Mohegan — Preston residents and regional leaders got their first looks Tuesday at poster boards with renderings of the proposed $200 million to $600 million development plans by the Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority for the former Norwich Hospital property in Preston.
Renderings of the plan were propped against closed curtains in the Royal Suite on the 35th floor of the Sky Tower Hotel on Tuesday, and when tribal, state and Preston leaders were finished at the podium, the curtains were opened to reveal the land across the Thames River where the project is envisioned. The 393-acre former state mental illness institution has sat vacant since 1996, its buildings decaying and collapsing.
The two poster boards on display show a marina at the river’s edge, timeshare units overlooking the river and Mohegan Sun across the river, hotels and retail space also on the land that was the main campus of the former Norwich Hospital. To the east of Route 12, where the property slopes up to large wooded tracts, an outdoor adventure park, an indoor water park, a large theme park of about 40 acres and a “snowflex” synthetic ski area would occupy the high ridge, with a “glamping” — glamour camping — facility to the north, at the Norwich border.
A public park along the Thames River would provide public access to the waterfront area, although active freight rail tracks cut off much of the riverfront. An approved rail crossing remains intact in one spot.
Not shown but also envisioned is a ferry that would carry patrons across the Thames River to Mohegan Sun, said Paul Tresnan, director of program management for the gaming authority.
The project could turn the region into a "destination," officials said Tuesday.
The renderings show the plan to preserve the oldest former hospital structure, the so-called Administration Building the town has left standing in the hopes of seeing it refurbished. The existing adjacent historical Jewish cemeteries also would be protected and buffered from development, tribal planners said Tuesday.
And the two sites where two World War II fighter planes crashed in a training flight in the wooded eastern hill of the property also would be preserved, perhaps with a memorial.
During a Tuesday evening presentation for the Planning and Zoning Commission and about 40 residents and town officials, Tresnan said the tribal authority plans to retain ownership of the property, while soliciting development proposals for its major components, including a large entertainment retailer, such as Bass Pro Shops or Cabela's, hotels, and more specialized developments. Tresnan said a group that works with the tribe's Pennsylvania property develops year-round synthetic skiing venues.
"Are you planning some sort of gondola going across the river?" resident Mike Clancy asked during public comment period Tuesday evening.
"That's a good idea," Tresnan responded. He added that the tribal authority definitely wants a connection across the river by ferry or water shuttle.
Tresnan said a rough schedule would have tribal and town leaders completing approvals of the Property Disposition and Development Agreement in the coming weeks. Public informational meetings tentatively are scheduled for Feb. 2 and 4, with a town meeting on Feb. 9 and referendum tentatively planned for Feb. 21.
If the plan is approved, the town and tribe would sign the agreement, releasing $10 million in state bond money pledged by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy on Tuesday to complete the environmental cleanup of the property. The tribe would take over ownership of the property once the cleanup, estimated to take about a year, is completed. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Stonington commission holds hearing on Perkins Farm master plan
Mystic — The Stonington Planning and Zoning Commission began a public hearing Tuesday night on a master plan to develop nearly half of 71 acres of the former Perkins Farm off Jerry Browne Road into a medical and academic campus with apartments and condominiums, a project that would easily become the town’s largest taxpayer.
Developer David Lattizori told the commission that development of the farm was more than a decade in the making, first under his father. He said that 18 months ago he was a week away from selling the site, which had an approval for a 36-lot subdivision of single-family homes. He said that project would have created no permanent jobs and a net loss of tax revenue a year of $260,000, primarily because of the cost to educate children who would have lived there.
Lattizori has said it was then that a retired doctor, who lives at StoneRidge retirement community across the street, suggested the idea of a project with a geriatric health component. He then began meeting with a committee of StoneRidge residents to discuss the project with them and gain their support.
He told the commission Tuesday that now the town is on the verge of approving a project that would pay an estimated $1.3 million a year in taxes to the town, provide hundreds of well-paying jobs and high-quality medical care for an aging community and housing for young people and empty nesters.
“And we’ll be able to accomplish all of that by saving 50 percent of the farm,” he said. “I’m confident this is a plan that is not just economically feasible to build but will be successful in the marketplace.”
Lattizori listed the many officials and groups that have endorsed the project, such as the town’s Economic Development Commission, Conservation Commission, Water Pollution Control Authority, Avalonia Land Conservancy, Denison Pequotsepos Nature Center and the StoneRidge retirement community.
But he said the one endorsement he cherishes the most came from a member of the Perkins family who told him the family supports the project after seeing him outline it at a hearing last year to create a new zone for the project. Lattizori said he intends to name the project the Perkins Farm Campus in honor of the family legacy in town.
The hearing still was continuing as of 9 p.m. Tuesday night.
If the commission approves the master plan, Lattizori would then have to submit detailed site plans for approval, which would require another round of hearings.
The plan calls for 90,000 square feet of medical office space in five one- and two-story buildings. There would also be one 10,000-square-foot academic research building. The plan also calls for one apartment building with 121 units and 50 three-bedroom townhouses spread among 13 buildings.
His development team showed the commission numerous renderings of the project Tuesday night and detailed traffic plans, parking, architecture, drainage, landscaping and other issues. The road system is private so the town will not have to pay to maintain the roads.
The application’s economic analysis states the project would produce $1.3 million in annual tax revenue for the town, about as much as the town’s two current biggest taxpayers, StoneRidge and Connecticut Light & Power, pay combined. After the estimated education expenses for students expected to live in the project, the project would produce $823,000 a year in taxes. It also would generate $118,000 a year in sewer use fees. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Guilford Board of Selectmen say no to Shoreline Greenway Trail
GUILFORD >> After more than 500 residents signed a petition opposing the construction of a Shoreline Greenway Trail in town until a detailed map and plan was publicly available, the Board of Selectmen voted against approving the $840,000 project.
During a special meeting Tuesday, the board defeated a plan to build a 0.7-mile Shoreline Greenway Trail that would run along the south shoulder of Route 1 from the Madison town line to the Route 146 intersection. The trail was slated to be part of a 25-mile continuous path starting from Lighthouse Point in New Haven, through East Haven, Branford and Guilford to Hammonasset Beach State Park in Madison. First Selectman Joseph Mazza, Selectmen Carl Balestracci and Gary MacElhiney and Selectwoman Cynthia Cartier voted against approving the project. Selectman Charles Havrda abstained from voting. The decision was met with applause from the more than 25 residents who attended Tuesday’s meeting. “There is no plan, there is no map and there should be no approval,” Guilford resident Nona Bloomer said. “This first SGT intrusion into Guilford, which I am repeating myself, would have irretrievably provided the SGT directors with a permanent propaganda springboard catapulting their unplanned recreational thruway toward Branford along our fragile Shoreline section-by-section.”
Tuesday’s decision comes more than two months after more than 300 residents attended a public hearing to express their opinions on the trail. During November’s public hearing, 57 people spoke in favor or against the path that would have allowed residents to walk, bike and wheel to the town’s center safely. But after abutting property owners and neighboring residents raised concerns about the financial burden the trail’s upkeep would have on taxpayers and the possibility that historic property would be destroyed during construction, the Board of Selectmen agreed the proposed location was not the proper site for a bikeway.During a 2 Comments, Havrda said that while the 0.7-mile Shoreline Greenway Trail segment would give pedestrians access to the town’s center, it was the wrong plan at the wrong place at the wrong time. Rather than constructing a Shoreline Greenway Trail along Route 1, board members suggested it would be in the town’s favor to consider an alternative design that would cater to Guilford residents’ needs.The 0.7-mile trail would have been entirely funded by state and federal grants — the federal government committed $484,000, the state provided $121,000 and the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection gave $270,000 — and was estimated to cost $840,055 to construct.To receive the federal grant, Mazza previously said the town had to match it 20 percent, or $121,000. Rather than paying for the 20 percent match using the town’s checkbook, the Shoreline Greenway Trail organization applied for and was awarded a state DEEP grant for $121,000. The Shoreline Greenway Trail organization also received a $270,000 Recreational Trails grant from the state DEEP to fund the creation of a bikeway in Guilford. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE