Developer BLT seeks new tax district to expand footprint in Stamford neighborhood
STAMFORD — Vines crawl up the industrial-era stoops of the abandoned multifamily homes that once embodied the character of the city’s South End.
The century-old homes across from the Lathon Wider Community Center have fallen into disrepair in recent years since they were purchased by developer Building and Land Technology. But talk of rehabilitation has suddenly intensified as the Harbor Point developer plans to further its reach in the neighborhood.BLT has made no secret of its sprawl outside the Harbor Point district, but as a battle brews over whether it can buy out of a city affordable-housing requirement, its end goal has become more clear. As BLT appears ready to gain control of another district around the train station, longtime residents are plying the Zoning Board with newfound urgency to require the developer to fix the homes after it has already razed nearly all of the others on the block.
The board is expected to discuss the issue Monday night, while the city will soon assess whether the homes are blighted. The homes, until last week, had never been reported to the city for blight, Interim Director of Operations Laura Burwick said.
Buying out, building up
The buyout plan, as presented by BLT, would prevent further erosion of the old neighborhood by providing no-interest loans for longtime low-income residents to repair their homes, or purchase new ones through the nonprofit Housing Development Fund.
In presentations, the developer has shown homes that could be included in the program, but has omitted the ones it owns that have fallen into disrepair. Several homes and businesses on the block have already been demolished, either by BLT or previous owners.
The city demolished a corner store on Atlantic Street for road expansion this year. The store also bore BLT’s fingerprints. The city took the store through eminent domain in January 2016 to make room for a new right-of-way, and the work was funded in part by the developer.
The developer’s slow assembly of the Henry Street block began that same month when BLT-owned limited-liability companies started buying parcels, city tax records show.
BLT now owns all but three parcels between Atlantic, Garden, Henry and Dock streets in the South End, and appears to have spent some $16 million on the assembly. The company also owns parcels across Garden Street, records show, and groups of homes elsewhere in the neighborhood.
City tax records and state business filings, however, do not paint a true cost or timeline.
For example, tax cards show a BLT-owned company in December purchased two apartment buildings — 118 and 120 Henry St. — for $1.8 million each from an LLC that is not listed by the state. BLT also bought several other parcels, records show, for $0. It is unclear whether the cost of the property was included in a different transaction, or if the land was free.
BLT Chief Operating Officer Ted Ferrarone declined to say how much the company spent on buying the block, other than calling it a “significant investment.”
Ferrarone said he was not aware of blight complaints filed Wednesday regarding five BLT-owned homes on Henry Street and one on Garden. “It's not our intention to own a blighted property,” he said.
Ferrarone said the company plans to build a mixed-use development on the site, but does not have a design for it.
He said BLT is considering another tax district that “would complete a lot of that important infrastructure work and tie up to the train station.”
Ferrarone said BLT wants to work with residents to save the Henry Street homes and feels the buyout is the best option for the neighborhood.
“We are trying to work with HDF to deploy a significant amount of capital into the neighborhood,” he said.
A growing Harbor Point?
Meanwhile, BLT’s play to expand the reach of its Harbor Point tax district at the expense of the old South End hasn’t gone unnoticed by Terry Adams, a city and state representative who is also president of the Neighborhood Revitalization Zone.
“You don’t know what they’re going to come up with next,” he said. “I don’t think all the cards are on the table. They give you the information that they want you to digest…you have to sit back and watch them.”
But some of the cards are now coming to light.
Earlier this summer, Gov. Dannel Malloy signed into law a special act that lays the groundwork for a new tax-increment financing district in the South End.
The act, which establishes a Transportation Center Improvement District, outlines a new area for which up to $250 million in bonds will be sold by a new public-private entity and used to enhance the blocks around the train station.
It was billed by city officials as the first step in what would spur development in the area. They did not mention that all of the land in the new district is likely already owned by BLT.
A draft map of the district’s boundaries, which Adams said he and other General Assembly members had not seen before they voted on a bill, shows the district is an exact outline of BLT’s newfound footprint.
Adams, who voted in favor of the bill, said it could have been a different outcome if assembly members were better informed.
The bill included three pages of information, including parcel numbers and cardinal directions defining the new district, but no visuals.
“We never saw a map, we never knew it was around one developer,” Adams said. “That would have been a different conversation.”
Michael Pollard, chief of staff for Mayor David Martin, said a map would have been included in the application for the special act. He said the act only allows for a new tax district to be created, but one has not yet been designed.
Until the district is designed, Pollard said the final product “is just speculation.” Pollard said he believes the transportation center is in the new district, and improvements there are what the city hopes to see.
A draft map obtained by the Stamford Advocate dated March 22 does not include the station.
In April, the General Assembly held a public hearing on the formation of the new district, but only Ferrarone and Martin submitted comments.
“The city of Stamford’s South End community has undergone an amazing $6 billion transformation over the last decade. Our commuting proximity to New York City and placement on the Boston-Washington Corridor results in the Stamford transportation center being strategically positioned for continued growth,” Martin wrote. “Stamford has diligently followed its Master Plan, which allows for structured controlled growth. This is evident in the development previously completed and new development currently underway.”The Board of Representatives, which would need to approve the formation of the new district, has not yet discussed it, said Charles Pia, co-chairman of the Land Use Committee, which would see it first.
Adams, along with other NRZ members and longtime residents, worry this is the beginning of BLT’s push into the old South End.
The developer is now finishing construction on 80 acres of industrial land it began a decade ago.
“They did industrial, now they’re penetrating the neighborhood,” Adams said. “Now they want to push the neighborhood out and put their own development up.”
Adams said he has mixed feelings on the proposal.
He has pressed Zoning and Planning board members to nix the buyout plan or at least use some of the money to fix the homes on Henry and Garden streets. But Adams said he is weary of BLT using money earmarked to create affordable housing to fix homes it already owns.
The block has been threatened of demolition before, and only a few homes and an old typewriter factory remain.
BLT’s two brick apartment buildings on Henry Street appear to be the only structures on the block with residents.
In spring 2016, BLT requested demolition permits for four homes on the corner of Henry and Garden and the empty former Blickensderfer factory.
A few months later, the company withdrew its applications after significant pushback from preservationists.
Sewers at last for Old Lyme beaches
An agreement executed in July allows three Old Lyme beach communities to hook into the East Lyme sewer system. This step finally marks the beginning of the end of the too-long and torturous route to eliminating environmental risks posed by septic systems in densely packed Old Lyme beach neighborhoods.
The agreement means wastewater from Old Colony Beach Club Association, Miami Beach Association and Old Lyme Shores Beach Association will flow through East Lyme and Waterford to New London, where it will be treated at the city’s treatment plant.
To say this arrangement has been a long time coming is an understatement. The environmental risks of aging septic systems on too-small lots in tidal zones and with less than ideal soil conditions, as is the case in several of Old Lyme’s beach communities, have been a topic of concern, discussion and debate for two decades. Even with the current agreement in place, however, it likely will take at least another two years of sewer design and construction before beach homes will begin tying into a sewer system.
In addition, it probably will take longer to eliminate septic systems in the seasonally bustling Sound View neighborhood. The town continues to inch forward with a process that could eventually bring sewers to that community, as well as some areas located north of Route 156. While officials are committed to progressing with the plan, the process to fruition is painstaking.
The next steps: a public information meeting on the plan is scheduled Aug. 16 and, at some point in the future, a referendum for voters to decide on accepting the proposal to extend sewers to Sound View.
While that means much more time will pass before septic systems really are a thing of the past at Old Lyme beach neighborhoods, the environmental message seems clear and the potential threat continues to be dire. In an Environmental Impact Evaluation, the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection wrote about the Sound View area that, “On-site wastewater systems in the Town Sub-Areas have been problematic for decades because of a combination of factors including the age and condition of these systems, soils that drain too fast and are subject to tidal influence, shallow groundwater, small lots, and excessive development. Coupled with these conditions, the threat of intense storms and rising seasonal high ground waters are expected to further diminish the effectiveness of these systems for proper subsurface wastewater renovation.”
The cost to bring sewers to Sound View will be pricey: an estimated $7.4 million following a state grant. This would mean an individual cost of some $27,600 apiece to property owners, plus another $440 annually for operations and maintenance.
Still, the risks far outweigh these costs. The public health threats of fouled drinking water and contaminated beaches are real. Old Lyme residents and officials must continue pushing forward to the day when beach homes and businesses in areas at a high risk for septic failures are all connected to a sewer system.
Quantum's latest Southington energy-saver
Southington's Quantum Biopower, which last year launched Connecticut's first-ever anaerobic digestion facility in town, has installed a rooftop solar array it says will reduce its headquarters' electricity demand and save money.
Hartford's Commercial Solar Works installed the 6,250-square-foot, array atop Quantum's building at 49 Depaolo Drive.
Quantum says the system has a capacity of 72 kilowatts and is expected to produce 101,020 kilowatt hours of electricity a year -- enough to power about 200 homes.
The state Public Utilities Regulatory Authority certified the system as a Class I renewable energy source on July 20, allowing it generate valuable energy credits, under the state's Zero Emissions Renewable Energy Credit (ZREC) program.
Quantum's anaerobic digestion diverts 40,000 tons of food waste per year for Connecticut's waste stream, decomposing it into a biogas that is combusted to produce electricity. Quantum also generates organic compost from the process.
OSHA Announces $10.5M in Funding for Susan Harwood Training Grants to Support Worker Safety, Health
The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration will publish in tomorrow's Federal Register three Susan Harwood Training Grants funding opportunity announcements for Targeted Topic Training Grants, Training and Educational Materials Development Grants, and Capacity Building Grants. A total of $10.5 million is available for nonprofit organizations including community and faith-based organizations, employer associations, labor unions, joint labor/management associations, Indian tribes, and colleges and universities.
The grant program supports the creation of in-person, hands-on training and educational programs including the development of materials for workers and employers in small businesses; industries with high injury, illness and fatality rates; and vulnerable workers, who are underserved, have limited English proficiency or are temporary workers. The grants will fund training and education for workers and employers to help them identify and prevent workplace safety and health hazards.
Targeted Topic Training grants support the development of quality training and educational programs that focus on identifying and preventing workplace hazards. The Targeted Topic Training grants require applicants to address the occupational safety and health hazards designated by OSHA in the grant announcement.
Training and Educational Materials Development grants support the development of quality classroom-ready training and educational materials that focus on identifying and preventing workplace hazards.
Capacity Building grants support organizations in developing new ability for conducting occupational safety and health training programs. An organization may apply for one of two Capacity Building grants: Capacity Building Pilot or Capacity Building Developmental grants. Capacity Building pilot grants assist organizations in assessing their training development needs as they formulate a capacity-building plan before moving forward with a full-scale safety and health education program. Capacity Building Developmental grants focus on developing new capacity of an organization to provide safety and health training and education. Capacity Building Developmental grant recipients will have the opportunity to continue building their new capacity with up to three additional 12-month follow-on grants, based on satisfactory performance.
Learn more about the funding announcement and register to apply at Grants.gov. Applicants must also register in the System for Award Management, and possess a “D-U-N-S” number. D-U-N-S is a unique, nine-digit identification number for each of a business's physical locations. Businesses seeking federal government grants or contracts may obtain their D-U-N-S number free-of-charge from Dun & Bradstreet.
Submission Deadline
Harwood applications must be submitted online no later than 11:59 p.m. EDT on Sunday, Sept. 2, 2018.
Read more about the Susan Harwood Training Grant Program. The public may email questions about the program to the Susan Harwood Coordinator at harwoodgrants@dol.gov or call 847-759-7700, extension 7926.
Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces for their employees. OSHA's role is to help ensure these conditions for America's working men and women by setting and enforcing standards, and providing training, education and assistance. For more information, visit https://www.osha.gov/.
Eversource to conduct aerial #inspections of equipment
To help ensure customers have reliable power, Eversource Energy is conducting aerial inspections of high-voltage electrical equipment in Connecticut using a helicopter with special heat-sensing imaging equipment.
The overhead inspections allow the energy company to cover vast distances while capturing images not visible to the naked eye. These images identify potential problems with electric lines and related equipment, so the company can make any necessary repairs or upgrades before possible reliability issues arise.
“With more than 800 miles of transmission rights of way in Connecticut, these helicopter inspections are a crucial and effective part of our commitment to reducing the frequency and duration of power outages,” said Craig Hallstrom, president of regional electric operations.
“Well over a million customers in Connecticut depend on us for their electric service. To ensure they have energy for every moment of their lives, we’re continuously working to keep the electric system operating safely and reliably.”
Weather-permitting, these aerial inspections will start Monday and continue through Aug. 17. They will take place from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., covering the following area cities and towns: Beacon Falls, Bethlehem, Bristol, Cheshire, Harwinton, Litchfield, Middlebury, Naugatuck, New Hartford, New Milford, Oxford, Plymouth, Roxbury, Salisbury, Southington, Thomaston, Washington, Waterbury, Watertown, Wolcott and Woodbury.For identification purposes, the helicopter being used for Eversource’s transmission line inspections is a blue and silver Bell, with a registration number N1431W.