P&Z to Hold Second Hearing on Curtiss Street Development Tonight

Philip Thibodeau
8 hours ago
3 min read

Developer's attorney John Knuff presenting at the April 7 P&Z meeting. TOWN OF SOUTHINGTON VIDEO SCREENSHOT

When it convenes this evening, Southington’s Planning and Zoning Commission will continue its public hearing on a proposed retail and industrial development that will stretch along I-84 between Curtiss Street and Smoron Drive. At its previous meeting on April 7, representatives from the developer gave a public presentation on the proposal. The Commission then took comments from residents, with most opposing the plan, and none in favor of it.

Here are a few of the things that are known about the plan so far.

The formal request sent to the town lists the applicant as ‘Southington 2 LLC,’ whose principal is given on the CT Secretary of State’s website as another LLC, Southington 1, that was incorporated in Dover, Delaware, in May of 2025.

The principal of Southington 1 is Domenic Carpionato. Carpionato is the Senior Vice President of the Carpionato Group, a Rhode Island-based developer with a large portfolio of commercial and residential projects. The company recently expanded into the Connecticut market, and was the driving force behind Avon Village Center, a high-end strip mall in Avon.

The development plan drawn up by Solli Engineering envisions the construction of a new road approximately one-mile long running from Curtiss Street to Smoron Drive. Although the road would cut through the 115 Summit Farms Road parcel, the developer’s representatives and town officials have both stated that no road can or would be built connecting the development to the Summit Farms neighborhood.

The developer's application offers two slightly different descriptions of the number and size of the buildings that would be constructed along the road. According to the Zone Change Petition submitted by Solli Engineering and dated March 11, 2026, the overall development program will, when complete, include:

one 171,236 square-foot retail building with 835 parking spaces (parcel A)
one 1,600 square-foot gas service station with 10 parking spaces (parcel A)
one 14,820 square-foot hotel with 114 guest rooms and 158 parking spaces (parcel B)
one 100,000 square-foot industrial facility with 4 loading docks and 225 parking spaces (parcel C)
one 20,000 square-foot industrial building (parcel E)
one 283,800 square-foot industrial building, already approved, with 63 loading docks, 76 trailer spaces, and 202 parking spaces (parcel Da)

The proposed new road and six buildings. SOLLI ENGINEERING SCREENSHOT

However, according to the Municipal Fiscal & Economic Impact Analysis prepared by Donald Poland from the firm Goman+York, and dated March 2, 2026, the final development would consist of the following:

201,002 square-feet for retail/gas (parcel A)
one 79,800 square-foot hotel (parcel B)
one 70,000 square-foot industrial building (parcel C)
one 20,000 square-foot industrial building (parcel E)
one 283,800 square foot industrial building, already approved (parcel Da)
one 10,780 square-foot retail building (parcel F)

Goman+York’s economic impact estimate claims that the town would take in $2,717,976 in net revenue from these properties once the project is complete.

The Connecticut Scoop has pointed out that in Solli’s presentation the footprint for the big-box store on parcel A bears a close resemblance to the footprint for a new Walmart store. It also observes that the current Southington Walmart is undersized relative to other locations. However, the Scoop did not confirm that a Walmart would go into the space.

Two of the parcels, 682 Curtiss Street and 115 Summit Farms Road, are owned by former Town Council member Jack Perry and his father, Kurt Holyst. The third parcel, 99 Smoron Drive, is co-owned by local developer Mark Lovley and Jason Manafort. Manafort is one of the principals of Plainville-based trash hauler CWPM, which bought out Perry and Holyst's HQ Dumpster and Recycling in 2024.

Strictly speaking, the four Republicans and three Democrats who make up Planning and Zoning are only voting on the developer’s request to change the zoning on two pieces of property from I-2 (industrial) to B (business). Before the proposed project receives its final approvals, the developer would need to submit numerous other documents, including traffic and stormwater runoff remediation studies.

The developer is only seeking approval for part of the project because such studies are expensive and time-consuming to produce. While a vote in favor of the zoning change would not guarantee approval of the full project, it would be taken as a sign that the commission would be likely to support the entire package, provided that no unexpected changes were made along the way.

The meeting will be held in the Assembly Room of the John Weichsel Municipal Center tonight at 7pm. For the full agenda, click here. To see all the documents associated with the application, click here.