Date: Fri 23-May-1997

Publication: Bee

Author: STEVEB

Quick Words:

open-space-Cascella-permit-fee

Full Text:

Cascella Suggests Raising Permit Fees To Raise Money For Open Space

B Y S TEVE B IGHAM

First Selectman Bob Cascella is considering new ways to raise money for the

town to purchase open space.

One idea he mentioned this week would be to put an added surcharge on all

Planning & Zoning permits for builders based on the size of the development.

Is this legal? It would be if it meant simply raising the fees for permits,

then taking the difference and having the Legislative Council set it aside, he

said Tuesday.

As an alternative, the first selectman suggested the town could discontinue

accepting 10 percent of a new development's land for open space (it's often

useless land), and instead charge a fee in lieu of open space.

"We could use that money to buy open space elsewhere," he explained.

That would be good news for the Greenways Committee, which was disappointed

earlier this week when town officials voted to purchase a $400,000 piece of

property on Elm Drive adjacent to Dickinson Park. To pay for it, the town will

use most of the $455,000 it has remaining in open space grants from the

Iroquois Gas Transmission System. Greenways was hoping it would receive the

Iroquois grant money to buy land in its effort to establish a continuous trail

system through Newtown, connecting all of the town's major open spaces.

Selectman Gary Fetzer, chairman of Greenways, said the use of Iroquois money

to buy the 13-acre Amaral property would "kill" the Greenways plan.

Mr Cascella disagrees, pointing out that the trail system is a perpetual

project that will continue for years to come. He expects Greenways to receive

funding from the town again in the future. In fact, one of the conditions set

forth by Iroquois for allowing the purchase of the Amaral property was that

the town set up a preservation fund, which could be created through the

surcharges on P&Z permits. The town already has $80,000 earmarked for open

space purchases in a section of its non-recurring capital fund.

When Iroquois agreed to fund the property purchase, it had to go against its

original policy, which designated funding only for purchasing land to be used

for non-recreational activities. The town plans to use the Elm Drive property

for ballfields.

Mr Fetzer said he doubted the surcharge would raise the kind of money

Greenways needs to get off the ground, but said he would support the plan.

Of course, the P&Z surcharge on development applications would be different

from the proposed bill that Mr Cascella and State Senator Fred Lovegrove

brought to Hartford back in February. Under that bill, municipalities would be

authorized to impose impact fees on homes put up in large developments. That

bill, they believe, would help offset increased costs to infrastructure caused

by the increased population, and, might "somewhat" deter developers from

building in Newtown or any other town that charges an impact fee.