P&Z Commission Skeptical on Proposed Valet Service for New Restaurant at Greenwich Crossing

On Tuesday the Greenwich Planning & Zoning commission reviewed an application from GP Holding Company for contemplated modifications to Final Coastal Site Plan & Special Permit concerning the restaurant at the corner of Railroad Ave and Steamboat Road (location of now demolished movie theater).

In March of 2023, the Greenwich P&Z commission unanimously approved a final Coastal site plan and special permit for the $30 million renovation of the Greenwich train station including the waiting area and storefronts along Railroad Ave, as well as demolition of the empty movie theater building to be replaced with a 5,000-square-foot restaurant with outdoor dining and a modernized, more accessible plaza. 

The new application seeks to increase seating capacity from 112 to 150 at the 5,000 sq ft restaurant, and implement valet parking service. They propose to accommodate the additional capacity through a valet parking program using the parking lot at the other end of the block, at intersection of Arch Street.

The applicant was represented by Michele Cronin, AICP, along with retail leasing specialist Joyce Storm, Blake Gulino  from ProPark Mobility, and traffic consultant John Canning.

Ms Storm said the goal is to attract a restaurant of the highest standards that would be ‘generational’ rather than one that would turn over in 3, 5 or 7 years.

 

“We’ve had great response both from nationals, regionals and locals. And without exception, all of them have maintained that they cannot do the kind of job and be that quality operator in 5,000 sq ft with anything less than 150 seats. That has to do with their ability to attract the right chefs, the right staffing and provide a very consistent, elevated experience.”

Ms Storm said 150 seats was the mean average across the country for a 5,000 sq ft restaurant.

Mr. Gulino from ProPark Mobility said his firm has 200 locations within southern New England and over 1,000 employees.

“Our experience is very vested with valet. We have involvement with Yale New Haven Hospital where we valet over 16,000 vehicles a month,” he said, adding they have valet service experience at locations within Greenwich Plaza and Pickwick Plaza and deal with high volume, high peak time situations.

“We do know the importance of retrieval time, queuing of cars and not back up on the street. The lot is perfectly set up for us to be able to have enough queuing space to allow cars and not build up into the road, as well as allowing us to provide a technology for customers to allow us to have better retrieval times,” he said.

Restaurant patrons would be able to use their cell phones to request their vehicles so the valet service can have their them ready to go, keeping down the length of waiting and queuing.

Commissioner Nick Macri asked who uses the lot during the day.

Ms Cronin said the lot is used during the day by everyone on that block of Railroad Ave, and that would continue on weekday and weekends.

The restaurant will be open for lunch and dinner 7 days a week.

Gulino said the valet lot is ideal as it has maneuverability and staging areas.

“I don’t buy it,” said commissioner Dennis Yeskey.

Mr. Canning said the application was driven by the peak hours of the restaurant – 8:00pm on a Friday or Saturday.

“The downtown parking study indicates – I’m going from memory. I think it’s 500, maybe 1100  parking spaces available at that time. There’s more parking than you can shake a stick at,” Canning said.

“That’s wildly out of date,” said P&Z chair Margarita Alban.

“There’s a dozen restaurants within two blocks of this location,” Yeskey said. “Have you ever gone down there at night at 6:00 or 7:00 o’ clock?”

Mr. Canning said with valet, parking would be guaranteed.

“I can see them using the parking if that’s the case, but I can also see them parking wherever they can find – taking parking from other restaurants. I don’t buy that either,” Yeskey said.

Cronin said based on previous parking studies the “pinch” on parking was during lunchtime.

Ms. Storm said, “part of the elevated experience of the better restaurants is the restaurateur is requiring valet because a good portion of their customer base requires a valet experience.”

Yeskey suggested a scenario. “It’s January 15th. It’s 20° below, and there’s a sleet rain hitting. You’re going to park at the valet and walk at least two blocks to this restaurant?”

“You’re probably not going to go to the restaurant at all,” Canning said.

Yeskey said there have been problems before with applicants suggesting valet service.

Ms Cronin said in recent years the P&Z commission approved valet programs for Townhouse Restaurant on Church Street, Famous Greek Kitchen on North Water Street, Tony’s at the J House, Valbella, Louie’s Italian Restaurant, which she said were either required by zoning or just as a service.

Commissioner Arn Welles asked about the “pinch at lunchtime.”

“What happens when the valet drives over there and (the lot at the former) Hopscotch is full at 12:15pm on a Wednesday afternoon?” Welles asked.

Mr. Canning said the restaurant will open at 11:30 and valet workers would arrive at 10:30am, and wouldn’t allow self-parking after that time.

“That way, so by the time the restaurant opens at 11:30am all the self parkers will be gone,” he said.

There are 54 spaces in the lot proposed for valet parking.

Questions from the commission included whether patrons would be willing to walk from one end of the block to the other for valet service.

They asked for details on when the valet program would operate, and said they would not want the downtown parking issue to be exacerbated.

Commissioner Ann Noel Jones asked if the valet service would be free.

Ms Cronin said she hadn’t spoken to the client about, that but would assume it would be free for patrons of the businesses in the property.

“If there’s no metered spaces in the front, you would pull into the valet,” Cronin said.

Jones asked Mr. Canning where the 1100 downtown parking spaces were.

Mr. Canning said that included the municipal lots up and down Greenwich Avenue.

Commissioner Mary Jenkins asked why the proposed spaces were marked 8 ft wide. Mr. Canning said valet operations are able to park cars closer than typical parking spaces.

Jenkins asked if the bicycle racks would interfere with the valet parking. Ms Cronin said there is a sidewalk between the racks and the parking spots.

Mr. Yeskey suggested the applicant connect with the Greenwich Police about traffic safety with the proposal.

Ms Alban said in summary everyone was excited to have a new restaurant, but had concerns about how the valet would function, the circulation, and where cars would queue.

“All of us knew from when there was just the gate (at the entrance to the parking lot), there is not queuing space. When several cars come in, they’ll be queuing on Railroad Ave,” she said. “Explain the queuing capacity and how the flow will work.”

“The commission has mixed experience with success of valet programs. But I heard them say was that valet has worked where the drop off is close to the restaurant entry – less successful where it’s more distant.”

 

See also:

New Application at Greenwich Crossing Would Increase Restaurant Seating from 112 to 150

Feb 17, 2026