A pre-application review for proposed change in use of the property at 30 South Water Street from “office use” use to a “group fitness center” for Jiu Jitsu instruction has been submitted to Greenwich Planning & Zoning.
Previously the building was a Bank of America branch, but the building has been empty since fall 2021.
According to a narrative from the applicant JED Martial Arts, LLC, who is the prospective lessee, the bank was a non conforming use and so too would be the Jiu Jitsu instruction. The underlying zone is Waterfront Business / Coastal Overlay WB/CO. The property is .35 acres.
In the past the commission has tried to encourage water-related uses in the WB zone along on the west side of South Water Street, which runs along the Byram River.
WB stands for Waterfront Business, and does not include residential, though some recent residential developments have been approved along along the river.
In 2021 the owners of 84 South Water Street proposed to demolish the defunct HASCO factory to build a self-storage facility. The applicants said a portion of the storage would be for boats, but there would be no water access. The commission noted the property was in a FEMA flood zone, and told the applicants that if they demolished the entire building, new construction would be required to be fully FEMA compliant.
The commission in 2022 balked at an application from CT Natural Gas who wanted to locate a regional operations facility on the .86 acre property at 112 South Water Street, including truck and equipment parking. The commissioners noted that industrial use is not allowed in the WB Zone.
At 30 South Water Street, the building was used as a bank since it was constructed in 1967.
If the building was approved for group fitness for the Jiu Jitsu business, the first floor would be used essentially as-is, with a maximum of 15 students and one instructor.
The lower level would be reconfigured somewhat for bathrooms and lockers.
The anticipated class schedule reflects a minimum gap of a half hour between classes with the first weekday class starting at 7:00am and the latest running from 8;00 to 8:45pm. Saturday classes run from 10:00am to 2:15pm. There are gaps between classes ranging from about a half hour to 4 hours.
The application says the new use would have less parking demand than the bank and be less non-conforming. That said, the application notes they could use the drive past lane on the south west side of the property to create four parallel parking spaces.
