By Ken Valenti

WESTPORT–A plan to revamp a partially vacant shopping center at 1460 Post Road East for Sprouts Farmers Market hit a snag when the Architectural Review Board (ARB) panned a design that they felt would leave the side facing the major road looking too blank.

The Board, which is not scheduled to meet until September, agreed informally to meet in August if the development team wants to bring revised plans.

Rick Hoag of Frederick William Hoag Architect presented the plans for the revamped center, which would prominently feature the specialty market’s logo.

“Essentially, what we’re doing is adding the branding of Sprouts,” Hoag told the ARB in Town Hall. His firm is one of the design firms for the developer Regency Center.

At issue was the placement of a grand entrance, with a monumental gable, facing the parking lot at the side of the building, leaving what would become a side of the building facing Post Road East. Hoag argued that the gable would present a prominent sight to motorists driving by.

“Because it’s facing the parking lot, it’s really open to that façade,” Hoag said.

ARB members were not convinced, and requested that the developer propose a design that showed more creativity along the side facing Post Road East.

“Façades like this are the reason Architectural Review Boards exist – to prevent that,” board member Jon Halper said.

The project needs a variance for the monumental gable at 31.5 feet above the average grade level of the sloping site, and exceeds zoning allowances by 1.5 feet, said Christina Gordon, an associate architect with Hoag.

Hoag noted that the gable is already substantially smaller than Regency’s other gables.

In other changes, the developer would take away a greenhouse, and would install a loading dock.

The existing 40,688-square-foot center is divided for nine tenants, but Regency’s plan would reconfigure it for four.

Two existing tenants will remain in the center, but will move. Julian’s Pizza Bar & Kitchen will move to the eastern corner and BevMax, a liquor store, will relocate to the lower level, Hoag said. A third tenant, medical marijuana dispensary Bluepoint Wellness, will move out when its lease is up at the end of this year, said Billy Bishop, an investment manager for Regency.

Based in Phoenix, Arizona, Sprouts Farmers Market is a “specialty retailer of fresh, natural and organic food,” according to its press materials. The chain operates more than 480 stores in 25 states, with about 36,000 employees.

Ken Valenti

^{_{A career journalist and lifelong resident of the New York City region, Ken Valenti has enjoyed decades of reporting local, regional and national news in New York and Connecticut. Topics of special interest are development, the environment, Long Island Sound and transportation. When not reporting, he’s always on the lookout for the perfect coffee shop or used book sale.}}