Commissions Try For Truce On Technology Park

By Kendra Bobowick

The conversation was “successful” and a “good discussion,” say chairmen of commissions eyeing the site of a proposed technology park.

On Friday, November 14, at 8:30 am Conservation Commission Chair Joe Hovious, Economic Development Commission (EDC) incoming Chair Rob Rau, and a handful of members met “informally,” said Mr Rau. During Tuesday’s EDC meeting Mr Rau told other members, “We talked about the issues that are important to us and important to them.” Noting the effort to “get the dialogue going again,” Mr Rau said, “I think we were successful.”

Not wanting to “get too into it,” Mr Hovious did not wish to speak about whether the two commissions had made any decisions or resolved any of the longstanding conflicting views regarding use of technology park land. With an eye toward economic development, the EDC preferences at times clashed with the conservation panel’s desire to protect natural resources and promote open space. Collectively, two adjacent parcels off Commerce Road near Deep Brook add up to roughly 70-plus acres and are set aside for both economic and open space purposes. The EDC had not proposed a tech park configuration that conservation or the Land Use Agency officials believed would pass muster with the Inlands Wetlands Commission or the Planning & Zoning Commission.

Following Friday’s meeting however, Mr Hovious said, “Hopefully we can move ahead with this.” Since their conversation, he said, “We talked about where the various parties are coming from.”

This week, Mr Rau explained that the groups will meet again and “get into more detail,” about the technology park. Friday the group met with First Selectman Joe Borst. “They’re working together now,” he said.

For approximately two years the technology park configurations developed by the EDC have frustrated conservation members, who had concerns for Deep Brook, for one, and contiguous, rather than scattered, land meant for open space. Last year Land Use Deputy Director Rob Sibley raised objections when the EDC made capital funding requests from the town. He argued that the EDC should not spend money on something that has not gained town approvals and has met too much conflict to develop a clear blueprint.