pocd@darienct.gov.

“A plan of conservation and development is an advisory document — it’s not something that dictates what the community has to do,” said Glenn Chalders with Planmetrics, the consulting firm hired by the town to help devise the plan.

The Post Road building vacated when Darien Diner recently moved to its new location is expected to be the home of a new diner with an old name: “Driftwood Diner.” The interior is now being prepared. The location is on the corner of the Post Road and Richmond Drive. Across Richmond Drive, meanwhile, Palmwich is gone and the small white building has a “For Rent” sign. ***

See also: In One Event: Get a Pro to Take Your Photo, Spruce Up & Get Advice for Your LinkedIn Profile

***

Helen Ainson is offering a $1,000 gift certificate to anyone who finds them their next store fashion consultant (read the store’s blog post):
We are seeking someone who is energetic, friendly, and has a great sense of style.

Voting has started “Best of the Gold Coast” contest for the top retail businesses in lower Fairfield County is here, and you can support the Darien restaurants and stores you love by making a few clicks. Today, in Part 1, we list the Darien eateries you can support. In future days, we’ll list the other Darien stores and businesses in the running. Moffly Media is offering some prizes for those who vote. In that case, we thiunk you’ll want to go to their website and vote all at once.

In the most recently released Darien Health Department food service inspections, two restaurants received “Good” ratings and one was scored as “Fair.” No “Poor” ratings were given out. In the list of health inspection results, below, information is listed by name, address, date of inspection, Darien rating, state score, inspector’s comments that led to the state rating and additional remarks on the inspection report. Dates link to the food establishment’s most recent inspection report online, and Darien ratings link to a Web page showing the restaurant’s recent inspection ratings. This list of the most recently released Darien health inspection ratings is in alphabetical order (not all of the most recent inspections were posted online at the time this article was published, but you should be able to find them later using the links below):

Dunkin Donuts — 967 Post Road — Feb.

The Bar Method Darien, part of a national franchise of exercise studios for women, is renovating the former site of Patriot National Bank downtown after receiving approval from town land use officials. At 800 Post Road, right on the corner of Sedgwick Avenue and next door to Burgers, Shakes & Fries, the local owners plan to have hour-long exercise classes from early morning to early evening. They’ll have yoga and exercise clothing and equipment for sale, complimentary coffee, tea, magazines and newspapers in the waiting room for those who arrive early or want to chat with friends after the workout. The Bar Method will also have an “upscale” locker room with a few showers and a hair and make-up counter with “complimentary skin-care and hair-care products,” according to their land-use application filed in Town Hall. “The Bar Method is known for having these luxurious, very spa-like locker rooms,” Lara Meehan, a co-owner of the Darien franchise, told the Planning & Zoning Commission in January.

« October 2025 »

Tue 28