For Walk Bridge project, CT buys Norwalk property for $3.85M and begins demo of former IMAX building
NORWALK — In the latest phase of the Walk
Bridge Project, the state Department of Transportation purchased a property
about one mile from the bridge to act as a staging area.
News of the purchase comes as construction to replace the
127-year-old bridge is expected to begin in full swing this spring, and as the
state begins construction work to remove
the former IMAX building to accommodate the project.
Replacement of the bridge has been in the works since 2017.
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 564-foot-long bridge, which is part of
Metro-North Railroad’s New Haven Line, transported about 175 trains and 125,000
riders daily, according to the program
website.
The state purchased 1.11-acre plot adjacent to the Donald F.
Reid Memorial Bridge, the home of the Exit 16 interchange on Sept. 7 for $3.85
million, according to city land records. The 180 East Ave property will hold
necessary equipment and supplies needed for the East Avenue portion of the Walk
Bridge reconstruction, DOT spokesperson Josh Morgan said.
“That East Avenue work includes updating drainage and
installing new sidewalks in the area, extending the platforms and adding more
parking at the East Norwalk Train Station, and replacing the 100-year-old East
Avenue Railroad Bridge,” Morgan said. “The property will be used to stage
construction trailers, contractor parking and other necessary equipment.”
If needed, the front portion of the property will also be
used for additional commuter parking at the East Norwalk Train Station during
construction, Morgan said.
Property records show the parcel was purchased by the state
of Connecticut, but the “co-owner” address, located on the Berlin Turnpike, is
DOT headquarters.
Previously, the land was owned by Antonios and Penelope
Koskerides, who purchased the land in the early 1990s, according to land
records. In 2018, the property was appraised at $1.42 million.
The land is entirely vacant, with no existing structures,
according to the city land records.
Walk Bridge Project
In addition to replacing the existing bridge, elements of
the project include: east and west approach embankment work and retaining
walls, track work, catenary and signal system upgrades, new catenary
structures, removal of the existing high towers and relocation of high-voltage
transmission lines, according to DOT.
Once construction begins, it is expected to take about six
years, according to DOT.
“Construction for the Walk Bridge Project is anticipated to
begin in spring 2023, pending receipt of a series of environmental permits from
the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (CTDEEP), the
Army Corps of Engineers (ACOE) and the United States Coast Guard (USCG),” the
project website reads.
As part of the project, the former IMAX theater building,
located at 2 North Water St. at the Maritime Aquarium in South Norwalk, is
being deconstructed beginning this week in sections with the exterior brick
facing removed initially and followed by the removal of the structural steel
framework, according to the project website. Materials will be deposited into
the interior of the building as each section is removed and then transported to
designated material storage areas. All resident and business property access
will be maintained on North Water Street.
Access to the municipal parking lot at 2 North Water St.
will be maintained, but about 12 parking spaces will be reduced. An alternating
lane closure along North Water Street will be implemented when the contractor
works on the western wall in mid-April. Pedestrian access will be closed on the
east side of North Water Street and maintained on the west sidewalk for one
week during this activity. There are no anticipated impacts to Norwalk River
commercial or recreational marine users, the project website states.
Tweed New Haven environmental study says expansion would bring improvements
NEW HAVEN — A draft
environmental assessment for Tweed New Haven Regional Airport's proposed
expansion project says extending Tweed's runway and building a new terminal
on the East Haven side actually would improve the airport's impact on the
environment.
But some airport neighbors who oppose airport expansion
remain unconvinced.
They are continuing to call for a more extensive
environmental impact statement, or EIS — and East Haven Mayor Joe Carfora urged
people to read the 206-page environmental assessment that was released Thursday
and attend a hearing April 1 at East Haven High School.
Among the EA's findings,
highlighted by airport officials, is that the project would reduce overall
noise by shifting aircraft ground noise farther from nearby homes.
It would improve air quality in adjacent neighborhoods — in
part because aircraft would be farther away from homes — while having a minimal
impact on undisturbed wetlands, affecting less than 0.2 acre, with mitigation
measures to achieve an overall policy goal of "no net loss," the
report concludes.
While the plan calls for the runway to be extended from
5,600 feet to 6,635 feet, the draft EA found that a 60-foot reduction in that
proposed length could avoid construction impacts within tidal wetlands.
"Therefore, the proposed runway length would be approximately 6,575
feet," which would accomplish Tweed's goals "while fully complying
with FAA design and safety standards," it says.
One reason the longer runway is needed is because the Boeing
737-800 airplanes that Avelo Airlines, Tweed's one commercial airline,
increasingly wants to use at Tweed can carry 189 passengers but currently are
limited to 162 passengers due to weight restrictions associated with the
relatively short runway, the EA says.
A longer runway would allow Avelo and other airlines to
carry more passengers and operate more efficiently, it says.
The expansion plan also calls for building a new, 80,000-square-foot
terminal on the East Haven side of the airport. A new airport entrance would be
off Proto Drive in East Haven, with access off Coe Avenue.
The proposed new terminal "would be constructed on
piers, raising the finished floor elevation above mean sea level," the EA
says. "The space below the finished floor elevation would be left open to
allow floodwater to pass."
Impact to wildlife and plant life would be below both
federal and local thresholds and the site contains no critical habitat for threatened
or endangered species, the draft assessment says.
The EA found that the expansion project would not
significantly affect traffic at 11 key intersections. A new traffic signal and
intersection improvements would be installed at Proto Drive and Coe Ave
in East Haven.
Tweed "needs a new airport access road that bypasses
most residential areas and provides standard roadway sizing for the existing
and expected peak hour demand and terminal location," the EA says.
The EA is posted at a
link on Tweed's TweedMasterPlan.com and FlyTweed.com websites. Paper copies will
be available to view at all five branches of the New Haven Free Public Library,
as well as the Hagaman Memorial Library in East Haven and the Blackstone
Memorial Library in Branford.
The Tweed New Haven Airport Authority also will hold the
public information workshop and hearing at East Haven High School April 1. It
will begin with an "open house" question-and-answer session from 10
a.m. to 1 p.m., followed by a more formal hearing from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m.
In addition to the public hearing, community members can
submit written testimony, which will be reviewed by the FAA and be considered
in reaching its ultimate decision. Written comments will be accepted until
April 16 via mail or email at: HVN-EA Public Comments, McFarland Johnson, 49
Court St., Suite 240, Binghamton, NY 13901 or hvn-ea@mjinc.com.
The airport prepared the assessment with the support of
McFarland Johnson, a national aviation consulting firm.
“Completion of this environmental assessment marks another
successful milestone in our work to enhance HVN and fully realize a $100+
million investment in southern Connecticut that will create more than 1,147
direct jobs, in addition to the more than 300 jobs already created in the last
year and a half,” said Jorge Roberts, CEO of Avports, Tweed's Goldman
Sachs-owned operator.
Avports would pay for the expansion as part of a 43-year
lease approved late last year.
“The airport will continue to see additional activity in the
coming years, and the draft assessment makes clear that this project would
reduce the airport’s overall environmental impact to the region as that growth
occurs,” Roberts said in a release.
“We remain committed to ensuring that this expansion is
executed in an environmentally sustainable manner," said Tom Rafter,
executive director of the Tweed New Haven Airport Authority. "Avports has
been an excellent partner throughout, going above and beyond to fulfill the
promise of a more sustainable HVN.
“We look forward to continuing to work with our partners and
neighbors in the community to make this vision a reality,” Rafter said in the
release.
He said in a subsequent interview that with regard to calls
for an EIS, "The FAA is going to be the final arbiter on that. We're
following the NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act) process."
But the conclusions in the EA are "not just us
operating in a vacuum," Rafter said. "This is going through the
Federal process. ... It's not like we're just making claims or making
assumptions."
With regard to traffic, "They looked at the traffic in
detail, studied the different intersections," Rafter said. "They
looked at the service levels."
Avports spokesman Andrew King said that "some of it is
just logical," such as having airplanes waiting to take off farther away
from residential neighborhoods.
"While we understand there's a temptation to use
anecdotal information from neighbors, we put in a significant amount of work to
get empirical data," King said.
Carfora said in his own release that "while we are
disappointed that the FAA did not immediately order the preparation of an
environmental impact statement (EIS) for this major airport project as we and
many other parties requested, the FAA is required to consider public comments
on this draft EA, and ultimately decide whether an EIS is required.
"Our mission, of course, is to protect the citizens of
East Haven, and ensure that all aspects of this massive proposed expansion and
relocation of the airport into East Haven are fully and fairly
considered," Carfora said. "Therefore, I have directed my team —
including the experts we have hired — to undertake a thorough and comprehensive
review of the draft EA and appendices.
"We will prepare and submit detailed, substantive
comments that address the town's concerns and expect that the FAA will
recognize the apparent material impacts on the community and, as required by
Federal law, undertake the full-scale EIS that is mandated for this significant
project," he wrote.
Opponents of expansion say that an EIS still should be done
in order to be sure.
"In my opinion, the Environmental Assessment justifies
why we need an Environmental Impact Statement and there should be no expansion
at this airport in a residential area," said East Haven resident Lorena
Venegas, a member of the 10,000 Hawks community group and an administrator of
the "Keep
Tweed Small" Facebook page.
"The environmental justice issues of development
without any community benefits plan for East Haven is unacceptable,"
Venegas said.
Wallingford Inland Wetlands commission approves Choate plans for building
Kate Ramunni
WALLINGFORD — Choate Rosemary Hall overcame one hurdle this
week in its quest to build a 14,000-square-foot admissions building and
70-space parking garage on 6.5 acres at the corner of North Elm and Christian
streets.
The Inland Wetlands and Watercourses Commission approved the
school's application at its monthly meeting Wednesday after hearing once again
from neighbors concerned about how the project will affect their properties. At
the commission's February meeting, it also heard from residents concerned about
runoff from the construction.
"I'm just thinking of the word volume and water,
water, water," said North Elm Street resident Mike Votto. "When you
approve an application like this, do you do any follow up to make sure that
whatever was promised to have been done was indeed done and is working or do we
just say OK, we gave you permission to go ahead, do your thing, and then you're
done with it?"
Votto said he is already dealing with the effects of another
Choate project recently completed that included the construction of seven homes
built for faculty members.
"I would like to have all of you take a walk in my
backyard," he said. "I was told for the last approval for Choate for
the seven houses built behind me that there would not be an increase of water.
They were going to put this in and that in. I don't think anybody has ever come
out here to see if everything they said was going to be done was done."
Despite any precautions taken by the school, the water
flows into his yard, Votto said.
"All I can tell you is that there is much more water in
my backyard, and the part of the brook that is on my property is totally filled
all year round now whereas it normally goes down once the rainfall has gone
through and then it starts going down. It does cut into the bank and it does
make its own little streams," he said.
"You have to make a decision tonight, but I would hope
if it is a positive one, I would like to know if somehow that could be followed
through with and see if they have done due diligence, and if whatever they
said is going to work is indeed working because I have to tell you, it hasn't
worked on North Elm Street. I can tell you that right now," Votto
said.
"I just hope the decision you make is a good one, and
I'm sure you will think about this seriously and make sure Choate follows up
and does what they're supposed to do and what they're promising they're going
to do tonight," he said.
Choate attorney Dennis Ceneviva said the storm basin has
been evaluated by their team and by the town engineer, who found it
"appropriate," and if anything, has oversized capacity to
control runoff.
But Curtis Road resident Ron Blanchard said the precautions
taken have not worked.
"The project is more than just a stormwater
discharge," he said. "There was clearing of acreage of
trees, and where there's natural runoff, that's now affecting it, and
relative to the detention pond, nothing has changed since they built the houses
but the water is much greater now."
Last year was an average year for rainfall, Blanchard said.
"So in an average year of rainfall, after this project and with no changes
to the detention pond, these poor people have substantial water in their yard.
I just wanted to make sure that was clear."
Commission Chairman James Vitali and Vice Chair Debbie
Phillips both recused themselves from participating in the application
proceedings citing conflicts of interest, so Secretary Nicholas Kern was named
temporary chairman for the purpose of conducting the public hearing and
the commission's deliberations.
Ultimately the commission approved the application with
only Kern voting no, citing too many unanswered questions that came up during
the discussions.
Choate now has to gain Planning and Zoning approval before
beginning the project. The application is expected to be on the agenda for its
monthly meeting March 13 at 7 p.m. in the council chambers at Town Hall.
Wallingford officials pass on purchase of land used for bridge project
Kate Ramunni
WALLINGFORD — The town won’t be purchasing property next to
the new Center Street bridge that carries the road over Wharton Brook.
The state offered the town the right of first refusal for
the property at 538 Center St. next to Vinny’s Deli which the state purchased
as part of the bridge project that dragged on for years before it was finally
completed in 2021.
Construction began on the bridge in 2016 but was almost
immediately delayed when a contractor expressed concerns about the stability of
the structure after a portion of it was demolished. Ultimately plans were
redesigned and work began again in 2019 with an anticipated 2022 completion
date.
The project was completed early, but the additional work
increased the cost of the project from $3.9 million to $5.7 million.
Now that the bridge is complete, the state wants to sell the
property it used as a staging area for workers.
“It was purchased in order to allow the bridge to be built,
the famous bridge that has gotten attention because it was indeed too long a
period of time. I think you can still get bus tours,” Mayor William Dickinson
Jr. joked when the purchase was discussed at the Feb. 14 Town Council meeting.
“We don’t recommend administratively (buying the land),
Dickinson told the council. “Administratively we checked with all the
departments, utilities, etc. and there’s no one who has a need for the
property. We have no need for it but you make the decisions for acquisitions of
property for sale, and I think we need to know your views if that is something
the town should purchase or not.”
The land could be sold for a housing lot, Dickinson said,
but the town has no need for it.
I don’t disagree with you at all, Mayor,” council Chairman
Vincent Cervoni said. “I don’t see a municipal purpose for us to acquire that.”
Councilor Jason Zandri questioned what would happen if the
property was sold but the state in the future needed it should something need
to be done on the bridge.
“I don’t expect them to ever work on this bridge in my
lifetime but you never know,” Zandri said. “The state purchased this to make it
a staging area and an access area for when they were doing that work. I don’t
expect them to do major types of work, but what would happen in the future if
they needed some type of access?”
If the property were to be sold and a home built on it, the
state would need to deal with the homeowner to get access to the bridge, Zandri
said.
“Something breaks, there was utilities that ran under there
that they had to get access to,” Zandri said. “If a resident or somebody were
to buy this land, would they have to allow a right-of-way or would they just
have to deal with that?”
Dickinson said it would be the state’s problem to deal with
any issues that come up in the future since Center Street is a state road.
“If the state needed that property again, they would use
their authority to either purchase it or have a temporary construction easement
or whatever, no different than what they did this time,” Dickinson said.
Zandri is concerned that should the state ever need the
land, it would be the new owner who would pay the price.
“My concern is that what you’re suggesting now is that if
they really kind of need it and the owner doesn’t really want it, that’s an
area of eminent domain discussion there,” he said.
“If the state needed that property for a highway project,
that would be ultimately, if negotiations fail, the approach that would have to
be taken and they would have to pay for relocation if people happen to be
living there,” Dickinson said. “But I suspect we are talking about a long time
in the future given the recent construction and we certainly are not aware of
any reason for further construction there.”
While he is concerned what could happen in the future, he’s
not in favor of the town buying the property, Zandri said. But he also fears
what could happen to the land if it doesn’t sell.
“I’m not of the desire to purchase this either,” he said. “I
actually walked by and took a look at it. It’s really close to where the river
is so it doesn’t make it attractive to most people anyway. My concern is that
nobody buys it. It’s not in awesome shape right not but it’s not bad, it’s not
blight yet but when we get there, what do we do about that?”
It would fall on the state to maintain the land as long as
it is in their ownership, Dickinson said.
“It’s owned by the state of Connecticut so certainly we have
recourse through the normal means of contacting the state with regards to the
condition of the property,” Dickinson said. “That’s Wharton Brook. It does have
pretty heavy flows at times, but the bridge should be able to handle that
circumstance.”
Dickinson said he disagrees with Zandri’s assessment as to
the desirability of the property.
“It appears to be an attractive property for someone to
purchase from my viewpoint,” he said. “We’ll find out.”
Waterford data center plan is a winner
The Day Editorial Board
This plan is much better.
About a year ago the Groton Town Council, facing strong
public opposition, ended discussions about building a massive data center
there. Now the same developer, NE Edge, LLC, is pursuing a data center project
in Waterford.
The Waterford proposal gets right many of the things the
Groton version got wrong.
In a March 2022 editorial, we backed the Groton council’s
decision to pull the plug on the data center proposal there. The site, near a
reservoir, was a poor choice. It would have chewed up forested land and
detracted from the quality of life for those living nearby.
While recognizing the necessity of these data centers and
defending the legislature’s decision to offer incentives so that Connecticut
could compete with other states in attracting them, our editorial also called
for more sensible decision making in choosing where to build them.
Building data centers in “former industrial sites, existing
industrial parks, or repurposed warehouses” made more sense than cutting down
trees or squeezing them near residential locations, the editorial argued.
The Waterford proposal calls for construction of a large
data center at an existing industrial site, the Millstone Power Station. Even
better.
The Waterford Board of Selectmen, in a Feb. 23 joint session
with the Representative Town Meeting, approved a deal with NE Edge that will send $231
million to the town over 30 years. To attract data centers the legislature
waived local property taxes, leaving it to municipalities to negotiate revenue
deals. Even though NE Edge gets a discount over what it would pay if fully
taxed by Waterford, it will still be second only to Millstone in terms of the
revenue it generates for the town.
This is a terrific location. Electricity for the
energy-hungry data center will come from the two Millstone reactors, a power
source free of greenhouse emissions. The deal NE Edge signed with Millstone
owner Dominion Energy — details were not disclosed — will strengthen its business
standing and help assure its operation well into the future.
The Millstone reactors are critically important, both as a
major source for the region’s electricity needs and as climate-friendly power
generators.
Planned are a pair of massive two-story data facilities. The
first will be 568,000 square feet, the second 214,000 square feet. Despite
their size, they will occupy only a small fraction of the 500-acre Millstone
site.
Providing cloud and other data storage, such centers are
critical to life and economic growth in the digital age, allowing the
accessing, sharing and storage of enormous amounts of information.
This project would be a major job creator, generating
upwards of 2,000 construction jobs and as many as 500 full-time positions when
in operation.
Congratulations to First Selectman Rob Brule for negotiating
and closing this deal.
While the financial terms of the deal are settled, the
project still needs various local, state and federal approvals. As things stand
now, however, this project looks like a winner. With data centers, as with real
estate, it is all about location, location, location.
WEST HARTFORD — The developer of a luxury apartment complex
on the site of the former Children’s
Museum in West Hartford has paid $10.6 million for the property, with
construction expected to begin this spring.
The price paid by New York-based Continental Properties for
the nearly four-acre property at 950 Trout Brook Drive near Farmington Avenue
is about $2.7 million an acre — a price, brokers involved in the sale say, sets
a new benchmark for development sites in central Connecticut.
“We’re seeing a tremendous demand for desirable sites
throughout the Hartford area,” said John Cafasso, a principal at commercial
real estate services firm Colliers
International in Hartford, which represented the seller, Kingswood Oxford.
“We expect to see more new multi-family development over the next 12-18
months.”
Continental plans to build a six-story, upscale development
with a mix of 172 one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments about two blocks from
Blue Back Square. The complex will include such amenities as an outdoor pool
with cabanas, a dog park and wash station, co-working space and a rooftop
lounge. The development is expected to have more than 320 parking spaces.
While Continental said the development reflects the kind of
residential community renters now seek, the proposal drew the ire of surrounding
homeowners who opposed the scale of plans. Despite those concerns, West
Hartford’s town council last fall approved a crucial zone change for the
development. When built, the complex is expected to add $800,000 a year in new
taxes to town coffers.
“Continental is committed to building and operating an
iconic, first-class rental community that the town of West Hartford and its
stakeholders can be proud of at this important location in the center of West
Hartford,” Howard S. Rappaport, a principal at Continental, said, in a release.
In Connecticut, Continental has developed upscale rental
complexes in Rocky Hill, Glastonbury, South Windsor, Milford, Shelton and
Trumbull.
The museum occupied the site for nearly six decades, and
sold the property to neighboring Kingswood Oxford, the independent day school,
in 2002. The museum leased the property back but with the intention of finding
a new location. Kingswood Oxford made the decision to sell the museum property
in 2021, nudging the museum into making a decision about its future.
The museum is temporarily downsizing and has relocated to
the Emanuel Synagogue in West Hartford. It is still searching for a permanent
home that has yet to be announced.
Meanwhile, plans call for the iconic, 60-foot, 20-ton Conny
the Whale sculpture to be moved just across the street to the Trout Brook
greenway. Conny was constructed in the mid-1970s as a symbol of the “Save the
Whales” movement but had evolved into a playscape and mascot for the museum.