Date: Fri 10-Nov-1995

Publication: Bee

Author: ANDYG

Quick Words:

CEPEC-Brewster-economic-

Full Text:

CEPEC Developer Will Take Her Plans To New York

B Y A NDREW G OROSKO

Following the Planning and Zoning Commission's (P&Z) recent rejection of her

proposal for a large exhibition hall in Hawleyville, Joy Brewster of Mt

Pleasant Road says she'll now pursue building the project in New York State.

Ms Brewster said November 7 she plans to submit development plans for a more

than 100,000-square-foot exhibition hall to land use regulators in Putnam

County. Ms Brewster declined to say specifically where in Putnam County she

wants to build the exhibition center, but noted it would be within easy

driving distance of Interstate 84. The site she has in mind is "extremely

accessible" to the highway, she said.

Ms Brewster said she believes her proposal will receive a better reception in

Putnam County than it did in Newtown.

"It appears that they are going to welcome us with open arms," Ms Brewster

said of the prospects for an exhibition hall in Putnam County.

Ms Brewster said that after the plan's recent rejection in Newtown, she had

considered proposing an exhibition hall for land in Oxford, but decided that

the site there didn't provide sufficiently good access.

CT Expo Development's proposal for the Connecticut Exposition and Performance

Events Center (CEPEC) received a cold reception from Hawleyville area

residents who had organized to oppose it. The project was proposed for land

across Route 25 from the Hawleyville Post Office. It would have been used for

trade shows, public shows, public events, and recreational sports.

On October 19, P&Z members unanimously rejected two zoning amendments

requested by CT Expo Development which would have laid the groundwork for

further planning for the project. The developers then withdrew a requested

zone change for 40 acres from Residential to M-5 Industrial.

Bitterness

Ms Brewster said the P&Z's rejection of her proposed exhibition hall was

a big disappointment.

"I'm still very bitter over it," she said, noting that the property she

proposed using for CEPEC was "ideal" for an exhibition hall. "I'm bitter and

in a state of shock about it," she said.

"I'm ashamed I live in Newtown," she said, adding that "Newtown lost out."

Ms Brewster said that officials in other towns she has visited concerning the

exhibition hall proposal expressed surprise that Newtown would turn down the

CEPEC project.

"Why is industry leaving Newtown?" she asked. "Because there's no support,"

she replied to her own rhetorical question.

Although the town's plan of development calls for industry in the Hawleyville

area, Newtown's land use regulators don't want industry there in the form of

an exhibition hall, she observed.

"It's very frustrating,' she said.

"The whole thing was ludricrous...It was an experience," she said of the

proposal's rejection by the P&Z.

Ms Brewster said she had been assured that land use decisions on her proposal

would be made based on its merits. But the decision-making process devolved

into the realm of politics, she asserted.

"I really feel it would be a tremendous (asset) to the town and state," Ms

Brewster said of a Hawleyville location for an exhibition hall.

She said she worked on the general concept of an exhibition hall for the past

five years and the Hawleyville site for the past two years.

"It was a power play, and these people were well organized,"' Ms Brewster said

of the strong opposition to her proposal from Hawleyville area residents. Some

200 Hawleyville area residents attended an August public hearing on the

proposal and majority of those people appeared opposed to the hall.

"It would be one thing if they (P&Z members) were to come up with one logical

reason" in opposition to CEPEC, Ms Brewster said.

Rejection

In rejecting the exhibition hall concept on October 19, P&Z members mentioned

traffic congestion as a prime reason why a hall shouldn't be built.

Among other reasons given by P&Z members for turning down the proposal were:

massive traffic tie-ups in the area; Newtown businesses wouldn't sufficiently

benefit from the presence of an exhibition hall; a hall wouldn't provide the

town with sufficient property tax benefits to justify its presence here; and

the proposed hall would be too tall for Newtown at 50 feet high.

In the weeks preceding the proposal's rejection, Hawleyville residents raised

other questions about the proposal. These included: whether there's sufficient

underground water in Hawleyville to supply an exhibition hall; how would

wastewater disposal be handled; whether a hall would be economically viable;

whether Hawleyville's character would be adversely affected; and whether the

presence of a hall would damage area property values.