Date: Fri 19-Dec-1997

Publication: Bee

Author: ANDYG

Quick Words:

state-lease-Fairfield-Hills

Full Text:

Town Considers State Lease For Industrial Park

BY ANDREW GOROSKO

The town is considering a proposed lease drafted by the state Office of Policy

and Management (OPM) that would provide the town with a low-cost, long-term

lease on about 37 acres of state-owned land at Fairfield Hills for industrial

park development.

The property is adjacent to the town's new sewage treatment plant and the

Newtown Business Park, a privately-owned industrial park on Commerce Road.

The town would have an option to buy the land, which would be reserved for

economic development only, according to OPM.

First Selectman Herb Rosenthal said Wednesday the town attorney is expected to

soon submit his comments on the state's proposed lease.

After receiving those comments, the views of town agencies affected by such a

lease will be sought, the first selectman said. Those comments will be

submitted to OPM for its consideration, he added. OPM would then make a

refined proposal to the town that would be formally reviewed by town agencies.

"We're still in the informal stage," Mr Rosenthal said. "I think we should

pursue it. I don't see how we could lose."

Purchasing the land also would have to be considered, Mr Rosenthal said. A

purchase price would be established by an appraisal of the raw land, according

to the first selectman.

A main aspect of the project will be deciding how the land would be developed

for industrial uses. There are various ways industrial development can be

accomplished, Mr Rosenthal said.

The first selectman envisions new industrial development containing

"low-impact" buildings similar to what exists in Newtown Business Park.

Members of the Fairfield Hills Implementation Oversight Committee met recently

in Hartford to discuss the evolution of the Fairfield Hills psychiatric

hospital and its grounds into a new set of uses. The draft lease for

industrial land was one of the topics discussed at the session.

The draft lease had come up as a discussion topic at an October meeting of the

oversight committee, but panel members opted not to pursue the matter at that

time because committee member Robert Cascella, who was then first selectman,

would soon be leaving office.

State Rep Julia Wasserman, an oversight committee member, said she hopes the

lease agreement will materialize into a successful venture for the town.

Strengthening and diversifying the town's property tax base by increasing the

number of local commercial and industrial properties has been discussed by

town officials for years as a way to lighten the potential tax burden on

homeowners.

The town would be responsible for determining the potential environmental

impact of developing the industrial site, Mrs Wasserman said.

There are three possible findings in such an environmental review, she said.

These are: "finding of no significant impact," which is known in bureaucratese

as FONSI; a finding of some impact; and a finding of severe impact, Mrs

Wasserman said. A "FONSI" would make it simplest to develop the land as an

industrial park, according to the state representative.

The town would be responsible for covering the site development costs of an

industrial area, Mrs Wasserman said, adding that the state is not willing to

do so.

At a past town meeting, voters authorized the town to buy acreage adjacent to

Commerce Road and the Housatonic Railroad tracks. The property would be used

to extend a road into the 37-acre site. That road would fork off the west side

of Commerce Road, across the street from Charter Communications.

As now proposed, the state would require the town to develop the property

within 10 years after a formal agreement is reached, Mrs Wasserman said.

Mr Rosenthal said how soon the land would have to be developed would be a

negotiating point with the state.

At a past session of the oversight committee, Richard Nuclo, head of state

assets management for OPM, said the town could lease the land for 99 years at

$1 per year, with a purchase option. "We tried to make it simple," Mr Nuclo

said. "It's not a very complicated lease. It's not biased to the state. It's a

pretty straightforward document."

Mrs Wasserman was a member of the Fairfield Hills Task Force, an ad hoc group

which studied potential future uses for Fairfield Hills in 1993 and 1994.