New London Wins 10-Year Commitment For Northeast Offshore Deal on State Pier
Cate Hewitt HARTFORD — State officials announced today the signing of a Host City Agreement between New London and a joint venture of Ørsted and Eversource that includes a 10-year commitment paying the city an average of at least $1 million each year during offshore wind operations at State Pier.
“Today’s agreement makes Connecticut’s role as a leader in the offshore wind industry official, with New London now poised to become the premier commercial east coast hub for this sector and our state set to become a leader in the transition to renewable energy and the fight against climate change,” Gov. Ned Lamont said. “This project represents exactly what I have wanted to see at the local level since I came into office – local investment, job growth, development, and a focus on providing for a better environment and future for our state.”
New London Mayor Michael Passero, whose dogged advocacy has at times called into question the possibility of a deal, praised the agreement.
“The city has worked tirelessly to reach an agreement that benefits the taxpayers of New London as the host city for the State Pier’s use for offshore wind development,” said Passero in a statement. “It is exciting for the city to partner with the stat on its commitment to increasing clean renewable energy for Connecticut residents, and we look forward to economic growth opportunities for New London and the region as the offshore wind industry continues to grow. I would like to thank Governor Lamont for his leadership on this important project, and for his commitment to New London and Southeast Connecticut.”
The long-awaited agreement includes the potential for $250,000 to $750,000 each year in additional funding for New London if the joint venture, called Northeast Offshore or NEO, meets specific energy thresholds with the state.
For each of the first seven years, from 2022 to 2028, Northeast Offshore has agreed to pay the city $750,000 — a number significantly greater than the two-year “voluntary” annual contribution of $750,000 offered by the venture during a public rollout of the plan in New London on Sept. 19, 2019.
Beginning in 2024, NEO will also pay the city for power purchase agreements awarded from the state. The fee structure includes an annual payment to the city of $250,000, $500,000 or $750,000 for power purchase agreement awards totaling 800 megawatts, 1,200 megawatts and 1,600 megawatts respectively.
In addition, the Connecticut Port Authority will pay the city an annual minimum revenue sharing fee of $50,000 from 2019 to 2023, that will increase to $69,000 from 2024 to 2028. The port authority will also pay an annual incremental revenue sharing fee projected to total between $62,000 and $109,000 each year from 2022 to 2028.
Gateway Terminal, the port operator as of May 2, 2019, will also pay the city an annual fee, beginning retroactively in 2019, of $75,000 each year, a fear that increases by 2 percent each year to $89,632 in 2028.
The agreement is in addition to a payment in lieu of taxes from the State of Connecticut reimbursing the city for the tax exempt property, said Kosta Diamantis, the deputy secretary of the state. Those funds were previously estimated at $125,000 each year, but Diamantis said the amount could vary over the 10-year deal.
Passero makes a deal, and uses all his skills doing it
Paul Choiniere As the late Kenny Rogers sang in "The Gambler" − "You've got to know when to hold 'em. Know when to fold 'em. Know when to walk away."
On Friday, New London Mayor Michael Passero walked away with a pretty good deal for his city.
But, I suspect, the mayor realized that if he pushed his luck much further, he could have walked away empty handed.
For the past year, Passero had sought assurances that New London would see a fair and reliable revenue stream to city coffers as a result of the massive development that is intended to turn State Pier from an underutilized port into a busy hub for the assembly of wind-power turbine parts and their transport to offshore wind farms.
The mayor's aspirations were complicated by the fact State Pier is state property, and so not subject to property taxation. And under the public-private partnership negotiated with the developers, the heavy-lift cranes and other infrastructure to be constructed will also be untaxable state property.
New London had anticipated $1.2 million to $1.4 million would annually flow to the city as a result of the project. This was calculated from a combination of state subsidies to partially offset the pier's tax-exempt status, payments from the Connecticut Port Authority and port operater Gateway, and revenues from developer North East Offshore in accordance with the Host Community Agreement.
But later calculations showed the city falling about $450,000 short of that expectation, primarily because the city had counted on state PILOT funds − payments in lieu of taxes − increasing as the State Pier assessment grew with new construction. Instead, the administration learned, PILOT aid could remain frozen at the current $125,000, a measly 12.5% of the property's assessed value, unless the legislature approved an increase.
Passero, a retired city firefighter who earned a law degree during his time in the department, turned to a legal term to explain how all the parties had miscalculated the expectant revenue that would flow to the city.
"It was mutual mistake of fact," said Passero.
North East Offshore, made up of the Ørsted/Eversource partnership, did not see it as its job to boost the funding available through the Host Community Agreement because Connecticut was shorting New London on PILOT funds. And the administration of Gov. Ned Lamont gave no signs it was ready to offer any guarantees. The stalemate dragged for months.
Passero saw as his bargaining chip the Master Development Plan for the property, developed in the 1990s by agreement of the city and state to govern development at State Pier and the surrounding 125 acres. Not surprisingly, it envisions nothing like the major overhaul of the port in support of wind development as now planned. Amending or repealing the MDP would require the city's agreement, Passero contended, and he wasn't prepared to give it unless the compensation issue was settled.
Which brings us to Friday, with the proceedings for the necessary Department of Energy and Environmental Protection permits set to begin and the city ready to press its case that the project was not in compliance with the MDP.
That appeared to provide a sense of urgency, leading to the deal. As a result of talks last week, North East Offshore agreed to amend the Host Community Agreement and boost its guaranteed minimum payments to the city to $750,000 a year for at least seven years and up to 10 years. These are significantly higher amounts than originally guaranteed, but do not entirely close the gap Passero had sought to fill. But if Ørsted/Eversource wins additional wind-power contracts, payments could reach $1.5 million annually.
In return for the increased payments, New London has withdrawn any objections involving the MDP and will cooperate in either amending it, dissolving it, or establishing its legal compliance with the planned project, whichever proves necessary.
"As of that signature, I am a cheerleader for the project," said Passero, referencing the revised host-community deal.
Passero could have pushed harder. He had reached out to the Lamont administration to, as part of a grand bargain, also dissolve the MDP for Fort Trumbull, which the mayor said only makes development there more difficult. The governor had no interest and Passero opted to fold on that one. Likewise, he decided not to hold out for assurances of greater aid to the city.
Had Passero overplayed his hand, and endangered the project, it could have proved to be a million-dollar mistake, annually, not counting the jobs and economic development that would have been lost.
But more aid may yet flow to New London for State Pier. In the state legislature, Sen. Paul Formica, a Republican whose 20th District includes New London, has introduced legislation that would direct $400,000 annually to New London as compensation for the pier facility that it cannot tax. The legislation mirrors existing law that directs $1 million annually to the city in lieu of the taxes that are lost because it hosts the U.S. Coast Guard Academy.
Sen. Cathy Osten, a Democrat representing the 19th District and co-chair of the Appropriations Committee, said a more likely source of added revenue could come from a movement, within the Democratic caucus, to boost PILOT funds across the board.
Passero seemed to need all his skills in this high-stakes poker game − the politician using the media to apply pressure, the lawyer utilizing the MDP for legal leverage, and the firefighter getting in and out of the burning building before the floor let go.
New Milford seeks affordable housing plan
NEW MILFORD — New Milford is looking for a new affordable housing plan, with the hopes of increasing the town’s affordable housing from its current share of roughly 4.7 percent.
The initiative couldn’t come at a better time, officials
said
Recently, New Milford Affordable Housing has been getting
calls about younger people who are struggling with mental health and having a
hard time finding suitable housing, said Mary Jane Lundgren, a town council
member and president of the nonprofit.
New Milford’s lack of homeless shelters means that those
unable to secure housing end up at the Danbury shelter, she said.
“I just think it’s going to get a lot worse with COVID,”
Lundgren said. “There’s just no question that a lot of people are really
falling behind to the point where they’re going to be homeless.”
The purchasing department is accepting applications from
professional planners and consulting firms ready to develop the plan. The
proposal must outline a plan to evaluate demographics, resources, and future
housing needs, and then determine a strategy and recommendations for the town.
A $15,000 state grant will help fund the selected proposal,
but a price tag won’t be finalized until a winner is declared.
“We kind of wanted to take stock of where we are,” said
Mayor Pete Bass, of the plan.
They’re focused on providing workforce housing and homes to
those who can’t afford New Milford prices. About 400 condo units have already
been pre-approved for construction, but haven’t yet been built. Bass said he hopes
a new proposal will remedy this.
Over 75 percent of houses in New Milford are single-family
homes, and more than half of renters are “cost-burdened,” said Michele
Shackelford, coordinator for healthy, efficient and diverse housing for
Sustainable CT in the town.
Current affordable housing options for residents include two
complexes run by New Milford Affordable Housing and units at another
developer’s property.
“There is a big need,” Lundgren said.
She said the nonprofit has a waiting list of people
interested in their affordable and supportive units.
“We’ll never be empty,” she said
The state has encouraged municipalities to meet a 10 percent
threshold for affordable housing stock, with the aim of getting towns to
improve their margins. This type of plan would help put New Milford on the road
toward alignment with this goal.
As a member of Sustainable CT, a voluntary state
certification program, participating municipalities including New Milford must
have an affordable housing plan in place by Aug. 1. While Bass has been
spearheading the initiative with the state grant, Shackelford said the mayor’s
plans align with their own Sustainable CT goals.
Several other towns in Litchfield County have also started
creating their own affordable housing initiatives, including Warren,
Washington, and the Salisbury area.
Shackelford said the initiative would also help attract
younger people to the area and allow older couples to downsize.
“We are rapidly aging and we’re not replacing individuals
with young families,” she said.
In the next 10 to 20 years, Shackelford said they expect a
17 percent decrease in school-age children in New Milford, and roughly the same
increase in households with adults in their 50s.
While the purchasing department could not confirm the number
of proposals they’ve received from bidders, purchasing specialist Valerie Douglass
said they’re very happy with the interest they’ve seen so far.
The request for proposals will expire next Thursday, and by
March 11, the town will award the contract to one of the bidders. A tentative
project completion date has been set for June 30.
Bass is also focused on making sure future housing plans
keep with the “charm and character” of the town.
“That’s why people come to move here,” he said. “It’s
because of our beautiful downtown, our parks, our trails.”
Proposed bill takes aim at DOT’s tree-cutting practices along CT highways
Brianna Gurciullo After local environmentalists and residents raised concerns about tree removal along the state’s highways, state lawmakers who represent Greenwich and Stamford proposed legislation to rein in “unnecessary tree pruning and removal” and restrict the use of “clear cutting.”
The recently proposed bill from state Sen. Alex Kasser,
D-Greenwich, and state Rep. Stephen Meskers, D-Greenwich, suggests forming
guidelines that would conserve urban forests and examine how the Connecticut
Department of Transportation manages trees along highways and railroads.
“Any adjustments and improvements we do to clearing lines of
sight, fixing drainage, repairing the roads have an impact on quality-of-life
issues,” said Meskers, who represents Greenwich’s shoreline. “So I’m trying to
get a comprehensive review of vegetation management.”
State Rep. Matt Blumenthal, D-Stamford and a co-sponsor of
the bill, said he wants to ensure that DOT takes into account environmental and
community concerns before taking down trees.
“We’d like to create, with this bill, a process by which the
DOT, before it cuts down or prunes trees in any significant way, would have to
engage with the community on it, so that we’re not seeing the clear-cutting
that we have seen in some places,” Blumenthal said.
Another co-sponsor, state Rep. David Michel, D-Stamford,
said that dead trees may need to be removed for safety reasons, but he said he
supports the establishment of standards for vegetation management.
“It’s OK to clear dead trees, right? But to clear the other
trees that hold the ground and forest together and help with stormwater and
water absorption — there are several problems that could come from that, like
flooding on the road,” Michel said.
Many residents and groups including the Greenwich Tree
Conservancy have lamented the tree-cutting along
the Metro-North Railroad tracks and I-95 in both Greenwich and
Stamford. The Tree Conservancy has also complained about tree-trimming
by Eversource in the past.
Mostly recently, the Tree Conservancy zeroed in on a construction
project along I-95 that is expected to begin in fall 2022. During
a public information
meeting last month, a consulting engineer on the project said about 2
acres of trees would be removed from along over 6.6 miles of highway from
Greenwich into Stamford.
“Our approach to this is to really minimize any
tree-clearing along this corridor,” said Tony Margiotta of GM2 Associates. “But
we unfortunately do require some selective tree clearing to improve the site
distance, for example, around the corner of a curve.”
A number of trees would also be taken down to make way for
work on drainage improvements along I-95, Margiotta said. In addition, crews
would remove limbs that are hanging over the highway.
Those involved in the project are “looking to incorporate
vegetative buffers” in the plans, said Neil Patel from DOT.
“Of course, they have to be in coordination with our
maintenance operations and where feasible,” Patel said. “So we will be looking
at that as we go forward with our design.”
JoAnn Messina, executive director of the Greenwich Tree
Conservancy, said the combination of past events and the plans for I-95 has
prompted the group to press for “legislation to control DOT.”
The Tree Conservancy has proposed language for the bill,
which has been referred
to the Joint Committee on Environment. In sum, the group wants a group of
forestry experts to develop guidelines for vegetation management that DOT would
be required to follow, Messina said.
“And then we generally would like to get into a situation
where Connecticut DOT, for lack of a better way to say it, pays attention to
many of the climate change suggestions that have come from” Gov. Ned
Lamont’s Council
on Climate Change, she said.
“Everything you read, trees are what is going to help with
climate change, and here you have an arm of our state government just
clear-cutting, cutting down all of our trees that can assist,” Messina said.
“We don’t think they’re mutually exclusive. We can have
trees along roadways — which help with flooding, which help with carbon
sequestration, which help with all of the things, all the benefits that trees
give — as well as having safe railways and roadways,” she said.
The Riverside Association, a neighborhood group in
Greenwich, has also complained that the plans for the I-95 project lack
proposals for noise barriers — which Meskers said he is also
monitoring.
Meskers said he believes the vegetation management bill
would resonate with some of his colleagues. In the meantime, he has been part
of conversations with Greenwich First Selectman Fred Camillo, the I-95 project
managers and state Transportation Commissioner Joseph Giulietti about the
issue.
“I think just the proposal of the bill, and the concern that
we’ve expressed at the municipal level, and through our representatives — I’ve
been impressed so far with the speed of a response that I’m comfortable that
our concerns have been heard,” Meskers said. “And I’m awaiting further dialogue
to address and solve the outstanding issues.”
The proposed bill’s other co-sponsors include Reps. Kimberly
Fiorello, R-Greenwich; Harry Arora, R-Greenwich; Michael D’Agostino, D-Hamden;
and Josh Elliott, D-Hamden.
The Connecticut House of Representatives has approved legislation that would give tax breaks to companies that develop new data centers in the state.
The House voted 133-13 to send the data center legislation
to the state Senate, which is expected to take up the measure next week.
“We do think it’s a great industry and is something
businesses look at when they consider whether they want to move to our state,”
Department of Economic and Community Development David Lehman said Thursday.
Governor Ned Lamont said the data center legislation, if
passed, will encourage increased economic development for the state. It’s hoped
job growth will not only come from the additional data centers, but also from
industry attracted to the state by a robust data infrastructure.
“Seeing the Connecticut House of Representatives approve
this measure in a bipartisan way is exactly what our residents want to see when
it comes to our commitment to economic growth and continuing our Connecticut
comeback,” Lamont said in a statement. “Data centers are the backbone of the
digital age, and with this growing need, we are witnessing a significant period
of national growth to build these infrastructures and create the corresponding
jobs that support their operations. Connecticut needs to get in the game and
bring this industry to our state.”
Under the terms of the legislation, data centers will be
required to be located in federally recognized opportunity zones, which will
help boost the development of economically distressed areas.
“There is a significant amount of grand list growth for the
communities that host these centers,” Lehman said.
At the same time, he said, companies that develop these data
centers will avail themselves of savings on sales and use taxes for a period of
20 to 30 years. The length of the period during which data center developers
will not have to pay these taxes depends upon the size of their investments,
according to Lehman.
“Companies that invest $200 million or more won’t have to
pay these taxes for 20 years,” he said. “Companies that invest $400 million or
more won’t have to pay these taxes for 30 years.”
Connecticut already has between five and 10 data centers,
Lehman said. But the existing centers are largely aging facilities, he added.
A new data center being developed in what was once part of
the famed Stanley Works manufacturing center in New Britain is slowly moving
closer to reality, according to the city’s economic development director
William Carroll. The data center is the centerpiece of what is called an energy
and innovation park that was first announced in 2019.
“It hit a snag with COVID-19, but it has gotten back on
track,” Carroll said. “We expect demolition work to begin in the next 60 days.”
Full build-out of the Energy and Innovation Park is expected
to generate more than 3,000 primary and secondary jobs over a 10-year period,
according to officials with the company that is developing the facility.
Officials with EIP LLC were not available Thursday to
comment on when construction work on the New Britain data center might start.
Biden team readies wider economic package after virus relief
KEVIN FREKING, HOPE YEN and JOSH BOAK WASHINGTON - Looking beyond the $1.9 trillion COVID relief bill, President Joe Biden and lawmakers are laying the groundwork for another top legislative priority - a long-sought boost to the nation's roads, bridges and other infrastructure that could run into Republican resistance to a hefty price tag.
Biden and his team have begun discussions on the possible outlines of an infrastructure package with members of Congress, particularly mindful that Texas' recent struggles with power outages and water shortages after a brutal winter storm present an opportunity for agreement on sustained spending on infrastructure.
Republicans say if the White House approach on the COVID relief bill - which passed the House Saturday on a near party-line vote and now heads to the Senate - is a sign of things to come for Biden's plan on infrastructure and other initiatives, it could be a difficult road ahead in Congress.
A White House proposal could come out in March.
"Now is the time to be aggressive," said Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, a former South Bend, Indiana, mayor who knows potholes.
At a conference with state and local highway officials Thursday, he referred to the often-promised, never-achieved mega-initiative on roads, bridges and the like from the Trump administration.
"I know you are among those who are working and waiting most patiently, or maybe impatiently, for the moment when Infrastructure Week will no longer be a kind of Groundhog's Day promise - but actually be something that delivers generational investments," he said.
Much of America's infrastructure - roads, bridges, public drinking and water systems, dams, airports, mass transit systems and more - is in need of major restoration after years of underfunding, according to the American Society of Civil Engineers. In its 2017 Infrastructure Report Card, it gave the national infrastructure an overall grade of D+.
Both chambers of Congress will use as starting points their unsuccessful efforts to get infrastructure bills through the last session.
Democrats passed a $1.5 trillion package in the House last year, but it went nowhere with the Trump administration and the Republican-led Senate. A Senate panel approved narrower bipartisan legislation in 2019 focused on reauthorizing federal transportation programs. It, too, flamed out as the U.S. turned its focus to elections and COVID-19.
Biden has talked bigger numbers, and some Democrats are now urging him to bypass Republicans in the closely divided Congress to address a broader range of priorities urged by interest groups.
During the presidential campaign, Biden pledged to deploy $2 trillion on infrastructure and clean energy, but the White House has not ruled out an even higher price tag.
Pointing to the storm in Texas as a "wake-up call" for the need to improve energy systems and other infrastructure, Gina McCarthy, Biden's national climate adviser, told The Associated Press that Biden's plan will specifically aim at green and other initiatives that promote job creation. She cited as an example federal investments to boost "workers that have been left behind" by closed coal mines or power plants, as well as communities located near polluting refineries and other hazards.
"He's been a long fan of investing in infrastructure - long outdated - long overdue, I should say," White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Thursday. "But he also wants to do more on caregiving, help our manufacturing sector, do more to strengthen access to affordable health care. So the size - the package - the components of it, the order, that has not yet been determined."
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, recently told the White House that he's ready to use the budget maneuver known as reconciliation to pass a broad economic recovery package with only Democratic votes. That drew stern warnings from Republicans, who have already closed ranks against Democrats' COVID-19 relief bill.
"They made a conscious decision not to include us," said Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., on Sunday, calling the White House's assertion that the views of Republicans were taken into account with the COVID bill a "joke."
Cassidy, one of 10 centrist Republicans who met with Biden in early February about getting bipartisan support on that bill, said Biden "so far has been about rhetoric" when it comes to his pledge of seeking unity and bipartisanship. He called it worrisome for other legislative initiatives.
"Republicans remain willing and are working on issues that require bipartisan cooperation," he told CNN's "State of the Union."
West Virginia Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, a Republican who will be helping to craft legislation on the Senate side, said there's bipartisan support for ambitious steps on infrastructure. But that "should not extend to a multitrillion-dollar package that is stocked full with other ideologically driven, one-size-fits-all policies that tie the hands of our states and our communities," said Capito, the ranking member on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.
Rep. Peter DeFazio, chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, told the AP that he foresees a comprehensive House package that will go beyond roads, bridges and public transit. He also expects it to have money for water systems, broadband and the power grid - addressing a weak infrastructure laid bare after the crippling blackouts in Texas.
He's not ready to talk overall costs yet. DeFazio, D-Ore., said it will be up to the Biden administration and the House Ways and Means Committee to figure out how to pay for it.
DeFazio said General Motors' recently announced goal of going largely electric by 2035 demonstrates the need for massive spending on charging stations across the country. Biden campaigned on a plan to install 500,000 charging stations by the end of 2030.
"I'm totally willing to work with (Republicans) if they're willing to recognize climate change," DeFazio said, "or if they don't want to recognize climate change, they can just recognize that electric semis and electric vehicles are a flood on the horizon and we've got to get ahead of it."
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, D-Mich., expressed a similar sentiment, urging strong action on carbon emissions and the vehicle charging stations to help achieve a "full transition to electric." She also wants states to have more federal grants for infrastructure repairs after natural disasters and extreme weather.
At the Senate hearing where she spoke, Republican Gov. Larry Hogan of Maryland said there's bipartisan support among governors for relieving congestion, cutting red tape, leveraging private sector investment and ensuring projects can better withstand cyber attacks and natural disasters.
Democratic Sen. Tom Carper of Delaware, the new chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, said his goal is for his committee to pass an infrastructure bill by Memorial Day.
In the House, Rep. Sam Graves, the top Republican on the transportation panel, said Republicans would be open to a larger package as long as it didn't greatly add to the national debt.
But many lawmakers oppose an increase in the federal gas tax, one way to help pay for the spending, while groups such as the Chamber of Commerce argue against increasing taxes on companies during a pandemic.
White House aide Cedric Richmond, a former congressman from Louisiana, told state transportation officials the president intends for most of the spending to be paid for, not added to the debt. In part, this would be by reversing some of the Trump administration tax cuts.
Ed Mortimer, a vice president at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, said removing items in last year's infrastructure bill for renovating schools and low-income housing could lower the price tag, because the COVID relief measure passed by the House already has hundreds of billions of dollars for those purposes.
"Affordable housing, school construction, very meritorious, but we're not sure that that's a key focus that's going to get a bill signed into law," Mortimer said.
S. Windsor debates second grocery store at Evergreen Walk
Olivia Regen, Journal Inquirer Three Planning and Zoning Commission members in South Windsor expressed concerns about the impact of a proposed zone change to allow another grocery store in the Buckland Road Gateway development area, saying they fear it could fail.
Karen Johnson, vice president of development for Charter
Realty, the new management company for the Promenade Shops at Evergreen Walk,
asked the PZC Tuesday to remove restrictions and allow a second
40,000-square-foot grocery store in the area.
Plans call for building the store where Old Navy and a
Japanese restaurant are located and moving those businesses to other empty
storefronts.
Zoning regulations don’t allow two grocery stores within
1,500 feet of each other in the Gateway Zone. The international discount
supermarket chain Aldi is slated to open its new store across the street next
month.
PZC members Kevin Greer and William Flagg questioned whether
a new grocery store could survive in the area with competitors such as Trader
Joe’s and Stop & Shop also nearby.
Vice Chairman Kevin Foley said the PZC adopted the
1,500-foot distance restriction between grocery stores in 2005 to keep the
quality of shops in the area and not just quantify things by adding one grocery
store after another.
“I think there are some good reasons this was put in place,
and I am open, but once you change a zone text amendment it is changed,” he
said. “I want to think this out and be careful.”
In October, Charter Realty took over the management of
Evergreen Walk, which has more than 60 retailers, including L.L. Bean, Talbots,
and Williams-Sonoma. Johnson has told the Economic Development Commission that
the takeover is in the transitional phase, and she expects to fully manage the
shopping district in the next six months.
Flagg said he is not concerned about adding another grocery
store in the area, but about the survivorship of such a store because there is
so much competition nearby.
Flagg asked if the grocer, which Johnson has not named
because she is still in negotiations with them, is familiar around the country,
such as a Whole Foods or Wegmans where the prices are a little higher.
He also cited the former Highland Park Market, which opened
in same location and closed in June 2010 after a few years, citing lack of
business. That space next door to the Japanese restaurant remains vacant.
“Highland Park offered some good grocery meat and produce
and their prices were a little bit higher than the surrounding competition and
they did not last long,” he said. “I don’t think the whole thing was because of
their size.”
Johnson argued that with the increase in residential and
office space in the Evergreen Walk area there is a strong market for a grocery
store. There are now over 200 apartments in Evergreen Walk, as well as a
neighboring senior housing facility, and an assisted living facility that is
under construction.
“You will see by locating these stores together it benefits
a lot of them,” Johnson said explaining that customers’ shopping habits have
changed as they go to multiple stores for specific items.
Greer said when Aldi’s was built, it was anticipated that
would be the anchor store for the area. With improvements planned for the plaza
at Geissler’s on Sullivan Avenue, and the addition of a Costco on nearby
Tamarack Avenue and other food markets nearby, there is a lot of competition
already, he said.
“I don’t know,” Greer said. “Someone is going to fail here.
I don’t think we can support all these supermarkets.”
But PZC member Stephen Wagner expressed support for the zone
change, saying Highland Park Market failed because they anticipated the
apartments and senior housing that never materialized while they were open.
“We have a local market and a store that would attract
business and I hope it would be a plus,” he said.
PZC member Paul Bernstein also expressed support for the
store.
He added that while it pains him to see so many vacant
storefronts at Evergreen Walk, he saw the grocery store as a “shot in the arm”
to revitalize the area.
Town Manager Michael Maniscalco, who says the vacancy rate
at Evergreen Walk is 40%, and Mayor Andrew Paterna have expressed support for
the zone change.
The PZC will continue its public hearing at its March 9
meeting.