Developer Sues Ledyard for Rejecting Mount Decatur Project
Francisco Uranga
LEDYARD — The two-year dispute between Gales Ferry residents
and the developer seeking to level the north side of Mount Decatur took a new
turn this week when the company sued the city’s Planning and Zoning Commission
for rejecting the special permit.
Gales Ferry Intermodal, owned by Massachusetts-based Jay
Cashman Inc., filed an appeal on
Monday at state Superior Court in New London, asking it to overturn the
commission’s rejection. The company argued that it had demonstrated regulatory
compliance, stressing that there was no “substantial evidence” to support the
rejection.
The lawsuit follows the commission’s unanimous rejection of the
application less than a month ago, citing 13 zoning violations. Concerns
included the project’s size and duration exceeding limits, increased traffic,
dust and silicon emissions, noise and vibrations, intensity of use, potential
property value declines, and pollution of air, water and other natural
resources.
Cashman presented the
project as a site-grading effort to prepare 26 acres for industrial
development, involving the extraction and sale of 3.6 million cubic yards of
rock over a decade.
The project was pitched as a revenue generator for the town
and had Ledyard Mayor Fred Allyn III’s support, but it garnered strong
opposition among many Gales Ferry residents.
GFI’s appeal argued that the commission acknowledged its
lack of technical expertise by hiring outside experts, who ultimately reached
similar conclusions to the company’s consultants during the public hearings.
“Peer review experts retained by the Commission agreed with
GFI’s experts and consultants that the application would not cause substantial
adverse impacts,” the lawsuit said. “Thereby creating an on-the-record
consensus of experts that the Commission members had no expertise to rebut and
therefore no authority to overrule.”
The company accused the commission of making speculative and
illegal assumptions instead of considering that the developer would follow the
proposed development plan.
“The decision of the commission denying the application
deprived GFI of its property rights and of the reasonable use and enjoyment of
the property, without due process of law,” read the appeal filed by Harry
Heller, Cashman’s attorney.
Heller had been the target of criticism during the
deliberations. The lawyer also denounced an alleged conspiracy involving
officers and town staff to undermine his client’s application.
The appeal, which also targets the Gales Ferry Fire District
and its president Lee Ann Berry, mentions some of the conspiracy allegations
reported by Heller, based on documents he obtained through a public information
request.
The lawsuit mentioned that Eric Treaster, a member of the
Ledyard Zoning Appeals Board, testified against the application during the
hearings and coordinated with members of the Gales Ferry District to oppose
GFI’s proposal. It argued that this violated Connecticut’s general statutes and
unfairly influenced the proceedings.
The appeal also said that during the two previous
applications, which were withdrawn, former town planner Juliet Hodge
coordinated ex parte meetings with opponents of the project and the-commission
Chair Anthony Capon. Neither Capon nor Hodge participated in the GFI
application decision.
Bruce Edwards, a Gales Ferry resident and outspoken critic
of the project, told CT Examiner that community experts effectively countered
GFI’s claims during the hearings and dismissed the conspiracy allegations.
“The only people that had a conspiracy here were Cashman and
his crew trying to end-run our town with regard to the regulations,” he said.
“If they cannot understand what they are actually doing to this community, it
serves notice to the community in more acute terms that Cashman will not follow
through with his so-called promises.”
Edwards said the dispute has been long and expensive for
residents who have spent many hours fighting against the project.
“There should not be an allowance for a quarry at GFI. That should be off the table, period. It’s sad that a person who has such a bank account can play this game and try to force his will upon all of these residents who have spoken clearly and have spoken with education and evidence, sound evidence,”
Edwards said. “I hope that the town attorneys get an
assignment to defend the town in the manner it should be defended and not by
commercial influence. It’s dirty out there. It’s maybe more dirt than all of that
dust that the quarry would generate.”
Adevelopment firm has closed on the acquisition of a site
next to UConn’s Storrs campus where it plans to build a 738-bed student housing
property.
Landmark Properties says it will begin construction on the
1.56 acre site at 134 North Eagleville Road later this year.
“UConn saw a record-breaking 2024 freshman class and, as the
university moves forward with plans to expand its enrollment further over the
next decade, the demand for high-quality and pedestrian-to-campus living
options will continue to increase,” said Jason Doornbos, Chief Development
Officer of Landmark Properties.
The site, which has previously been proposed as the location
for a different student housing development, is within walking distance of
UConn's academic buildings, student center and athletic complexes.
The new plans, which Landmark is calling The Mark Mansfield,
will also include 7,000 square feet of retail space for the Huskies Tavern,
currently located on the site.
This is Landmark Properties’ second property in the
Storrs market. The Standard at Four Corners is scheduled to be completed in
fall 2025.
With increasing enrollment, the university has struggled
with over-subscribed student housing in and around the Storrs campus. UConn
used to guarantee housing for eight semesters to incoming freshmen, but it has
recently reversed that policy, leaving some upperclassmen to find off-campus
private options.
Torrington seeks $6.9M in grants for environmental cleanup of Yankee Pedlar Inn and other sites
Sloan Brewster
TORRINGTON — The city is seeking $6.9 million in
state grants for environmental cleanup at the historic Yankee Pedlar Inn
and at former industrial sites around town.
The four grants, which city officials submitted to the State
Department of Economic Development on March 6, would fund cleanup at the
historic Yankee
Pedlar Inn and the former Nidec
Corporation, pay for the demolition of two more buildings at the
former Torrington Company and one at the former Excelsior
Needle Plant, Economic Development Coordinator Rich Lopez said.
Glenn Carbone, operations manager for Torrington Company
site owner IRG Realty Advisors — and the mayor's brother — said taking
down two more buildings at the 70 North St. property will help ready it
for possible redevelopment. He said the company has had discussions about
putting a fuel cell that could power the property and construct buildings for
innovative manufacturing.
Preliminary sketches indicate the possibility of putting in
two or three manufacturing buildings, plus a fuel cell, he said.
“It would be a completely green site, with self-supporting
power,” Carbone said.
The initial intent was to revitalize the two buildings,
Lopez said. But demolition on the 26 buildings at the site last year caused
structural damage, which in addition to the cost of environmental cleanup, made
keeping them unfeasible.
“They were not salvageable,” he said.
The $600,000 would also cover the cost of securing
contaminants and facilitate ground and soil remediation to remove and cap
contamination revealed after the buildings are razed, Lopez said.
Last October, the city applied for a $24 million grant to
develop state-of-the-art facilities on the site and to expand Dymax at 318
Industrial Lane.
Torrington Company site demo ongoing
The Torrington Company demolition started in October 2023,
with the bulk of it taking place lst spring and summer. A total of 26 buildings
covering about 600,000 square feet were razed. Demolition was funded by a $2
million DECD grant.
An $800,000 grant would also be for an IRG project, Lopez
and Carbone said. The company plans to use the money to take down a building at
the former Excelsior Plant at 59 Field Street, across the street from the
courthouse, and clean up hazardous building materials.
The building sits behind Torrington Business Park, which
occupies another former Excelsior Plant building.
It will be removed so IRG can build a parking lot, Lopez and
Carbone said. A scarcity in parking has rendered IRG unable to lease space at
the business park, so more than 200,000 square feet remains unoccupied.
“Parking has always been a challenge on this building,”
Carbone said.
The company needs four parking spots per 1,000 feet of
leasable space, he said. The new parking lot would result in approximately 70
spots and allow IRG to lease 40,000 square feet.
Taking down the building will also open access to another
parcel IRG owns, where it plans to add more parking in the future, Lopez said.
A $4 million grant would fund cleanup of the former Nidec
Corporation site at 100 Franklin Drive, Lopez said.
The site is next to Riverfront, a 60-unit mixed-use space
owned by Penrose Group on the former site of the Torrington Manufacturing
Company.
Cleaning contamination at the empty site next door will
allow New Colony Development Company to buy it and partner with Penrose Group
to expand Riverfront, Lopez said.
The city also submitted an application for a $1.5 million
grant for Torrington Development Corporation to fund remediation at the
historic Yankee Pedlar Inn, Mayor Elinor C. Carbone said. Phase 1 and Phase 2
environmental assessments indicate there are contaminants on the property,
“There’s a high likelihood of hazardous building materials,
asbestos, dust residue and lead,” the mayor said.
To ready the property for possible redevelopment, it must be
remediated, she said.
The Torrington Development Corporation is receiver of
the historic inn.
In 2021, responding to years of inaction by Jayson
Hospitality following its 2015 purchase of the property, the city filed a suit
to get TDC named receiver under an anti-blight law to make improvements to the
deteriorating building before it's too late.
Warehouse Plans Spark Fears in Glenbrook Neighborhood
STAMFORD – First it was a noisy, smelly school-bus depot.
Then came the fitness center that blasted music at 5 a.m.
Next there was the building supply company where 18-wheelers
arrive in the middle of the night, engines idling while they unload.
“I can see the lights of the trucks from my bedroom window,”
Sue Iacovacci said of the industrial property that borders her backyard.
Now she’s learned that a developer wants to build a large
warehouse on the Hamilton Avenue industrial site.
“Nobody knows what’s going in the warehouse,” Iacovacci
said. “All we know is there will be a loading dock right behind our house.”
Such is life in Glenbrook, a small neighborhood big on
diversity – in population, income, and degrees of residential, commercial and
industrial uses.
V20 Group of Darien, the new owner of 6.9 acres at the
industrial site, met with neighbors on March 4. On March 11 the Stamford
Planning Board unanimously approved V20 Group’s application to consolidate
three parcels, knock down six buildings, and put up a 112,800-square-foot,
single-story warehouse.
Things are moving fast. Joe Vaccaro, who runs V20 Group with
his father, John Vaccaro, told neighbors in a letter that demolition at the
site is underway, set to be finished by the end of March.
Homeowners in the long-established single-family
neighborhood of Sutton Drive and Sutton Place are trying to catch up, said
Christina Strain, who lives there and serves the area as a member of the
Stamford Board of Representatives.
“People were asking all kinds of questions during the
neighborhood meeting,” Strain said. “Things are not exactly clear. They don’t
have any tenants for the warehouse yet. People wanted to know if it’s going to
be Amazon, but they told us no because Amazon needs much more acreage. We don’t
know what we’re going to get.”
Bill Hennessey, the land use attorney who represented V20
Group before the Planning Board, said that in the Stamford area there is “high
demand for flex-industrial buildings … that are adaptable to different uses,”
such as light manufacturing, shipping, or fitness facilities.
He anticipates multiple tenants, similar to what V20 Group
developed on West Avenue in Stamford, Hennessey told the Planning Board. That
warehouse is fully leased, with two main tenants. One is window company
Renewable by Anderson, which has space for light assembly, a showroom and
offices, Hennessey said. The other main tenant is a sports training facility,
he said.
Hennessey told the Planning Board something that Glenbrook
residents said they did not hear at the neighborhood meeting. Hennessey said
the plan for the Hamilton Avenue warehouse includes 17 loading docks.
They will be positioned in spots that have “the least effect
on neighbors,” Hennessey told the board. The loading docks “will have wing
walls, which are extensions of the structural wall that are designed to
eliminate the visual impact of a neighbor looking across the property line and
seeing trucks, as well as the acoustic impact of the trucks being located
there.”
He conceded that “there could be some off-hour traffic,”
depending on which companies lease warehouse space.
None of the Planning Board members questioned Hennessey
about truck traffic.
At the neighborhood meeting, little was said about the
trucks that might use the 17 loading docks – how big they may be, how many
might come and go each day and at what hours, or what routes they will use to
get to the warehouse, Iacovacci said.
“All that was said was that traffic would come in on the
side of the warehouse that’s away from houses, and that all companies might not
use loading docks, but nobody knows,” Iacovacci said. “Hamilton Avenue is too
narrow for any kind of truck traffic, and Courtland Avenue isn’t much better.”
Strain said the same.
“Hamilton Avenue and Courtland Avenue can’t handle more
traffic,” the city representative said. “They aren’t built for it.”
Joe Vaccaro did not respond Wednesday to emailed questions
about possible truck traffic. Vaccaro did say that, besides the 17 loading
docks, the warehouse plan includes three drive-in doors for delivery trucks.
Vaccaro said V20 Group answered neighbors’ questions at the
meeting and “agreed to also provide fencing and additional landscaping, and
many of the neighbors reviewed the plans once the meeting concluded.”
V20 Group has not signed any leases so far, Vaccaro said,
noting that the property has two zoning designations, light industrial and
general industrial, “which does restrict certain types of uses” such as heavy
manufacturing.
“It is important to note that this property was always an
industrial use,” Vaccaro said in the email.
The industrial history of the property along the Metro-North
Railroad tracks dates to the 1920s. It once housed FAG Bearings Corp., the
Hudson Paper Co., and most recently WWE television production studios.
Land Use Bureau Chief Ralph Blessing said Wednesday that the
Zoning Board, which has final say on the V20 Group application, can add
conditions – hours of operation, for example – to any approval it may grant.
Hennessey said V20 Group will update the storm drainage
system; improve sidewalks on Hamilton Avenue; direct exterior lighting away
from homes; and screen the development with landscaping and 65 new
trees.
“These older industrial sites are hard up against
residential areas,” Hennessey said. “We try to be good neighbors by being
thoughtful in design and operating in a responsible way.”
It’s not true of all companies, Iacovacci said. The First
Student bus depot is unresponsive to repeated complaints about loud backup
beeps and safety alarms going off day and night, and diesel fumes from idling
buses, she said.
People and businesses have lived side by side in Glenbrook
for decades, Iacovacci said. But commercial uses are becoming more intense, and
intruding more on residential streets, she said.
Since once-industrial sites on the South End have been
replaced with luxury apartment high-rises, Glenbrook “has become the dumping
ground,” Iacovacci said.
“Nobody cares,” she said. “It’s sad. We have no say in what
happens in our neighborhood.”
Fairfield To Begin East Trunk Sewer Line Replacement In May
FAIRFIELD, CT — First Selectman Bill Gerber announced [on Thursday] that the Town of Fairfield will begin a long-planned replacement of the East Trunk sewer line in May 2025 with an expected project duration of approximately 18 months.
Aging sewer lines will be replaced to improve the
reliability and efficiency of the Town’s wastewater system, reduce maintenance
cost, prevent future disruptions and support development in the Town by
providing necessary infrastructure for growth.
Two public informational meetings will be held to share important details about the project, primarily affecting residents who live on the following streets: Kenard Street, Kenwood Avenue, Dalewood Avenue, Ash Street and Grasmere Avenue.
There will be a staggered schedule of project work
so that neighborhood impacts will be limited to shorter time periods of one to
three months as work progresses. Impacts may include one way traffic and an
on-street parking ban during work hours.
“This Capital project is estimated at a total cost of $30.8 million, with $13.5 million funded by the Town, $13.5 million funded by the Water Pollution Control Authority, and the final $3.8 million funded through a state grant.
This is a long-deferred but critical improvement to the Town wastewater system,” said Gerber. “Replacing aged sewer pipes will improve flow efficiency, reduce our maintenance costs and avoid disruptive repairs.
We
delayed this project but the time to modernize the East Trunk line is now.”
All residents are invited to attend one of the public
information sessions, scheduled for March 20 and March 25.
Milford's $15M bonding to cover esports arenas, roadwork, building projects
MILFORD — The city will bond some $15
million, with proposed projects ranging from roadwork, building maintenance,
new vehicles and esports arenas
in both high schools.
The Board of Aldermen, at its March 3 meeting, approved the
bonding plan, which city Chief of Staff Justin Rosen says is slightly more than
what was bonded last year.
In all, the aldermen approved $2.2 million for design and
construction of sanitary sewers and wastewater facilities; $7.7 million for
various public improvements, and $4.95 million for the school district.
The school money will cover $1.65 million for partial
replacement of the Orchard Hills Elementary School roof and $2.2 million in
various maintenance work at the schools.
The most contentious item was the $1.1 million for the
esports arenas. Space in both Foran and Law high schools would be reconfigured
to create space for gaming competitions, space for spectators, a gaming and
practice area and rooms for production and coaching.
This project now goes to the permanent schools committee for
next steps. According to school officials, more information will be provided as
the project moves forward.
"Offering a dedicated space for students interested in
the world of esports not only fosters a sense of belonging but creates an
environment where they can develop valuable skills such as teamwork, strategic
thinking and leadership,” said Superintendent of Schools Anna Cutaia.
Cutaia said providing a comprehensive esports program,
including a competitive team, an arena and related course offerings, paves the
way for innumerable future opportunities for students, from scholarships and
collegiate esports programs to careers in the ever-growing gaming and
technology industries.
"We are grateful for the approval of this bond request,
which will allow the creation of a modest, dedicated space for our esports
teams to practice and compete and for the advancement of potential programming
for global applications in the esports realm,” said Board of Education Chair
Sue Glennon.
Glennon said that with the help of Milford Public Schools
staff and their partners at Affinity
Sports, interest in esports has quickly taken off.
In all, 53 students have participated in esports in the fall
and spring seasons.
Milford’s esports has grown from a club to a
full-fledged CIAC-sanctioned
sport, “serving a unique population of students who might not be interested
in traditional high school sports but thrive in this competitive environment,”
Glennon said.
The $7.7 million for city bonding will cover the purchase of
four sanitation collection trucks ($1.98 million), a new fire truck ($1.98
million), $1.1 million for various building maintenance work and $1.1 million
for completing the fiberoptic conversion project.
Also, $550,000 will be set aside for police security camera
work. Rosen said the money would be used to upgrade and fix cameras already in
place and purchase additional cameras.
Rosen said $550,000 will also be set aside for upgrades to
parks, fields, and other recreational assets.
Here's why Connecticut's newest 'shed' is worth $640M. What's inside is even more costly.
The USS District of Columbia will be among the most
expensive ships in U.S. history, when the nuclear submarine launches years from
now into the Thames River at a projected cost of $16 billion, at last report.
As for the riverfront Groton "shed" that
houses the sub under construction today? That catapulted to become one
of Connecticut's most valuable buildings — with Groton taxpayers the possible
beneficiaries.
The South Yard assembly building at
General Dynamics Electric Boat — dubbed Building 600 — has been
assigned an appraised value of nearly $640 million for the October 2023 grand
list, according to the town of Groton's tax assessor. That increases the value
of the 75-acre shipyard campus by roughly 60% on paper, to more than $1.6
billion.
"Electric Boat ... became our top taxpayer in 2023 for
the first time since the 1980s," said Mary Gardner, Groton's town
assessor. "EB ruled in the '80s and then Pfizer took over."
General Dynamics built the "shed" facility for
assembly of the
Columbia-class ballistic missile submarine, which the U.S. Navy plans to
phase in as the replacement for its existing, Ohio-class subs nearing the end
of their planned lifecycles. As construction in Groton ramped up between 2019
and 2020, the company reported a $155 million increase in capital expenditures
supporting its marine systems segment, which includes Electric Boat and
shipyards in Maine and California.
Under former president Joe Biden's administration,
Department of Defense officials routinely cited the Columbia-class sub program
as the nation's top military priority. As of November 2024, the first sub was
just over half complete according to the most recent estimates the Navy
provided the Congressional Research Service, with General Dynamics stating in
its recent 2024 annual report it aims to complete the sub by 2028.
Columbia-class subs will be launched over 20 years as
sections are barged to Groton from an Electric Boat shipyard in Rhode Island
and from Newport News Shipbuilding in Virginia operated by Huntington Ingalls
Industries.
Including development costs, the total program is currently
projected to cost $130 billion. Once complete, the South Yard assembly building
at Electric Boat would likely take on assembly work for a planned attack
submarine fleet that, over time, would replace today's
Virginia-class subs.
The South Yard assembly building is among a few new
additions to Electric Boat's Groton campus, along with a new building for
engineer offices and an emergency response center; and one to house and train
the Navy sailors who will be on board.
The state Department of Economic and Community Development
awarded General Dynamics property tax abatements under the Connecticut
Enterprise Zones program, which resulted in the value of state investments
under the program rocketing to nearly $684 million covering the grand-list year
of 2023. That was about equal to the combined value of Enterprise Zone
certificates over the preceding five years, with DECD spokesperson Jim Watson
confirming that the Electric Boat investment drove the spike.
Groton Mayor Rachael Franco could not be immediately reached
for comment on how the expanded Electric Boat campus might affect taxes for
property owners in that town, once the incentives run their course.
More than 45 cities and towns in Connecticut participate in
the Enterprise Zones program, which allows them to select projects for tax
incentives in qualifying neighborhoods based on certain economic criteria,
including employment, income trends or an older stock of existing housing.
Companies can receive an 80% abatement on local property
taxes for five years, including the cost of machinery and equipment. The
incentives can cover investments in existing structures, if those dollars
increase the facility's value by at least half, or if it brings a dormant
property back into economic activity that had gone dark.
The incentive can be applied as well to companies that lease
facilities, if the lease runs five years with an option to renew or a deal
otherwise to purchase the property.
General Dynamics is already looking ahead to additional
facilities, stating in its recent annual report it will work with the Navy
"on any additional construction needs that could develop in light of
increased submarine demand." In January, it
purchased land in North Stonington for a future warehouse facility,
while continuing to invest as well in its auxiliary shipyard in Quonset Point,
Rhode Island, and an Austal USA shipyard in Mobile, Alabama, which is building
a new facility to make components for Columbia- and Virginia-class subs.