Printer Friendly Version - Oct. 25 Public Hearing on Next Step for North Branford Town Center Project/1599 Foxon Road

The Oct. 25 public hearing will help the Town Council make the best decision on possible town use or sale for development of this 5.95 parcel of open space at 1599 Foxon Road, once home to North Branford's Community Center, Center School and Wall Field.Pam Johnson/The Sound

At present, it's a park-like swath of open space in the town center; but the future of 1599 Foxon Road, once home to the Community Center, Center School and Wall Field, is still up for debate. On Wednesday, Oct. 25, the Town Council invites the public to give input what the next step should be.

The council will take into consideration all public input gathered during a public hearing set for Wed. Oct. 25 at North Branford Auditorium at 7 p.m.

"It's really a threshold question on the future use of 1599 Foxon Road, in terms of being developed or left as open space," said Town Manager Michael Paulhus. "During the [2014-15] charrettes, some people voiced their opinion about keeping it as open space. So this is an opportunity for the council to get further input."

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." Several attempted meetings with CenterPlan drew unresponsive results. In early 2016, the Town Council dismissed CenterPlan's "preferred developer" status.

When other developers failed to show an interest in the property, which still including the existing town buildings, the council approved removing the two buildings in order to make parcel more marketable.

Following the early spring 2017 demolition and clearing of both buildings, a "highest and best" techniques property appraisal was produced by David Ambrose. The appraisal put a value estimate of $551,000 on the parcel.

In May of 2017, due in part to the relatively low market value appraisal for the land, the Town Council began discussing the idea of getting fresh public input to help consider the best use for the space; specifically whether the town should continue attempting to sell the land for development vs. using it as a new park/open space.