South Windsor's Inland Wetlands Agency hit pause last week on a long-awaited redevelopment plan for the former Geissler's plaza, after a resident's warning about decades of oil trucks parked on the property raised fresh questions the agency says it needs answered before moving forward. The board voted unanimously to continue its public hearing on the 125-unit housing and retail project to next Wednesday, citing a need for more information from the developer.
A Plaza Vacant Since Last Year
The site at 959 Sullivan Avenue has sat largely dormant since Geissler's supermarket closed in 2025, with company representatives saying at the time that shutting the store was the most responsible step to ensure the chain's long-term health, according to CT Insider. Farmington-based Prospect Enterprises is now seeking site plan approval to redevelop the property, which would merge the parcels at 959, 1017 and 1079 Sullivan Avenue into a single 19-acre project, as detailed by ctreal.estate. The plan calls for 125 apartments across four three-story buildings, a clubhouse and a pool, alongside roughly 60,000 square feet of renovated commercial space, though the Hartford Business Journal has put that commercial figure at 60,740 square feet. The former Hot Leathers building at 1017 Sullivan Ave. would be demolished to make way for the new construction.
The unit mix includes two 36-unit buildings, one 41-unit building and one 12-unit building, the site's development summary shows. South Windsor zoning regulations require that 10% of the apartments be designated affordable, and a fiscal analysis cited by the Hartford Business Journal projected the project would generate 101 construction jobs and 20 permanent positions once built.
Oil Trucks and a Resident's Warning
The contamination concern surfaced when Mark DiCiancia, who said he previously worked for Imperial Oil, told the board that the company had parked trucks on part of the site for about 35 years and warned the soil there could be contaminated. Town Council member and Inland Wetlands Agency liaison Audrey Delnicki asked whether the developer had conducted soil contamination testing. Bryan Panico, an engineer with Cole Civil + Survey representing the applicant, said he was unsure whether such testing had been done for the wetlands site plan application and told the board he would check with the property owner.
The dossier's evidence does not establish that the site is contaminated, and no environmental assessment or test results for the property were presented at the hearing described by CT Insider. Jim Greeson, a resident of the adjacent Strawberry Fields condominium complex, also attended the meeting as a neighbor with a stake in how the project proceeds near his community.
Wetland Finger Also Under Scrutiny
Beyond the contamination question, commissioners are weighing a separate environmental issue: the project would likely require filling a small wetland finger to build an access road. According to citizenportal.ai, the commission voted to hold a public hearing on the application, cataloged as 26-22W, after flagging mismatched wetland markers on site and asking the applicant for more detailed mitigation information.
Panico also addressed a leftover condition from the project's 2021 approvals, which required the developer to coordinate buffer design with the town and the Strawberry Fields condominium association. He told the board that condition should still apply to the current plan.
A Five-Year History of Delays
This is not the project's first trip through South Windsor's approval process. The Planning and Zoning Commission originally approved the development in June 2021 with a condition requiring Prospect Enterprises to coordinate with the state on a sidewalk, but the developer sued the town, alleging the condition was unlawful. Years of litigation followed before the Planning and Zoning Commission approved a stipulated agreement in December 2023 that replaced the sidewalk condition with a requirement for a fence along Sullivan Avenue.
Prospect Enterprises had received its original zone change and general plan of development approvals back in 2021, and the company also plans to include a landscaping plan in its eventual submission to the Planning and Zoning Commission, per CT Insider's reporting. If the wetlands application ultimately wins approval, the developer must still return to that commission for site plan approval, in addition to review from the Water Pollution Control Authority.
What Happens Next
The Inland Wetlands Agency has continued its public hearing to its next regular meeting, scheduled for next Wednesday, and state law gives the board until November 6 to act on the application. Under Connecticut's wetlands statute, any party may appeal a wetlands agent's decision to the inland wetlands agency within 15 days of the notice's publication date, according to the Connecticut General Assembly. For now, the fate of the long-delayed Geissler's plaza overhaul remains tied to how quickly Prospect Enterprises can answer the board's outstanding questions about both the wetland finger and the site's industrial past.
