Nursery may be supplanted by medical office buildings

The Plant Factory, a decades-old nursery at 4185 Black Rock Turnpike, would shut down under a new development plan for the property near the town's border with Easton.

If the plan is approved, medical offices would supplant the garden center.

Fairfield Gateway, LLC, has submitted plans for the project to the Conservation Department, which will come before an Inland Wetlands Agency public hearing on Oct. 7.

The application calls for tearing down the nursery's several structures, which have occupied the spot opposite the Hi-Ho Motel since the mid-1970s, and erecting two medical office buildings in their place. One of the buildings would be 18,400 square feet, while the other would be 15,000 square feet. The buildings would be flanked by 167 parking spaces, and a new drainage and detention system would be installed to handle storm water on the 2.4-acre plot. The property is 17.3 acres in total.

According to the application, there are two wetland areas on the property. The first is in the northwestern corner of the site, while the second runs along the southeastern edge, the application states.

Since 2003, the property has been owned by New Way Associates, LLC. The group's managing partner, Jerry Greenstein, of Hamilton Court, said the development would revitalize the property that some have come to see as unattractive.

"They're older buildings, they're not renovated, and sometimes you have nursery stock sitting outside, which some people might find a little bit of an eyesore," he said.

The redevelopment, he added, would create an "attractive gateway" into the town.

"You're going to have [it] replaced with some well-groomed medical buildings," he said. "It's going to provide easy access for people who need to get to their physicians. It will look a lot better and it will provide both tax revenue and jobs."

John Fallon, the lawyer for Fairfield Gateway, LLC, said that the buildings would be used solely for doctors' offices, not for medical clinics.

There are no other development plans at present for the remaining 15 acres of the property, he added.

Paget Development, LLC, of 363 Reef Road, would carry out the development. Eric Cook, of Weston, is that group's principal.

While the project needs the Inland Wetlands Agency's clearance before it can be reviewed by the Town Plan and Zoning Commission, Planning Director Joe Devenshuk said the property is zoned for commercial use and would probably not require variances or amendments.

This is not the first time that there's been talk of developing the Plant Factory site. In 2004, a 120-unit assisted-living center was considered for the property, along with retail stores and a recreational ballfield that also could have also served as a skating rink.

While pitching that idea to the Board of Selectmen in August 2004, Greenstein said that a "smart" development would not add stress to the community's infrastructure. "It provides things that a community needs," he was quoted in the Fairfield Citizen.

That project, however, failed to win approval from town boards.

During a phone interview Tuesday, Greenstein said the Plant Factory's owners -- brothers Paul and Ted Dudics -- are partners in New Way Associates, LLC.

Greenstein said the Dudics have known for the last few years that the property would eventually be redeveloped.

Even so, the nursery's website announced in April 2009 that the "century barn" would be undergoing renovation. It promised to update local customers on the progress, but updates never came.

The century barn is a roughly 2,500-square-foot building built in 1900, according to town records. Now, it is surrounded by waist-high weeds.

The Dudics did not return phone calls Tuesday for comment. But a Plant Factory employee on Tuesday morning seemed surprised by the news of the redevelopment plan.

Asked if the nursery had plans to relocate or to close, the employee looked confused. He said he knew of no pending changes for the business.

"The Christmas trees are on order," he said.

He then left the store to call someone on his cell phone.

The nursery has an online store at: www.plantfactorygardencenter.com.