New Maritime Supplies Store Plans April Opening in Saybrook

OLD SAYBROOK - Wonder what's rising at the corner of Spencer Plains Road and Route 1? Well so have others-and here's the answer: a new, large retail site for the store West Marine.

The town's Zoning Commission approved a special exception permit for retail development of the 19.76-acre site in June 2011. The permit allows construction by Colvest/Old Saybrook, LLC, of a 30,541-square-foot West Marine retail store, a bank with two drive-through lanes to be located on a corner site at the Spencer Plains Road/Route 1 intersection, and a separate, 1,584-square-foot retail building on the Route 1 edge of the site.

Consistent with the Zoning Commission's design standards intended to encourage more pedestrian-friendly development on Route 1, the 170 parking spaces will be built to the interior of the site; the two smaller retail buildings placed at the site's street edges and planned landscaping are intended to provide screening for the parking area.

The town's land use office indicated that tentative plans were to have the new West Marine store open for business as early as April of this year.

Tenants for the bank pad and the separate retail buildings on the site were still being sought at press time.