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05/25/2017 12:00 AMDue in part to a relatively low market value appraisal, the Town Council wants to seek renewed public input to help consider the best use for the newly-cleared six acre space at 1599 Foxon Road. On May 16, the council discussed getting public input on whether the town should continue attempting to sell the land for development vs. using it as a new park/open space.
Cleared of the former Community Center and former Center School building this spring, the 5.95 acre parcel has been at the heart of a "town center" development discussion that began in 2014, guided by public charrettes shepherded by the Economic Development Commission (EDC). Two charrettes ultimately sketched out the idea of selling the land to a developer interested in producing a "town center" mixed use development – offering buildings for commerce, residences, potential open space and area-connective paths for vehicles and pedestrians.
In 2015, Middletown-based CenterPlan was recommended by the EDC to the Town Council as the property's "preferred developer." After initial meetings with CenterPlan drew unresponsive results, in early 2016, the Town Council dismissed CenterPlan's "preferred developer" status.
When other developers failed to materialize, the council agreed to clear the lot of buildings to offer the site as a clean slate to potential developers.
But at the May 16 Town Council meeting, the council heard the latest property appraisal and decided it might be time to reconsider the best future use of the land.
The appraisal, produced by David Ambrose, uses up to the minute sales transactions as well as "highest and best" techniques to deliver a $551,000 value estimate for the land.
On May 16, Councilman Al Rose opened the discussion up to the idea of a public hearing or other input gathering process to "...ask what people want to do," with the land, said Rose.
"I wasn't at the charrettes, but I hear from more people who were there that say the majority of people in the room wanted to keep it a park or open space; than people who wanted to sell it," said Rose. "Unfortunately, these values for this [property], they're not going 'get us out of jail free' if we were collecting all the taxes on it."
Councilman George Miller suggested first going to Parks and Recreation and Public Works to find out what parks needs the town might have, and what obligations and costs to the town might be incurred to develop and maintain the property for those purposes.
Council members Chris Manna and Marie Diamond also suggested the public receive input on what the town could generate from a sale and annual property taxes; to give an informed picture of what the property could yield if sold.
"I would like to hear from the public too, because we hear so many [are] upset about taxes," said Diamond. "And [this] is an opportunity to get some money from a business. So, I think we really should have a public hearing."
The council asked for input from Public Works and Parks and Recreation on what potential exists for the site as a town recreation parcel. A timeline for setting a public hearing would be determined after that information is supplied to the council, said Councilman Dan Armin, in answer to Town Manger Michael Paulhus's question about how the council would like to proceed.
"We have the other half of the pie," said Armin, referring to the appraisal report. "We'll get [Parks & Rec/Public Works] information first, and then we can schedule a public hearing."