By Brandon T. Bisceglia
The Milford Planning and Zoning Board on Feb. 3 unanimously approved a plan that would see the site of the former Hooters restaurant and Howard Johnson’s on the Boston Post Road redeveloped into a commercial plaza that would include a grocery store, restaurant and other retail space.
The properties include an existing Genesis car dealership and vacant space at 990 and 1040-1052 Boston Post Road. The development required approval from the board for a zone change, a special permit with site plan review and a lot line adjustment in order to proceed.
The Hooters restaurant closed for good in 2020; the restaurant chain filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2025. The property was bought in 2022 by Key Cars Auto Group.
Luke Mauro of PE Solli Engineering, who represented Key Hyundai before the planning board, said the former Hooters building would be replaced by an 11,000 square foot building that would house a restaurant and two retail stores. The grocery store would be a separate 26,181 square foot building.
All three sections – grocer, restaurant and car dealership – would have interconnected parking lots.
The developer’s traffic analysis estimated that the plaza would generate about 388 new car trips during peak weekday hours and 418 new trips during Saturday peak hours. Those additional trips could be accommodated by the existing signals around the property.
Although the proposed plaza is fronted by the Boston Post Road, it is also accessible by Forest Road and is near a residential neighborhood.
Richard Bryant, a resident who lives on the road, expressed concern that the project would increase traffic on the road, particularly by delivery trucks.
“As far as the trucks entering and exiting, to enter and exit on Forest Road would be an absolute disaster,” he said, adding that the section of road is already a bottleneck.
Board members pressed Mauro over whether the developer could add signage forbidding tractor-trailer traffic from coming through from Forest Road.
“We can put signage in, but with the caveat that the curb cuts still have to be reviewed by DOT,” Mauro said. He noted that the site is already designed so that trucks could turn in from the Boston Post Road, and that a truck wouldn’t be able to make a right-hand turn in from Forest Road.
However, Mauro warned that completely cutting off access to Forest Road could kill the project’s approval from the state Department of Transportation, as they prefer to see projects of this size have access to a signalized road.
Ultimately the board encouraged the developer to do all it could to direct traffic away from the neighborhood while lauding the overall plan.
“I will be supporting this with mixed and conflicted feelings,” said Vice Chair Robert Satti, reiterating the concerns over trucks on Forest Road. “Giving a new property that has been unused for some number of years different types of uses I think is a good thing for the city of Milford.”
“This is putting empty, vacant property back on the tax rolls, which is a good thing,” said board Chair Jim Quish. “We just want to make sure that it doesn’t disrupt the neighborhood.”