Norwich — A string of events that starts Wednesday is likely to end in late spring with the closing of the popular Seafood Etc. take-out and seafood market at 646 Boswell Ave. as the facility celebrates its 30th anniversary in Greeneville.    

City officials are considering a zone change application submitted by Sound Garrett Acquisitions LLC of Trumbull asking to extend the commercial zone to encompass the entire one-acre parcel where Seafood Etc. stands.

The rear portion of Seafood Etc. currently is zoned for multifamily development. If the zone change is granted, the building would be torn down for a retail project.

The Commission on the City Plan will review the application at a special meeting at 11 a.m. Wednesday, and the City Council — which serves as the zoning board — will hold a public hearing April 4 on the application.

Sharon Clachrie, president of Seafood Etc. Inc., said it's time for her aging family to slow down and consolidate at the Pawcatuck Seafood Etc. at 2 S. Broad St. 

She said she cannot set a closure date for the Norwich facility until the zoning process is complete, but anticipates making an announcement later in spring.

“It's a bittersweet thing,” Clachrie said Monday from the Pawcatuck location. “Originally, there were five partners, and I'm the only one left. It's been 30 years up there in that spot.”

Seafood Etc., which once had several locations, was founded by Robert L. Shortman Sr. in 1977 at the original location in Groton.

The Pawcatuck store opened in February 1981 and a location in Norwichtown in 1978. Another location followed soon after in downtown Norwich and then on Boswell Avenue in 1986. All the other locations have since closed.

Clachrie's two sisters, Diane Harkness and Patty Wright, now run the Norwich location, with help from their brother Todd Shortman and employee Dave Segerstron.

Wright said Tuesday she has worked in the Norwich location for the past 22 years, and people often tease her about retiring.

“People come in and say 'You're not retired yet?'" the 63-year-old woman said. “Nobody knows when yet. ... A lot of customers are afraid to ask questions. They sort of know."

Seafood Etc. in Norwich features fresh and frozen seafood, prepared dishes — including seafood salad, seafood pot pies and tuna macaroni — and take-out baked and fried dinners, chowder, seafood gumbo and fritters. 

A couple of exotic items, frog legs and octopus, are favored by local ethnic groups, Wright said.

She said there's a close relationship between the owners and the customers, to the point where they even share recipes.

“We've gotten a lot of great recipes from our customers," she said.

Regular customers come from throughout the region to the nondescript Greeneville spot, its few picnic tables offering views of only the parking lot and passing vehicles at the busy Boswell Avenue-North Main Street junction.

But in summer, Seafood Etc. has been a regular stop for motorcycle runs that start in Massachusetts.

Regular customers from distant locations make monthly trips to stock their freezers with seafood, Wright said.

On Tuesday, one regular customer said he comes twice a week for a large container of seafood gumbo. Because he was traveling for work, the man declined to give his name. He said he was surprised to learn of the pending closure.

“I know a lot of guys who come here for seafood gumbo and everything else,” he said. “It's going to be a shame to see it go. ... There's not many places like this in the area.”

Wright recalled that when she was a young girl packed in the family station wagon for vacations, her father would talk about his dream of opening a seafood market and restaurant.

“And he did it,” she said.

Robert Shortman died Nov. 15, 2014, one day shy of his 85th birthday. A bulletin board tribute with dozens of photos is propped up on a table at the Norwich facility.

Shortman's business survived through hard economic times and a major fire at the Norwich location on June 27, 2009, that destroyed freezers and coolers full of fresh and frozen seafood ready for the July 4 holiday.

The restaurant had to be gutted, but the Shortmans reopened it in time for Christmas that year.

Now, Clachrie said, she is trying to get through the busy Lenten seafood season before planning the closure.

“There's no official date, because we're waiting for the zone change,” she said.

Clachrie said there's plenty of work in Pawcatuck for the family. That location has "more of the et cetera" in the business name, offering meats and other foods, she said.

That facility also offers fresh seafood and baked foods but doesn't have frying equipment. Clachrie said she is considering moving the Norwich frying equipment to Pawcatuck to continue that part of the business.

Wright said she expects many loyal customers will make their way 30 minutes south to the Pawcatuck facility, as well.

“When we had the fire, a lot of them did go down there,” Wright said.

c.bessette@theday.com