Developers are asking Stamford to rezone a parking lot at the north end of the former Lord & Taylor building, 110 High Ridge Road, from residential use to commercial. The change would allow more retail, including a likely restaurant beside housing for seniors and people with disabilities, on a property that already has a Whole Foods.
The plans are not final, which did not keep neighbors from showing up. More than 30 people spoke at a Nov. 9 public hearing, and the Zoning Board received about 40 emails. The board could vote on the zoning change at its Nov. 23 meeting, News12 reported.
Two Buildings On A Residential Lot
The parking lot is zoned for residential use. Developers want that designation switched to commercial so they can add retail space at the north end of the old Lord & Taylor property.
Lisa Feinberg, representing the developers, told the hearing the project would continue a revitalization she described as successful. Whole Foods is already at the property. A Guitar Center is set to open there next year.
What would go on the north lot is still a first pass. One building would sit near the bottom and hold stores. Another would sit in the top corner and hold a restaurant, likely a Texas Roadhouse. The developers have not finalized the plans, so the tenant is likely rather than confirmed, and the layout can still change. As drawn, that restaurant would be next to Stamford Cross Road Residences.
Next Door To Cross Road Residences
Cross Road Residences serves senior citizens and people with disabilities. Jeanne Courter, president of its board of directors, said a restaurant could create noise early in the morning and late at night. The building proposed for the top corner would sit next to that housing, not down the road from it.
Ria Iparraguirre lives across the street from the lot. She said the developers had entered the community despite residents pushing back repeatedly. She also said she would not feel safe walking across the street.
Other residents raised traffic in an area they already describe as congested, and the chance that commercial zoning could lead to construction beyond the two buildings now proposed. Feinberg said the developers take the safety concerns seriously and are prepared to contribute to sidewalk improvements.
Traffic Numbers, Then A Size Limit
No comprehensive traffic study of the project's impact has been completed. Feinberg said a study is not required until later, and that an accurate one depends on final project details. The zoning question is in front of the board. The trip numbers, on her account, wait.
Ryan Mazzeo, a planning consultant working with the developers, expected the increase to be minimal. Many of the visitors the project would draw, he said, would already be traveling along the corridor rather than adding new trips.
The answer to fears of open-ended construction was a deed restriction. Feinberg said that if the rezoning is approved, the developers will write one limiting the size and scale of what can be built. It would follow a yes vote. It is not a limit on the lot today.
Courter said the proposed restriction lacks an enforcement mechanism. Iparraguirre called it hollow and said it contains loopholes.
A Parking-Lot Rezoning, One Year Back
In November 2025, BE Properties LLC and G&T of Stamford LLC sought a zoning map change at 27 High Ridge Road, from residential to commercial, so a shopping center could expand its parking lot, Patch reported.
The expansion could have added 40 spaces in the northeast corner of a 0.459-acre wooded area, and it called for removing nearly 50 mature trees. Residents pushed back in written comments. On Nov. 18, 2025, the Planning Board voted 3-1 to express opposition.
Citizen Portal reported that the board recommended denial, citing an insufficient demonstration of immediate parking need, the likely loss of mature trees, topographic disturbance, and substantial neighborhood opposition. That was a Planning Board recommendation on a separate application, for parking and trees rather than stores and a restaurant. It does not decide the lot at 110 High Ridge Road.
On Nov. 23 the Zoning Board will discuss the 110 High Ridge Road change and could vote. Approval would move the north lot from residential to commercial use. On the account Feinberg gave, final plans would still be open, a traffic study would still depend on those details, and a deed restriction on size and scale would still have to be written. The corner next to Cross Road Residences would still be the one drawn for a restaurant.
