Planning Approval Brings Two Garages to Southington

There are two new businesses coming to the community and if you need a tow, they’ll be there to help you within the next year.

The approved two site plans on Tuesday evening which will allow for the development of both a private tow garage along Triano Drive and a second public garage on Lazy Lane, both which will provide different types of services to the community.

Saleem Kahn, president of Nelcon Service Center, said he is looking forward to building his latest garage in the town of Southington. Kahn currently owns garages along Old Colony Road in Meriden and on Maple Avenue in North Haven.

“I think this is a good thing for the town. It will allow us to service a greater area and it will fill a space (along Triano Drive) that is not currently being used,” said Steve Giudice, owner of Harry Cole & Son.

The area is already zoned for industrial use and Giudice said it conforms to a neighborhood that already includes Strollo Brothers, Inc, but commissioners expressed some concerns on how the site would be used and whether it could lead to contamination that could require future remediation.

Commissioner James Macchio questioned whether there would be physical garage work done on the property and how leaking vehicles would be stored. The company deals in providing tow and temporary storage for box trucks and tractor-trailers, many which would sit on a section of the property covered with crushed gravel rather than pavement.

Kahn said although Nelcon Service Centers do provide towing for leaking trucks, most would be “clean” by the time they are towed to the site and very little work, if any, would be done on location.

“Most of the time, the vehicles are not brought back to our site. If there is a major truck accident, we will tow them to our shop until the insurance representative comes,” Kahn said. “If a truck is left behind, we would start the paperwork and hold an auction, but they are never just left there.”

Later in the evening, the commission also approved a site plan application for a second, public repair garage that will be built at 135 Lazy Lane. The project will include improvements to an existing building as well as storage for six vehicles at a time – the most that will be allowed at the site at once.

Both projects would require applicants to come before the Planning and Zoning Commission for any change in use.