CT Construction Digest Thursday November 5, 2026

Enfield approves $511M school plan as Southington rejects $86.7M project, unofficial results show

Crystal Elescano

Voters in Southington rejected an $86.7 million school construction proposal on Tuesday's general election ballot, while Enfield voters approved a $511 million school project, according to unofficial results from the Secretary of the State's website.

“The approval of the building project referendum demonstrates a shared community belief and commitment to providing our students with safe, modern and engaging learning environments that will serve them well into the future,” Enfield school Superintendent Steven Moccio told CT Insider on Wednesday morning.

“This approval is more than a facilities project; it is an investment in our students, our staff, and the long-term strength of the Enfield community,” he said.  

Enfield’s school referendum received 4,338 yes votes and 4,049 no votes, according to unofficial results from the Connecticut Secretary of the State’s Office.

The district is expected to consolidate from six elementary schools into four, closing Enfield Street School and converting Eli Whitney into Eagle Academy. 

In the Enfield referendum, voters were asked to authorize $511 million for the pre-K to 5+ Eagle Academy project, which includes:

$105 million for a new Hazardville Memorial Elementary School;

$114 million for a new Prudence Crandall Elementary School;

$109 million for a new Edgar H. Parkman Elementary School;

$122 million for a new Barnard Elementary School; and

$61 million to convert Eli Whitney Elementary School into Eagle Academy.  

The referendum also authorized the town to issue up to $89 million in bonds or notes. The project’s remaining costs will be covered by state grants and other available funds.

Although the total cost of the project is $511 million, the town’s estimated share would be $89 million after state reimbursement, according to the district.

Moccio said the town will submit the certified results of the referendum to the state, along with additional information that will be updated in the construction grant. After that, the town will move forward with creating a building committee for the project.  

The Enfield project is expected to be completed in two phases. Hazardville Memorial, Prudence Crandall and Edgar H. Parkman elementary schools would be scheduled to open in fall 2030. Henry Barnard Elementary School and Eagle Academy would follow, with construction beginning in 2028 and completion expected by 2032, according to officials.

The next step for the project is designing the buildings for the first phase, which will take place between 2026 and 2028, with construction beginning in 2028. The second phase design would run from 2028 to 2030, with construction expected to begin in 2030.  

“Our students deserve the very best opportunities to learn, grow and succeed. And I am beyond grateful for the support shown by Enfield voters and for the thoughtful conversations that took place throughout this process,” Moccio said. “Special thanks to the various committee members that worked with the architects to find a solution that positions the district for our current and future needs.”

Failed referendum in Southington

As of Wednesday morning, unofficial referendum results showed 9,971 no votes and 8,819 yes votes for the school project in Southington, according to Superintendent Steven Madancy.

The totals did not include absentee ballots, but Madancy said Wednesday that the margin was too wide to be overturned.

In Southington, the town asked voters to approve an ordinance to fund an elementary facilities plan, which would have included the construction of a new Kelley Elementary School, upgrades at South End Elementary School and the closure of Flanders Elementary School, with the building repurposed for municipal and community use.

The referendum would have authorized up to $86,675,560 in bonds and notes to finance the project. The cost of the project would have been $86.4 million, with an estimated town share of $33.9 million to $39.7 million, officials had said.

When the Southington Town Council approved the referendum date and question in April, council members discussed how the school buildings were in dire need of repairs. 

With voters rejecting the referendum, Madancy said the Board of Education will reconvene to consider the next steps. The options could include developing a different construction plan by looking at the various scenarios for an alternative that hasn’t been explored. 

One possibility could be bringing the same proposal back to voters in another referendum, he said.

“There is a lot that needs to happen,” Madancy told CT Insider. “We need to look at the current situation and the immediate needs that are in those buildings because now there’s not an imminent project.”

Any immediate work done on the schools would not be reimbursable from the state and would be expenditures from the town, he said. 

“Our responsibility to our students and community remains unchanged. While the voters have spoken on this specific plan, the challenges facing our aging facilities and the need for modern, safe learning environments have not vanished,” Madancy said. “We listen, we respect the voice of taxpayers, and we will take this feedback to reevaluate our path forward together.”

In addition to Enfield and Southington, several districts had school infrastructure questions on the ballot. Middletown had the largest project, with voters approving a $30.4 million appropriation and bond authorization for districtwide improvements, according to unofficial results.

The project includes roof replacements and rooftop air-conditioning units at six schools; HVAC control systems at seven schools; oil tanks and boiler systems at two schools; and safety and security upgrades at all schools.

Data center pauses are spreading in Connecticut. A statewide moratorium could be next

Jordan Nathaniel Fenster

Several communities have already paused or stopped approving data centers, but a proposal is heading to the General Assembly this session that could create a statewide moratorium.

Why Connecticut’s 2011 October snowstorm was so destructive

The proposal from state Sen. Bob Duff, D-Norwalk, is still taking shape, but he said there is “a tremendous amount of concern by residents of the state about these new AI data centers.”

Duff said lawmakers should use the 2027 legislative session to examine the facilities’ effects on electricity, water, infrastructure costs and noise, then decide what rules should apply.

“I think at this point we would start probably with a moratorium on all data centers,” Duff said in an interview with CT Insider. “We just need to contemplate all of those things in the legislative session and come up with rules of the road or not.”

House Republican Leader Vincent Candelora, R-North Branford, said he believed a proposal for a full moratorium is "politically motivated," though he said statewide data center regulation could have bipartisan support. 

"I think we've got to be more prescriptive about it," he said. "There is a reality that data centers are needed. People love their phones. They love AI. They love ChatGPT. I don't think you need to take a sledgehammer to this issue, especially so much of our economy is based on data and data storage. It has become a a national political football."

Duff said the scope would need to be worked out, but he would consider revisiting tax breaks for data centers passed in 2021 and setting rules for future projects.

“Nobody, when we did the original bill in 2021, contemplated AI data centers,” Duff said. “They weren’t even a thing.”

AI data centers tend to be in hyperscale data centers, which are very large facilities, typically owned by a major technology firm, cloud provider or telecommunications company and built to handle enormous computing and storage demands, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.

“AI data centers are so much bigger; they use so much more electricity,” Duff said. “The water usage, the same concerns that Connecticut residents have as we’re seeing around the country.”

There are several proposals for data centers being considered across Connecticut, though they are described in public materials as smaller, locally powered facilities.

In Bristol, the Inland Wetlands Agency approved an application with stipulations for a data center at 234 Riverside Ave. The city’s notice describes a two-story, 7,279-square-foot building; Mayor Ellen Zoppo-Sassu has described it as a roughly 15,000-square-foot “micro-cloud” facility with a 4-megawatt fuel cell. The wetlands approval does not cover all local permits, and the project still needs site-plan and building approvals.

In Colchester, CMMD LLC has presented a concept for two data centers on about 17 acres at 42 Old Amston Road, each powered by a 4.99-megawatt fuel cell. The company has discussed the proposal with town officials but had not filed a formal application as of Oct. 21. It intends to seek a zone change first.

Several Connecticut towns have already adopted moratoriums or bans.

West Haven approved a one-year moratorium in June. Trumbull adopted a two-year moratorium on new data centers in September, exempting its existing facility. New Haven enacted a 12-month moratorium, with an exception for its existing quantum-computing hub. East Lyme adopted an indefinite ban in October, before any local project had been announced.

Other towns have considered pauses without adopting them. Ellington’s Planning and Zoning Commission authorized the town planner to begin the process for a one-year moratorium application. Beacon Falls officials directed staff to research a moratorium after residents asked for one. Harwinton officials discussed a possible moratorium after receiving inquiries.

In Cromwell, the commission rejected a proposed one-year moratorium while a developer was promoting a data-center campus; the developer says it has not yet filed a site plan.

Duff said the state cannot consider the issue town by town because the region’s electric grid is interconnected.

“Even if there’s one of these in another state in our isolated grid, that still impacts us,” he said.

Duff said he expects lawmakers to hear from residents and industry representatives before settling on a policy. 

“I would feel confident that we would be able to come out with something that is good for the state of Connecticut and one that is not a drag on businesses, but also protects residents of the state,” he said.

Norwich considers next move after voters again reject police station project

Conor Linskey

Norwich — The city is planning its next move after voters on Tuesday narrowly rejected a $55 million plan to create a new police headquarters.

The city had proposed to renovate the former Chelsea Groton Bank building at 300 Main St. but voters rejected then plan 4,838-4,607.

Residents here have now rejected a plan for a new police station on three occasions, in 2012, 2023 and 2026. The cost of the project increased with each vote, going from $33 million in 2012 to $44 million in 2023, and then $55 million on Tuesday.

The difference this time is the city purchased the bank in 2024 for $800,000 with plans to renovate and expand it into a police station.

Police Chief Patrick Daley said Wednesday afternoon that while the plan is to put the new headquarters in the bank building, the city would consider its options.

“It was a very close vote, I think one percent or so difference,” he said. “But that’s the second time we’ve been within one percent. So, obviously we need to look at our messaging and see where we came up short. The need’s real. It’s not going away. And prices aren’t going to get cheaper. So, we have to look at what we can do differently.”

To get the project approved by voters, Daley believes there needs to be more citizen involvement. To that end, he said, there needs to be a public forum where the city shares the costs of the project and then evaluates what is feasible.

“We have to look at cost cutting,” Daley said. “Do we change the scope of the project? What does it involve? ... People were concerned about the cost. What can we do to get that down, if possible? I don’t know if it’s possible.”

Mayor Swarnjit Singh said Wednesday he hopes there will be another vote to approve the project but he was unsure about when that would be. Like Daley, Singh said he believes the department greatly needs a new station.

“The need was identified even in the 2014 report by the police station committee, and the need is still there,” Singh said. “As a mayor, I would like to take that need to the finish line.”

The current 47-year-old police station on Thames Street has insufficient storage and interview space, no room for female officers to change and numerous other problems, including water damage from a leaky roof that threatens computer equipment, and mold.

Deputy Police Chief Thomas Lazzaro said the new headquarters will be double the size of the department’s current headquarters on Thames Street. The department plans to use the additional space for a community room, which local organizations could use for events. The expanded footprint would also allow for more training sessions for outside police agencies as well as city police.

For now, Daley said, the former Chelsea Groton Bank building will continue to be a community resource available for meetings and training.

Regulators approve up to $1.15B in new borrowing for Eversource as interest costs climb

Andrew Larson

State utility regulators on Wednesday approved Eversource’s request to borrow up to $1.15 billion for its Connecticut electric utility through the end of 2027, at a time when rising interest rates are driving up what the company pays to borrow.

The Public Utilities Regulatory Authority’s decision allows Connecticut Light and Power Co., which does business as Eversource, to issue bonds or unsecured notes, in one or more batches, with maturities of one to 30 years.

Eversource plans to use the money for capital projects and to pay off $500 million in bonds that come due in March 2027, according to its application. Those bonds carry a 3.2% interest rate.

The replacement debt will cost more. As of late September, Eversource estimated that a new 10-year bond would carry a rate of about 5.98%. That was up from 5.15% when the company prepared its application, as Treasury yields climbed.

Eversource expects to spend $2 billion on capital projects in Connecticut in 2026 and 2027. It plans to cover that spending and the maturing bonds with about $1 billion in cash from operations, the new long-term debt and $350 million in short-term borrowing, according to the application.

The borrowing is expected to raise the utility’s overall cost of capital from 7.04% to 7.2%, according to the decision. The company told regulators it expects to keep its current credit ratings.

The approval doesn’t guarantee Eversource can pass its borrowing costs on to customers. Utilities can recover only costs that regulators find prudent, or reasonably incurred.

PURA said it will make that call later, when Eversource asks to include the debt costs in rates. Any costs the authority rejects would fall to the company and its shareholders instead of customers.

The decision comes as PURA weighs Eversource’s first Connecticut electric distribution rate case since 2018. The company filed in July for a $727 million annual rate increase and a final decision is expected in mid-2027.

CT Construction Digest Tuesday November 3, 2026

Revitalizing Constitution Plaza can bring downtown Hartford together

Matt Fleury

Now pending auction, the 1960s-era Constitution Plaza in downtown Hartford is at once a subject of concern and a source of possibility. There’s a way to replace the risk of failing real estate with new uses that unlock the potential of surrounding assets and move Hartford forward.

The Connecticut Science Center, Connecticut Convention Center and the riverfront parks attract more than 1 million people each year, while an equal number attend games and events at the renovated PeoplesBank Arena and Dunkin’ Park to our west.

Yet, too few of these visitors find their way across downtown from one destination to the other, leaving our best assets isolated and downtown less competitive as a place to enjoy, convene, learn, work and live.

This is a moment to think big. Constitution Plaza, where Connecticut residents once gathered for holiday festivals, has handsome buildings and plaza spaces that can be revitalized to complement their newer surroundings rather than compromise them.

Repurposed for hotel rooms, one tower would help the Convention Center compete for multiday conferences and the significant economic benefits they bring, capitalizing on the recent expansion of Bradley International Airport. Apartments, in high demand downtown, could occupy other buildings within the complex.

Perhaps this is the time to build on the longstanding UConn School of Business campus at Constitution Plaza with an expansion and a stronger plaza-level presence. CT State Community College students might benefit from updated classrooms around the tailor-made academic quad at the north end of the plaza, with its original clock tower.

These educational institutions would accelerate Hartford’s progress as a college town and form the northern anchor of a connected learning campus stretching south to UConn Hartford at Front Street, recently enhanced by the addition of Carbone’s restaurant.

Amplified and co-located in this way, higher education is more than a placemaking strategy. It is a steppingstone to careers with surrounding employers, fueled by existing feeders such as the Science Center, Covenant Prep School and, soon, Junior Achievement’s JA BizTown and the recently announced Hartford Innovation Center for applied artificial intelligence at State House Square.

Imagine this ecosystem at the center of our Capital City.

To be sure, rehabilitating Constitution Plaza will require significant capital, likely from both private investors and government sources. Programs are in place to subsidize apartment conversions, rehabilitate vacant commercial buildings and invest in innovation districts and urban placemaking initiatives.

Academic facilities receive ongoing investment, which can be strategically targeted to support a coherent plan to revitalize promising spaces in meaningful places, creating a mutually reinforcing community. The proposed uses could also generate the revenue needed to attract private investment.

Much of Hartford’s existing corporate base and many cultural anchors surround this troubled real estate, along with the riverfront park system and planned housing development across the Founders Bridge in East Hartford.

To revitalize Constitution Plaza is to protect and enhance these valued neighbors, including some of our finest corporate employers and public venues. It will also connect an enviable but disconnected array of assets so they can complement one another and put downtown Hartford on a promising path built on learning, careers and experiences for visitors and residents.

Fairfield approves nearly $12 million for adaptive center, 2 new turf fields

Eric Bedner

FAIRFIELD — Members of the Representative Town Meeting approved millions of dollars for several projects this week, including for an adaptive recreation center and Miracle Field for children with disabilities, as well as new artificial turf fields at two Fairfield high schools.

Construction of an adaptive recreation center for people of all abilities, as well as a Miracle Field specifically designed for children with disabilities were approved by a voice vote at a cost of about $6.3 million. 

Both the recreation center and Miracle Field are planned for 224 Colony St., on a 5.05-acre property formerly known as the Pilot House.

Miracle Fields are designed to be completely flat to make balls bounce more evenly, as well as being accessible to athletes in wheelchairs and with visual impairments. 

“As a parent with children with special needs, these kinds of things are incredibly important,” Representative Chris Carroll, D-8, said.

However, Carroll and other RTM members raised concerns about the lack of information regarding how much taxpayers will be on the hook to operate the recreation center and Miracle Field long-term, including the cost to pay staff.

While both projects are “an exceptional opportunity for this town,” Carroll called it “irresponsible” to not have future costs detailed.

“This should not be the way we do business,” he said, but still voted in favor of the allocation.

Representative Eric Treschuk, D-9, echoed Carroll’s comments, but added the projects would be an “outstanding addition to the town.”

Representative Dru Georgiadis, D-9, said the funding will provide Fairfield with “a one-of-a-kind facility” that can be turned into “a real gem.”

Children and others with disabilities often don’t have as many opportunities to socialize or participate in sports and other recreation, Representative Sharon Pistilli, D-5, said.

“It’s really one of the most important ways we can be investing our funds as a town,” she said.

Along with recreation and socialization, the recreation center will also provide an opportunity for job training, as well as potential revenue if officials choose to rent out the gym there, First Selectperson Christine Vitale said.

RTM members also approved about $2.9 million for a new turf field at Ludlowe High School, and $2.675 million for a new turf field at Warde High School.

Representative Peter Ratzki, D-10, raised concerns about the material used in artificial turf, arguing it could result in harmful health impacts to athletes on the fields.

“I can’t in good conscience vote for this,” he said, but added he probably would have supported the fields if he were the deciding vote.

Some members questioned whether the town should invest in grass fields instead.

Angelus Papageorge, executive director of the operations for the school system, said designs would have to be created to ensure proper drainage, adding grass would also limit sports activity because it takes them longer to recover from heavy rains.

Representative Michelle McCabe, D-4, said the RTM can request a study to examine what a comprehensive shift from turf to grass would entail, but she voted for the artificial turf in the absence of that study.

I-95 lane closures in Connecticut pushed back again. Here’s the new date

Brianna Gurciullo

The start date for a project to clean drainage systems on bridges along Interstate 95 has been pushed back for a second time.

The Connecticut Department of Transportation had initially announced that the cleaning along the highway from New Haven to Greenwich would begin Oct. 26. The start date was then moved to Nov. 1, and DOT also announced that the work would take place in phases, with the first phase including a section of I-95 from New Haven to Milford.

Now, the start of the first phase has been postponed to Nov. 8 “due to contractor availability,” according to a revised DOT notice. An agency spokesperson said the contractor is wrapping up another project.

DOT’s latest notice says Mohawk Northeast Inc. will perform the work. Previously, it said Latec LLC was the contractor.

CT Construction Digest Friday October 30, 2026

New Haven Harbor project begins. Channel will deepen to 40 feet

Mark Zaretsky

NEW HAVEN — Work has begun on a major U.S. Army Corps of Engineers project to deepen and widen the New Haven Harbor channel, making it easier for ships to carry petroleum products, construction aggregates, equipment and scrap metal into Long Island Sound’s largest port.

Great Lakes Dock and Dredge Co., a contractor for the Army Corps’ New England District, began work last week. The project is expected to take two dredging seasons, each running from October through March, and wrap up in early 2028, the Army Corps said.

The New Haven Harbor Improvement Project will remove about 4.5 million cubic yards of sand and silt to modernize the roughly 5.5-mile federal navigation channel, which serves deep-water terminals at the head of the harbor.

“New Haven Harbor is being modernized to strengthen the safe, efficient movement of essential goods and energy resources throughout Connecticut and the Northeast,” Craig Martin, a senior project manager with the Army Corps’ New England District, said in a news release.

The project follows a maintenance dredging effort completed last fall that removed about 790,000 cubic yards of material and restored the channel to its authorized depth of 35 feet, Martin said in an email. The new project will deepen the channel to 40 feet and widen most of it by 100 feet. It also includes a partial realignment and a 300-foot widening of the channel bend near the breakwaters, he said.

Those improvements will allow larger vessels to use the harbor and improve maneuverability, Martin said. The added depth will also let the largest ships now calling at the port travel to terminals at the head of the harbor at any stage of the tide. Fully loaded vessels may now have to wait for high tide, he said.

The project was authorized by Congress in the Water Resources Development Act of 2020 and funded through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021, Martin said.

Work will take place from October through March to comply with seasonal environmental restrictions protecting harbor species. The first dredging season runs through March 2027; the second is scheduled for October 2027 through March 2028.

The contractor will generally work from the northern part of the project south toward Long Island Sound, using two mechanical bucket dredges and bottom-dump scows. During the second season, it is expected to use a drilling and blasting barge to remove about 60,000 cubic yards of granite ledge near the channel bend, Martin said.

About 1.7 million cubic yards of dredged material — nearly 40% of the total — will be used for aquatic ecosystem improvements, including shellfish and reef habitat work and filling “relic borrow pits” in the harbor that have existed since the 1950s, the Army Corps said.

New Haven Harbor is New England’s third-largest port by tonnage, after Boston and Portland, Maine, according to the Army Corps.

The Army Corps is coordinating with the U.S. Coast Guard, the Connecticut Port Authority, the New Haven Port Authority, federal and state regulators, port pilots and other harbor stakeholders, according to the news release. The Connecticut Port Authority is the project’s nonfederal sponsor, Martin said.

The work is not expected to significantly change the types of commodities handled at the port, but it will improve delivery efficiency, Martin said. The project is intended to support shipments of petroleum products, including gasoline, jet fuel and heating oil, as well as road salt, steel and chemicals, according to the Army Corps.

“The project will improve navigational and ship handling safety in New Haven Harbor and strengthen the regional economy by increasing the harbor’s capacity to serve larger vessels,” Connecticut Port Authority Executive Director Michael O’Connor said in the release. “It also will reinforce New Haven Harbor’s role as a strategic commercial port and energy hub for Connecticut and the Northeast.”

State breaks ground on $125M Enfield train station, restoring rail service lost in 1986

Andrew Larson

Construction has started on a $125.3 million Hartford Line train station in Enfield’s Thompsonville neighborhood that will bring passenger rail back to the town for the first time since 1986.

Gov. Ned Lamont and state Transportation Commissioner Garrett Eucalitto marked the start of construction Wednesday at the site, 1322 Bigelow Commons. The state Department of Transportation expects to finish the project in fall 2030.

Amtrak closed the old Thompsonville stop because of low ridership. Service is far more frequent now: The Hartford Line, launched in 2018, runs 22 weekday round trips in addition to Amtrak trains.

The new station will close a roughly 15-mile gap on the Hartford Line between Windsor Locks and Springfield Union Station in Massachusetts. The DOT estimates it will serve nearly 130,000 passenger trips a year by 2031.

Rides will take about 23 minutes to Hartford and 13 minutes to Springfield.

The state is covering about 85% of the cost. The other 15% comes from the Federal Railroad Administration, Federal Transit Administration and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

The station is meant to spur development in Thompsonville, where Enfield has long sought to build housing and businesses around transit.

“Building this new station means better access to jobs and education, while creating new opportunities for housing, businesses and private investment in Thompsonville,” Lamont said.

The station will have a 350-foot high-level platform, a mostly enclosed waiting area and about 80 parking spaces, about 15 of which will have electric vehicle charging. A bus area will connect riders to Enfield’s Magic Carpet bus service.

The project also replaces the railroad bridge over Main Street, realigns about 4,400 feet of track and adds a separate track so oversized freight shipments can still move through the station area.

Enfield’s station is part of a larger Hartford Line expansion.

A new $121 million station in Windsor Locks opened Oct. 18, replacing the town’s old stop south of the downtown area.

The old Windsor Locks station served more than 35,000 riders last year, and officials expect the new one to serve 43,000 by 2030.

Other planned stations are further off. A proposed West Hartford station is still in early design, and the state hasn’t yet found money to build it, according to a June report from the Capitol Region Council of Governments.

The Hartford Line, which runs between New Haven and Springfield, had fully recovered its pre-pandemic ridership by 2024, according to the regional group.

North Haven proposal for 400 apartments, shops heads to Nov. 9 public hearing

Mark Zaretsky

NORTH HAVEN — The Haynes Group's proposed 400-unit mixed-use, village-style housing development blending housing, shopping, walking trails and a "village green" at 300 Elm St. will go back to the zoning panel next month after the Inland Wetlands Commission approved it Wednesday night.

The Planning and Zoning Commission will open a public hearing on an application for the project, proposed for 30 acres off Elm Street and Sackett Point Road near Bruces Ice Pond, on Nov. 9, Land Use Administrator Laura Magaraci and Haynes Group attorney Bernard Pellegrino said Thursday.

The hearing will be in the gymnasium of the Mildred A. Wakeley Community and Recreation Center, 7 Linsley St. in North Haven. Among other thngs, Haynes has sought a text amendment to allow residential development within an IL-80 industrial zone

The Inland Wetlands Commission unanimously approved a site plan referral and permit to conduct regulated activity for the project Wednesday night, with a number of conditions, after months of consideration and debate. 

"Last night, the IW application for 300 Elm St. was unanimously approved with conditions by the Inland Wetlands and Watercourses Commission after the required public hearing," Magaraci, who also is North Haven's wetlands enforcement officer, said in an email. 

In previous meetings, Haynes representatives have said they're looking to build as many as 400 apartments and 150,000 square feet of retail and commercial space, with a child daycare facility and a bandstand facing the pond, among other amenities.

They have said the project, proposed the company through 200 Sackett Point Road LLC,would be along similar lines to the Residences at Quarry Walk development that Haynes previously built in Oxford.

"What we plan to do in North Haven is very similar in overall size and scope," principal Patrick Haynes said at the time. "People can live — go have an ice cream, sit out on the green, listen to some music, enjoy a spring night. Come walk your dog, even if you don't live here. It's a place for the community."

The project is located near Interstate 91, the existing Universal Drive commercial area and North Haven High School. 

IWC Chairman Frank Bumsted said the application marked the first time the commission has hired its own soil scientist to get its own independent analysis of wetlands issues on the site, particularly as they pertain to one area that the developer's soil scientist said was wet but did not meet the definition of a wetland.

The commission's consultant, William Kenny of William Kenny Associates of Fairfield, agreed with the developer's soil scientist and found it was not actually a wetland, Bumsted said. "No inland wetlands or water courses were observed," he said.

"From a wetlands perspective, I think it's a good plan," said IWC member James Lorusso Jr., who praised the project's amenities and later was the member who made the motion to approve the application.

Bumsted said the project involved "significant activity," but said the developer's representatives "did everything they were supposed to do. They did everything that we asked them."

In an April presentation to the PZC, Haynes Group representatives compared the project to the Oxford project, which is home both to chain stores and independent shops, including a Market 32 grocery store.

Recognizing North Haven High School's significant existing impact on local traffic, Haynes Group said in an earlier appearance before the PZC that it is planning a traffic study to identify how to add new lanes and traffic signal patterns to improve the corridor's flow.

Haynes has said the company plans to seek input from the community on a name for the development.

‘We’re Not Going to be a Target’ — Eastern Connecticut Fights New Trash Plants

Ally LeMaster

PLAINFIELD — Lawmakers in eastern Connecticut say their region is shouldering too much of the state’s trash burden, and they are vowing to fight a proposed waste-to-energy plant in Plainfield should the developer bring the project back.

At a press conference last Thursday, state Sen. Heather Somers, state Reps. Doug Dubinsky and Anne Dauphinais joined local leaders to oppose the proposal.  

SMART Technologies LLC has been looking to build a waste-to-energy plant in town, despite overwhelming public pushback. 

The proposed facility would cover 81.2 acres of residentially zoned land in town and accept up to 2,500 tons of garbage per day. The plant, which developers claim would be the first of its kind in the United States, would convert trash into a synthetic gas, which would then be burned and turned into energy. 

Although a permit was withdrawn for the project, an attorney for the developer indicated in a letter to the Siting Council that they will be refiling a “revised proposal” at an unspecified future date. 

Plainfield residents voted 1,148-125 in a referendum against the project and approved spending $250,000 on legal fees to fight it. Residents cited environmental concerns with the project being near an aquifer, questions over the technology that would be used in the plant, heavy truck traffic, as well as the proximity of the proposed plant to the other waste-to-energy facilities in the state. 

According to the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, this would be the second waste-to-energy plant in Plainfield and the fourth in eastern Connecticut. 

Currently, three of the five operating waste-to-energy plants are located in the eastern portion of the state in Preston and Lisbon. The other plants are located in Bristol and Bridgeport. 

The location of these plants was the main point of contention for local lawmakers. 

“I want to be clear: eastern Connecticut is not going to take Greenwich garbage,” Somers said. “Maybe we should consider looking at a county level. Your county creates the garbage. Your county deals with it.”

Dubinsky emphasized that Plainfield is an environmental justice community, which are defined as census groups where 30% of the population earns an income under 200% of the federal poverty level or as a distressed town. 

“We shouldn’t stick another one where there’s already all a bunch of them in a poor, small community that’s already carrying a disproportionate amount of the burden of processing the waste of this state,” he said. 

Dauphinais called eastern Connecticut a “target” for these sites. 

“We’re not going to be a target for these dumping sites. The people have spoken loud and clear,” Dauphinais said. “You can see there’s a house here. We’re talking about houses, people’s lives, or families getting affected.” 

Plainfield First Selectman Kevin Cunningham told CT Examiner that the proposed facility would have directly impacted nearly 500 households nearby. Cunningham said there are still many unanswered questions about the plant, including whether the plumes would contain PFAS — manmade substances that don’t break down — and the potential effect on farmland.

“Why, if we’re an environmental justice [community] and we already have these issues here, why are we continuing to be the dumping ground?” he asked. 

At the press conference, Somers also called out Gov. Ned Lamont for vetoing a bill that would have allowed small towns with 16,000 or fewer residents to vote by referendum on state permitting of unwanted projects in 2025. 

In a letter to the Secretary of the State’s Office, Lamont explained his rationale for the veto. 

“Allowing permitting decisions to be overturned by referenda undermines the principles of objectivity embedded in our state permitting process, will discourage important investments in infrastructure, and will drive up the cost of living for residents,” he wrote. 

Democrats running for legislative seats in the area have also expressed opposition to the Plainfield trash plant proposal and disagree with the governor’s veto. 

Samantha Derenthal, a member of the Plainfield Board of Education who is running against Dauphinais said while she doesn’t agree with the veto, she understands Lamont’s reasoning. 

Derenthal suggested introducing legislation that would prohibit these types of projects from being developed in residentially zoned areas.  

Asked if she believed eastern Connecticut was disproportionately burdened by waste facilities,  Derenthal said yes. 

“We are getting targeted because of our access to railways as well as highways. We absolutely have less money to fight this kind of thing, and so it’s an easier time to get these in,” she said. “We also have a lot of open space, and I think there are some areas that can take it on. But there are also other areas of the state that absolutely can take it on.”

Marcus Palumbo, who is running against Dubinsky, agreed. 

“What we see is that communities that are often forgotten about by Hartford, like some of our small towns in eastern Connecticut, places without as much economic power, often are the ones that all of the polluting and otherwise harmful projects get pushed towards,” he said. 

Joe de la Cruz, a former state representative who is running against Somers, said it’s clear the eastern part of the state has to deal with more trash plants. 

“You don’t even have to say it. The words don’t have to be spoken,” he said. “You can see on paper where everything’s landing.”

De la Cruz said residents should have more say on where such facilities are built in their communities.

At the press conference, Somers also criticized Lamont for failing to have a plan for the state’s waste after the MIRA plant in Hartford shut down in 2022. 

The state currently ships some of its garbage to Ohio and Pennsylvania.

“Governor Lamont agrees that Connecticut needs a comprehensive plan for waste management,” Cathryn Vaulman, the communications director for Lamont, wrote in a statement. “In 2023, he proposed a bill (HB 6664) that would have returned Connecticut to self-sufficiency and reduced the state’s costly reliance on out-of-state landfills. The legislature’s revisions eliminated the clear path the bill provided to address this issue.” 

Asked about claims that the state disproportionately puts trash plants in eastern Connecticut, Vaulman said the governor “takes seriously the toll pollution takes on residents’ health.” 

“Since taking office, he has supported numerous policy changes that strengthen environmental and public health impact reviews, tighten rules around burning trash and other waste, and address the risks posed by PFAS and other dangerous chemicals,” she wrote. 

SMART Technologies LLC did not respond to a request for comment.

Mega-development proposed for CT town. It’s 598 homes and 100,000 square feet of shopping

Don Stacom

One of the tri-state region’s most powerful commercial developers is proposing an enormous residential and retail complex that would add just under 600 homes in Stonington.

Breslin Realty’s plan for Liberty Crossing would create more than 110,000 square feet of stores and restaurants along with four three- and four-story multifamily buildings.

The Long Island-based company, known for decades as one of the biggest mall developers in the region, wants to use a roughly 67-acre wooded site along Route 2 just off I-95 for its project. It would vastly change the look of Stonington, a wealthy shoreline community best known for its historic village with a heavy nautical theme.

But Breslin maintains that Liberty Crossing would be more than an ordinary mixed-used development, and would blend smoothly with the existing community.

Top Videos Warsh: ‘Politics Played No Role’ in Fed’s Decision to Hold Rates Steady

“Each of the elements of our proposal, including the mix of residential units and commercial uses, combined with the scale, connectedness and walkability and development of a village type project, will give Liberty Crossing a strong sense of place as is present amongst the existing and varying villages in town,” according to a 607-page presentation put together by a team of Breslin’s consultants.

Although Breslin’s proposal doesn’t specify the multi-family units as apartments rather than for-purchase condos, the building design is consistent with modern apartment buildings.

In the multi-story buildings, Breslin wants 74 studios measuring 540 to 610 square feet, 250 one-bedroom units measuring 750 to 850 square feet, and 217 two-bedrooms ranging from 1,125 to 1,250 square feet.

In addition, the company proposes a series of townhouses, duplexes and quadplexes with two- and three-bedroom units.

Its flier lists space for a 30,000-square-foot supermarket, along with commercial spaces next door totaling about 50,000 more. In addition, plans show smaller spaces on the opposite side of a new parking lot with a total of about 20,000 square feet.

“The project has been designed to expand upon the town’s historic character, preserve and enhance the property’s sensitive environmental resources, and organize the development into a series of distinct neighborhoods with a cohesive village character,” according to the consultants’ report. “The development will incorporate architecturally distinct neighborhoods connected by pedestrian walkways, green spaces, community areas, and gathering places.”

Soon after word of the project went public in mid-October, a town council candidate from neighboring Westerly, R.I., weighed in on social media with concerns.

“This is gonna greatly affect our town as well! This insane amount of building in Stonington! The new Liberty Crossing are looking for approval for just under 600 apartments, two grocery stores, and a strip mall. With more to come at a later date,” wrote Rose Van Dover. “This is insane! Pay attention! If not, you won’t recognize your own town in the next 10 years.”

CT Construction Digest Thursday October 29, 2026

Preston to vote on selling piece of former Norwich Hospital land to Mohegans

Connor Linskey

Preston — Residents will gather at Preston Plains Middle School on Thursday at 7 p.m. to vote on approving the sale of two parcels of land on Route 12 to the Mohegan Tribe.

The parcels total approximately 30 acres and have been owned by the town since September 2023. The town acquired the land by foreclosure.

According to an Oct. 19 letter from the tribe to the town, the Mohegans will pay the town $200,000 for the land. The tribe plans to use the parcels, which are a small part of the Preston Riverwalk Project.

In 2009, the town acquired the abandoned 393-acre Norwich Hospital property along Route 12 and the Thames River from the state. A small portion is located in Norwich. The town then received millions in state funding to clean up the contaminated site. In 2017, the town and tribe agreed that once that was done, Preston would convey the property to the tribe. Almost all of the 56 former hospital buildings have been demolished as part of the cleanup. The transfer to the tribe is expected to occur soon.

The project is envisioned by the tribe as a non-gaming destination and calls for outdoor and indoor attractions, hotel and retail space, restaurants, housing, a marina, RV park and more.

The land where the Preston Riverwalk Project would be located is of historical significance to the Mohegans, as it is next to Brewster's Neck Cemetery and land on which early American settler Jonathan Brewster established a trading post hundreds of years ago. This land was granted to Brewster by his friend and trading partner, a Mohegan sachem named Uncas.

"We are honored to pay reverence to our ancestors in bringing this land back to our family," the tribe said in a statement about the project on their website.

A copy of the Mohegan Tribe’s letter dated Oct. 19 is available for inspection at the town clerk’s office and on the town website: Prestonct.gov. The document outlines the details of the land transfer, including the intended use for the parcels, cost and acreage.

Copies of the tribe's letter will also be available at the special town meeting.

Hallelujah! At Steelpointe Harbor A Marriott Rises In Hotel Desert, Transforming East Side’s Waterfront

Along the Steelpointe Harbor waterfront, adjacent to the luxury-unit, amenity-filled apartment complex The August, the Residence Inn by Marriott rises, a much-needed hospitality development in essentially a hotel desert in Connecticut’s most populous community, that will feature 142 guestrooms, ground-floor amenity spaces, and an exterior sports court, and with cooperating weather anticipates an opening the back end of 2027.

The project is led by KBE Building Corporation in partnership with hospitality leader True North Hotel Group. 

Steelpointe Harbor is the vision of Miami developers Robert Christoph Sr. and Robert Christoph Jr.  who’ve invested heavily in Bridgeport. Now, when was the last time you heard those two cities named in the same sentence?

For the Bridgeport business community, hospitals, colleges, concert goers at the city-owned amphitheater, it cannot come soon enough.

A few years ago The Holiday Inn was converted into market-rate housing then sold to a local non-profit for what is undergoing transformation into affordable housing units.

“KBE is proud to continue our work at Steelpointe Harbor and help bring this exciting waterfront hospitality destination to life,” says Michael Kolakowski, president and CEO of KBE Building Corporation. “The Residence Inn will play an important role in supporting Bridgeport’s growth, welcoming visitors to the city, and advancing the broader vision for a vibrant and accessible waterfront community.”

New Naugatuck apartments become ‘blueprint’ for transit-oriented developments

Abigail Brone

By next summer, downtown Naugatuck will be transformed, with dozens of new apartments and a new train station.

Naugatuck’s downtown redevelopment has drawn the attention of Gov. Ned Lamont, who said it’s an example of the potential Transit Oriented Developments (TODs) hold.

“I hear a lot of speeches about transit-oriented development,” Lamont said. “You sort of have to sometimes imagine what it means. You don't have to imagine when you're here in Naugatuck. You see what it means.”

The new Water Street train station is expected to be completed in the summer.

However, the first of three apartment buildings at the Platform at Naugatuck which abuts the train line has been completed and residents recently began moving in.

Lamont spoke about the developments’ benefits at a ribbon cutting for the new apartments Monday.

“You'll be able to walk right over to the train station, go to Waterbury, Stamford, or beyond, or people coming in here for work as well,” Lamont said.

The Platform at Naugatuck is now accepting applicants. The building was approved for families to move in less than two weeks ago, according to Karmen Cheung with Pennrose, one of the project developers.

Five families are currently living in the 60-unit building, but it is expected that nearly half of the building will soon be rented out.

“While we have some finishing touches to do, there has been an overwhelming round of interest,” Cheung said. “Today is about more than just the completion of a building. It's about what can happen when a community comes together around a shared vision and is willing to do the hard work to bring that vision to life.”

Of the 60 units, a dozen are for residents earning 30% of the Area Median Income (AMI). Another 24 apartments are for families earning 50% AMI, including eight reserved for Section 8 voucher recipients.

Another dozen are for residents earning 80% AMI and the final dozen are market rate apartments.

Officials say the project is all a part of a transit oriented plan to revitalize downtown Naugatuck to make the town more inclusive and connected.

“Not long ago, this was a vacant site with just the potential to transform downtown Naugatuck, today that vision has made a big step in becoming reality,” Cheung said.

The second building will begin construction in early 2027 and applications for project funding for the third and final building will begin in January, according to Cheung.

In all, Platform at Naugatuck will have 180 apartments spread across three buildings and be done in 2030, Cheung said.

The state Department of Housing (DOH) contributed more than $8 million to the project.

“At the end of the day, what is important is for the families that are going to be living and are going to call this place home, are the dinner tables where kids are going to be doing their homework, our neighbors walking around, and what a beautiful place to be,” DOH Commissioner Seila Mosquera-Bruno said.

Generations ago, when Naugatuck was an industrial hub, 10,000 people worked downtown daily, Mayor Pete Hess said.

“For years we've been talking about bringing people downtown, and now we're handing out the keys,” Hess said. “What you see is a blueprint for transit-oriented development.”

CT Construction Digest Tuesday October 27, 2026

First phase of 180-unit downtown Naugatuck development completed

Michael Puffer

Developers will join state and local officials Monday afternoon to mark the completion of the first phase of a mixed-income apartment development on what had been a vacant 7-acre property in downtown Naugatuck.

The Platform at Naugatuck development, at 20 Old Firehouse Road, includes 60 one- and two-bedroom apartments and approximately 3,000 square feet of ground-floor commercial space.

The project is being developed by Pennrose and The Cloud Co. in partnership with the borough.

The apartments include units reserved for households earning 30%, 50% and 80% of the area median income, along with market-rate apartments.

The first phase also includes a resident lounge, fitness center, roof deck, outdoor seating and green space, bicycle storage and on-site laundry.

The three-phase development plan calls for 180 apartments across three 60-unit buildings, along with more than 7,000 square feet of commercial space.

Plans also call for a public gathering area featuring a market plaza, central lawn and gardens.

The development is being built alongside a new train station under construction by the Connecticut Department of Transportation. The station, expected to open in summer 2027, will replace the existing Water Street station and improve connections between downtown Naugatuck, commuter rail service and the Naugatuck River Greenway.

Gov. Ned Lamont, Naugatuck Mayor N. Warren “Pete” Hess III, state housing officials and representatives of the development team are expected to attend Monday’s ribbon-cutting ceremony.

A $7M renovation of a major CT parking garage is underway. It brings in revenue and connects to amenities.

Sean Krofssik

The city is investing $7 million into a comprehensive modernization of Main and Trumbull parking garage on Church Street in downtown.

Hartford city officials said the nearly 1,000-space public parking structure, also known as the MAT Garage, will receive repairs to improve structural needs, improvements in safety and accessibility, elevator upgrades and technology. It will also prepare for future EV infrastructure. The work is underway on Phase 1A with a $4.7M investment.

Hartford Mayor Arunan Arulampalam said this garage is the last city-owned revenue producing parking garage in downtown Hartford and the improvements are important to maintain the revenue the garage brings in.

“Hartford was barreling towards bankruptcy a little over a decade ago and the city, for one time budget fixes, sold off the number of its parking garages,” Arulampalam said. “We, at one point, owned a number of the parking assets downtown and the city slowly sold off those public assets. And what that means is that we’re losing the revenue from those lots, and it’s also led to parking being more expensive within our downtown.”

What 7% mortgage rates mean for the housing market

The street address of the Main and Trumbull parking garage is 55 South Chapel St. The five-floor structure has entrances at South Chapel Street and Church Street.

Arulampalam said the Main and Trumbull parking garage, also known as the MAT Garage, had fallen into disrepair for more than a decade and it was time to make repairs. He said there have been instances where concrete has fallen off of the roof and other liabilities.

“It’s been kicked down the road too long and we need to turn this public asset into a public asset again and generate revenue to help with our overall expenditures to allow us to invest in things we need,” Arulampalam said. “This is important for the long-term fiscal stability of the city.”

Arulampalam said the garage also allows the city to make parking more affordable for Hartford residents.

“The purpose of the parking authority is to serve the public of the city of Hartford. Having these public parking assets are incredibly important. It also provides revenue to the city,” Arulampalam said. “The investment is not pure city dollars. It is replacing revenue that would otherwise be going into the general fund and using it to make investments in the future. It’s taking the existing revenue that this parking garage is making and just investing it into ensuring it’s the long-term sustainable asset for the city, which I think is just smart government, a smart investment and makes for a better and stronger downtown.”

The Main and Trumbull parking garage serves patrons of the Hartford Stage, sporting events and concerts and other events at the People’s Bank Arena, businesses, downtown restaurants and area residents.

Kay Al Mannai, the chief executive officer and CFO of the Hartford Parking Authority, said the garage is the only revenue producing asset that remains owned by the city.

“The MAT Garage supports 280 Trumbull Street, the Stilts building, corporate partners and the Hartford Stage. It’s proximate to Pratt Street and supports the People’s Bank Arena,” Al Mannai said. “It’s a whole city block. We’ve done tons of improvements just to make the block look better, just from a walkability standpoint.”

Al Mannai said she has been working on this project for much of the last two years. She said the project will be broken down between Phase 1A and Phase 1B.

“I sat down with the (city) engineers and said, ” ‘How can we break this up in a way that I can figure out the funding in the interim until we can get to bonding,’ ” Al Mannai said.

The work on the stairwell is eligible for the city’s risk management funds because it constitutes a risk.

“The rest of the job is bid alternates so that as we get money toward the end of this project, which will take over a year and a half or two years. By the time I get to that fiscal year, I can then start chipping away and just keep adding on things as part of the bid. We had to get really creative in how we structured it out to be able to self-fund it,” Al Mannai said.

She said the entirety of the project, all phases, is expected to take about four years to complete. Both Phase 1A and Phase 1B will take about two years each.

“I think it would have been a tragedy if the city lost this asset,” Al Mannai said.

Al Mannai said that, in addition to keeping the garage and its revenue as an important source of revenue for the city, it’s also important to keep parking prices down. If they choose to charge $10 or $20 for a sporting event, it would force other lots to stay close to the MAT Garage prices.

Are AI data centers coming to CT towns? Backlash and anxieties rise

John Moritz and P.R. Lockhart

Local officials in many parts of Connecticut are not waiting for the national data center boom to come to them.

Earlier this month, for example, the East Lyme Zoning Commission voted unanimously to adopt an indefinite ban on all data center development, one of the first such blanket prohibitions in Connecticut. The ban, which went into effect on Saturday, came before anyone had announced even the faintest plan to construct a data center in the coastal town.

“It seems like all over the country, they’re trying to figure out the effects of pollution, energy consumption, chemical runoffs,” Anne Thurlow, the chairwoman of East Lyme’s Zoning Commission, said during an August meeting.

“I think it’s a good thing to ban them until we know more about them,” Thurlow added. “It could always be reversed if the town wanted to.”

East Lyme is one of around half a dozen municipalities that have taken preemptive action to block data center development, either through temporary moratoriums or a complete ban, according to a review of public meetings and records by The Connecticut Mirror.

Moratoriums have been passed in communities big and small, suburban and rural. New Haven passed a one-year moratorium in September, with an exemption for the city’s existing quantum computing hub. Morris, a town in the Litchfield Hills with fewer than 3,000 residents, has a two-year ban.

“The Connecticut case is quite interesting because many other places in the country, when we see these protests and opposition, either something has started or something is already there,” said Subodha Kumar, a professor of statistics, operations and data science at Temple University’s Fox School of Business.

But in Connecticut, he said, political pushback has formed well ahead of actual plans for development.

“Connecticut has never been that attractive, frankly speaking, for data centers,” Kumar said.

The development of large “hyperscale” data centers in Connecticut, and to a greater extent in New England, has been stymied by the high cost of electricity, along with the need to access to utility infrastructure and large plots of land to house thousands of servers, which can easily cover several football fields. 

In 2021, Connecticut lawmakers fast-tracked legislation to lure data center developers by promising to waive sales and use taxes for projects that invest at least $200 million in the state (or $50 million for projects located within certain state-designated enterprise zones). To date, the only project to take advantage of that exemption: Cigna’s $386 million renovation of an existing data center in Windsor.

Thurlow said the effort in East Lyme was driven, in part, as a reaction to a proposal to erect a massive new data center facility next door in Waterford, which is home to the Millstone Nuclear Power Station. The planned facility would have drawn its power directly from Millstone, a setup known as co-location.

But local pushback and years of delays ended up killing that project, according to Waterford First Selectman Robert Brule, who told CT Mirror last month that he and the town were no longer interested in hosting data centers.

“We’d rather produce the energy now than produce a project that sucks up the energy,” Brule said.

The Department of Economic and Community Development, which oversees the data center tax incentive program, said it has reviewed only two applications under the program since it began and none this year. The credit has become an issue in the gubernatorial election, with Republican candidate Sen. Ryan Fazio arguing the tax incentive should be ended.

A spokesperson for Gov. Ned Lamont said the governor was open to discussing changing or eliminating the credit, adding that the tax incentive was never intended for large AI data centers and “should be clarified to ensure it is never used by a hyperscale data center and that data centers bring their own power.”

The law also exempted qualified projects from local property taxes but requires developers to enter into a host fee agreement with any municipality in which a data center is located.

Randy Collins, a lobbyist at the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities, said developers argued it would be “economically unfeasible” to invest millions of dollars into the necessary equipment for data centers without offsetting some of the taxes.

But despite a handful of towns successfully negotiating host fee agreements, Collins said developers have been slow to actually take advantage of the tax breaks.

“If you look at the resources and requirements going in, they’re not just going to be popping up everywhere,” Collins said.

Still, the issue has drawn considerable attention. Democrats in the state Senate say the moment requires new policy, with Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff announcing this week that he intends to introduce legislation next session that would create a statewide moratorium on new data centers. The proposal was initially outlined in a CT Mirror op-ed in September.

“We think there should be rules of the road. We think there should be a moratorium,”  Duff told reporters during a Thursday morning press conference in Groton. “We think we should better understand what electric and water and other types of problems are.” 

The public concern around data centers, he added, is something worth listening to. “We’re seeing people across our state and across our country who are really upset over the proliferation of data centers coming in, literally in people’s neighborhoods,” Duff said. “We should not have these in people’s neighborhoods.” 

Duff said there is a clear partisan divide over data centers. Senate Minority Leader Stephen Harding, R-Brookfield, challenged that assertion, saying he also would support some sort of pause on data center development and would support repealing the 2021 tax incentive for data centers.

“Clearly, there’s a lot of questions that are unanswered regarding data centers,” Harding said in a brief interview on Friday. “I don’t think we should be siting them currently without further information on the energy they’re going to use and how they’re going to impact the communities where they’d ultimately be sited.”

That bipartisan agreement is perhaps a sign of how quickly public sentiment toward data centers has turned negative, a trend that is unfolding nationally. So far, public backlash to the mere mention of prospective data centers has been swift, vastly outpacing actual construction or even applications.

In interviews with CT Mirror, state residents said even if a large number of data centers is unlikely to emerge, communities cannot afford to wait for more projects to be introduced. And they argue that their concerns about the potential impacts of data centers, no matter the size, should be taken seriously. 

Developers, meanwhile, counter that their projects, many of which are less than 40,000 square feet, are being unfairly lumped in with larger data centers, arguing the facilities they intend to build will have minimal environmental impact and, in some cases, will support the redevelopment of formerly blighted properties and previously contaminated sites. 

Collins said while CCM has not taken a formal stance on the issue of data centers, the group generally favors more local control.

The tension is fueling intense debate in communities, not only about data centers but about the pace of technological growth, the advent of artificial intelligence technology and the role communities should play in economic development.

And in some places, the backlash against data centers has followed realistic plans for development.

Cromwell

One of the fiercest debates over the construction of data centers is taking place in Cromwell, where energy developer Global Common has publicized plans to construct a 300-megawatt facility, about 550,000 square feet, on land currently occupied by agricultural fields and a former gravel distributor.

Bob Foxen, the chief executive of Global Common, said the site was chosen to take advantage of a buried gas transmission pipeline to power fuel cells that he said will provide all of the electricity to run the data center. He said the size of the property, more than 150 acres, would also allow for setbacks to alleviate visual and noise issues, and to preserve some land for farming.

“I’ve seen the pictures of some data centers, and I think maybe some of them don’t look very pretty,” Foxen said. “But I think ours, you really are not going to see much of anything from the road.”

But before Global Common filed formal site plans with town officials, opposition erupted from residents who said the project was out of scale with the surrounding neighborhood of mostly single-family homes. Social media posts accused officials of having secretly agreed to “fast track” the project, and an online petition against the development drew more than 1,500 signatures.

Cromwell Town Manager Anthony Salvatore said in an interview this week that he’d been introduced to Foxen on one occasion following a meeting with the town’s economic development coordinator.

“The bottom line is, I really don’t have enough info regarding them, and it would not be my approval they need, it’s planning and zoning,” Salvatore said.

In September, the Cromwell Planning and Zoning Commission considered and ultimately rejected a proposed one-year moratorium on data centers.

One of the residents who spoke up against the idea of a moratorium at that meeting, Allan Wilson, said some of his initial concerns about data centers had been mollified by researching the ways in which developers can limit water usage and air pollution, including through the use of fuel cells. He said town officials should have the discretion to approve individual projects in the future, if they take appropriate steps to limit negative impacts in the town.

But Wilson added that he remained opposed to specific project being proposed by Global Common just down the street from his home, close enough that he is worried about the potential noise.

“The only benefit to the town is taxes. It’s not like a store you can get anything at,” Wilson said.

While Foxen declined to provide specific figures, he said any host-fee agreement with the town would provide “millions” in annual revenues and would likely make the data center Cromwell’s biggest taxpayer. He also sought to address residents’ broader anxiety over artificial intelligence and its impact on society.

“I don’t know enough to know if data centers are going to cause the end of the world. That’s beyond my knowledge,” Foxen said, adding that the U.S. faces global competition from countries such as China in the race to develop AI.

“Even if we ban data centers, our adversaries are not going to ban them,” he added. “So there’s that side, and I think they need to be designed in a way that is consistent with the local community and local needs.”

Colchester

In the days before the Colchester Planning and Zoning Commission held its regularly scheduled meeting on Oct. 21, rumors swirled online that the meeting would focus on approving two data centers proposed for Old Amston Road, a remediated brownfield that once served as an auto parts salvage site. 

Residents were encouraged to show up in force to let the city know that a data center was not wanted.

Liv Pike was one of the residents who answered that call. 

Pike lives on the road where the proposed data centers could be placed. She said she cares deeply about the environment and believes that a data center, and the artificial intelligence technology that it could support, would create new harms. Research she’s been doing in recent days has only added to her fears.

“I found out that most of the water that is used to cool down these AI data centers we cannot reuse because they have salt and other chemicals in it. It doesn’t go back into the river system,” she said. “If we did that, we are bringing not just Connecticut and Colchester — we are bringing the world closer to ending, in my opinion.” 

Other residents came prepared to speak too, citing worries about noise and quality of life. Some said a local moratorium on data centers is needed. 

But when the meeting began on Wednesday evening, members of the commission were quick to emphasize that the project is nowhere near that far along. An application for the facilities, the first step before any further planning, zone change, or public hearing discussions are held, has yet to be filed. 

Colchester First Selectman Bernie Dennler said the project currently raising concern has been around for years, and predates his time in office. “It’s important for people to understand this is not a Town project,” Dennler said in an email. “Private applicants have the right to submit their proposals to the town, but the town is not a party to this private proposal.”

Should an actual application be filed in the future, “both the applicant and residents have a right to be heard in the process,” he added. 

John Matheson, the CEO of ReNew Developers, a real estate firm that lists the two Colchester sites and a third property in Bristol as “available listings” on its website, said the public outcry over the project has misconstrued the role his company is playing in the development process. ReNew, he said, is only responsible as a power provider for the properties, adding that they are owned by other parties and that his company would not actually be involved in any construction of a data center. 

Beyond that, Matheson said the projects he is involved in differ greatly from the sorts of hyperscale data centers that have drawn national backlash.

“They’re the size of a garden variety Tractor Supply building, or even a CVS,” he said, noting that the owners intend to operate the sites in ways that are environmentally safe. “These are not big, large, impactful buildings that are being suggested.” 

Bristol

In Bristol, a long-simmering proposal for a facility on Riverside Avenue has rankled local residents, with tensions reigniting this spring. The proposal, which like the proposal in Colchester, counts ReNew Developers as a power provider, faced public backlash as residents raised concerns about its construction in the city, citing concerns about its placement so close to the Pequabuck River. 

The backlash grew so intense that Bristol’s Mayor released a statement aiming to clear up public perceptions of the project. In the statement, Mayor Ellen Zoppo-Sassu explained what administrative steps the project had already cleared, while also aiming to describe what the proposed facility would do. 

The proposed center, she said, is far different from a hyperscale data center, instead referring to the project as a “micro-cloud building” designed to do something different than an AI-supporting data center.

“Smaller data centers that bring their own power can be designed for greater sustainability, resulting in a lesser environmental impact and serving as a productive building within the community, which is a goal in Bristol,” she wrote. 

The building, she added, would use less water than local grocery stores or high schools. 

Still, the backlash has been intense, prompting Zoppo-Sassu to support changing local zoning ordinances to prevent the construction of large data centers in the future. 

Beacon Falls

As in other communities, local officials in Beacon Falls — an old manufacturing center along the Naugatuck River — said the furor over a proposed 100-megawatt data center has gotten ahead of reality.  

“There is absolutely nothing pending, in conversation, on the table, nothing at all for Beacon Falls,” Beacon Falls First Selectman Gerry Smith said in a recent interview. 

The confusion, Smith said, stems from a four-year-old memorandum of understanding between the town and a local developer, O&G Industries, to facilitate the construction of a smaller 32-megawatt data center on a former gravel quarry adjacent to Route 8. Under the terms of that agreement, the data center owners would have paid $2.5 million a year in taxes, with annual increases for inflation. 

That additional revenue would have allowed the town to reduce its tax rate on other properties by more than 13%, according to a copy of the agreement shared with CT Mirror.

In the end, the project never came to fruition because the developers were unable to find a buyer for the project, Smith said. The tax agreement expired in 2023, before the town could formalize a host fee agreement. 

Smith said he last heard from O&G Industries over the summer, when they reached out to ask whether the town would be willing to entertain a second agreement over a revised proposal. Smith said he responded that he was open to the idea but has yet to hear back with any specific plans. 

“The last time they had serious conversations was four years ago,” Smith said. 

In the meantime, marketing materials published online by a New York real estate firm, the Agency, have begun advertising the O&G project as an upgraded 100-megawatt facility, about 294,000 square feet, powered by on-site fuel cells. 

“The development is designed to accommodate the rapidly evolving requirements of artificial intelligence, machine learning, GPU-intensive computing, cloud infrastructure, and enterprise digital workloads,” a website for the project states. 

Representatives from O&G Industries and The Agency could not be reached for comment this week. 

During a Beacon Falls Planning and Zoning meeting held in August, about a dozen residents showed up to raise concerns about data centers and call for a moratorium, according to minutes of the meeting.

In an interview, Smith expressed frustration at both the protests and the developers, who he said had failed to be proactive in their outreach with the town. And while he said he still sees potential benefits in data center development, he added that obstacles may outweigh any incentives. 

“I was told Connecticut wanted to be the data center capital of the world because all these lucrative developers were moving south and west,” Smith said. “It sounded fantastic — but the cost of doing business in the state of Connecticut is still high. Even if you waive all the taxes, it’s still too expensive.”