Hartford Business Journal

22 HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | JUNE 26, 2023 Sign Pro sues Southington, claiming harassment By Michelle Tuccitto Sullo msullo@hartfordbusiness.com S ignage business Sign Pro Inc. is suing its hometown of Southington and the municipal- ity's chief building official, claiming it has been subjected to repeated harassment while trying to do busi- ness locally, costing it "hundreds of thousands of dollars." Sign Pro Inc. and Pro Realty LLC, both of 60 Westfield Dr., in the Plantsville section of Southington, and company founder and President Peter Rappoccio recently filed the lawsuit against Southington and Chief Building Official Jeffrey Pooler. The lawsuit claims the town required expensive last-minute changes to the company's new building, and has delayed approvals for its signage projects, costing it time and money, for example. Sign Pro has been in business for about 33 years, and does work around the United States and Canada. It constructs, designs and installs signs for clients such as ESPN, LA Fitness, M&T Bank, Hartford Hospital, the New Britain Bees, state of Connecticut, Travelers and UConn. Speaking at his business in June, Rappoccio said filing a lawsuit was "the last thing we wanted to do — it's not who we are." "The hard part is we cherish our local community, and never have issues with any other city or state other than the town of Southington," Rappoccio said. "Our goal is to be treated as everyone else." Rappoccio asserted his business has been singled out and targeted for "blatant" harassment for more than two years. Attorneys Glenn Dowd and Matthew Letten of Day Pitney in Hartford, who represent Sign Pro, wrote in the lawsuit that the plain- tiffs have sued to "bring to light the disturbing pattern of behavior it has been subjected to as a business operating in the town of Southington." The litigation was initially filed in state Superior Court in April, but was transferred in May to U.S. District Court, where it remains pending. The 21-page lawsuit alleges Southington and its officials caused intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress, and have violated the plaintiffs' constitutional rights to due process and equal protection. It seeks monetary damages. Sign Pro launched in 1990 as a sign-making business, and in 2014, it opened its primary retail and manu- facturing facility in Southington. All municipalities have permitting and zoning requirements related to signage and installation. The lawsuit says Sign Pro follows all requirements, but claims some of its competitors operate without necessary permits or licenses, which allows those competitors to charge less for their work. The lawsuit claims some South- ington town officials asked Sign Pro to bring violations — such as any companies installing signs without required licenses or permits — to their attention, which it did, from approximately 2019 to 2022. "In connection with these reports, Sign Pro simply asked that the town of Southington enforce its own rules," the lawsuit states. The litigation claims the town did not enforce its rules, and instead allowed companies violating licensing and permitting rules to "continue operating with impunity." The company asserts any signs installed without necessary permitting should be removed because improp- erly installed signs can pose a fire hazard or fall risk, such as if there is faulty wiring or improper mounting. 'Unexplained delays' Meanwhile, the lawsuit alleges the town and Pooler have "singled out Sign Pro for unfair treatment and harassment meant to harm" the company's business. It attributes this alleged harass- ment to retaliation because Sign Pro reported violators, "exposing (the defendants') incompetence." For example, it alleges South- ington officials retaliated by delaying and interfering with Sign Pro's expansion project. Sign Pro has its main retail and production facility at 60 Westfield Dr., which is visible from I-84. The business needed additional space, and in 2020, Sign Pro bought prop- erty nearby, at 161 Canal St., Plants- ville, to build a 15,000-square-foot industrial building to store material and equipment. The business submitted its plans to the town in October 2020, obtained permits and started construction, substantially completing the new facility in the summer of 2021. According to the lawsuit, Pooler in August 2021 conducted an inspection at 161 Canal St., and for the first time demanded that an automatic sprinkler system be installed. The lawsuit claims the defendants demanded multiple deviations from the approved plans for the Canal Street building, causing substantial delays and adding "hundreds of thousands of dollars" in costs. Sign Pro also claims the town has interfered with its work for clients in Southington. It alleges that other businesses' projects would be approved within three days, but it would take about a month, or some- times several months, for Sign Pro to get the same approvals. Sign Pro installed over 150 M&T Bank signs around Connecticut following M&T's acquisition of People's United Bank. According to the lawsuit, its M&T signs quickly passed inspections from building officials in all jurisdictions except for one — in Southington, for a branch at 1 Center St. For another job, at a Southington shopping plaza at 685 Queen St., Sign Pro's permit applications to replace signs and awnings were "subject to months of unexplained delays," the lawsuit claims. Pooler, reached via telephone in June, declined to comment on the litigation. He deferred comment to the town's Corporation Counsel, Alex J. Ricciardone, who did not respond to requests for comment. Peter Rappoccio, founder and president of Sign Pro Inc., poses outside the company's Plantsville headquarters at 60 Westfield Dr. PHOTO | MICHELLE TUCCITTO SULLO Bob Scinto Nick Bauer Growing CT e-commerce auto-parts dealer eyes new Milford HQ By Hanna Snyder Gambini hgambini@hartfordbusiness.com A Connecticut developer is looking to buy three Milford office properties owned by sandwich franchise giant Subway, and redevelop the area into a new multibuilding industrial/office campus for a local e-commerce auto-parts distributor. Robert Scinto, of Shelton-based R.D. Scinto Inc., said he is planning to buy the properties — at 330, 325 and 336 Sub Way — for an undis- closed sum "in the eight figures." The property at 325 Sub Way is the international sandwich-making company's current 90,000-square- foot headquarters. Subway, which has a dual headquarters in Miami, has announced plans to relocate in September to a Shelton corporate office space, also owned by Scinto. His plans call for demolishing the corporate headquarters building and erecting a new 160,000-square-foot distribution center. He would also renovate two buildings at 330 and 336 Sub Way, then lease the three-building campus to Milford-based FCP Euro, which sells auto-parts online to vehicle owners who do their own repairs. FCP Euro's customers are owners of BMW, Mercedes, Audi, Volkswagen, Volvo, Land Rover and Jaguar vehicles. The company currently runs opera- tions in two Milford locations, totaling 105,000 square feet, in the Hill Street Business Park and a leased warehouse along Bic Drive that has low-bay ceilings. The redeveloped campus would contain the new warehouse with 20 loading bays and higher ceilings to allow for more storage and distribution capabilities. It would also feature a renovated 45,000-square-foot corpo- rate office building, and a remodeled 25,000-square-foot production studio to make instructional videos for car owners to install parts. FCP Euro President and Founder Nick Bauer said he has been looking for a larger and more centralized facility since "the company has been growing steadily for the past 23 years, and we are out of space." Bauer said FCP is on track to reach $1 billion in revenue in the next five to seven years. The company has 245 employees, and Bauer said he antici- pates growing the staff as the distri- bution operation expands. Scinto estimates the entire project — building the new facility and reno- vating the smaller properties — will cost more than $20 million. He said it's more cost-effective to demolish the main Subway building instead of renovating because the office space was designed exclu- sively for the sandwich maker. "There's a lot of empty office space in Milford, the building has to be taken down," Scinto said. "New build- ings are very economical, and it's hard to find space," for manufacturing and distribution. AT A GLANCE Company: FCP Euro Industry: E-commerce auto-parts distributor Top Executives: Nick Bauer, President & Founder; Scott Drozd, CEO HQ: 155 Hill St., Milford Website: www.fcpeuro.com

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