Norwich — Developers proposing a new retail building at the current site of Seafood Etc. first will seek a zoning variance to reduce the size of the parking lot and to reduce the buffer strip with an adjacent property.

Sound Development LLC, which has an option to purchase the Seafood Etc. property at 646 Boswell Ave., has applied for the variance with the Zoning Board of Appeals.

The developer plans to build a 9,120-square-foot retail building that would replace the restaurant building.

The board will hold a public hearing on the application at its 7 p.m. May 10 meeting at 23 Union St.

The variance would shrink the required parking for the project from 37 to 30 spaces, and would reduce the buffer with the neighboring multifamily property from 50 feet to 10 feet.

Sound Development cited the steep topography on the western one-third of the property as a hardship in seeking the variance.

The owners of Seafood Etc. plan to close the Norwich restaurant and seafood market and consolidate at their Pawcatuck location.