ND grassroots
Although I've been focused on the budget lately, I think the biggest concern in town is probably still the proposed northend development. The concern is on both sides of the issue, but my guess is that the opposition has more of a grassroots organization. And here's an example of what I'm saying...
My dad picked this flyer up off the ground on The Green:
On the other side of the equation though is an effort to boycott Westfields' Meriden Square for their public opposition to the W/S proposal.
Regardless of your view, you may want to attend the P&Z meeting that's mentioned in the flyer.
Monday, April 9, 7:30pm
Town Hall
In a related story, the proposed Konover development for Watertown has been deep-sixed (WRA, by Jonathan Shugarts). The developer said it was due to the town mandated $58,000 impact study that Konover deemed as "premature."
Tim White
Town Council, 4th District
52 comments:
Why do people hate this project? The center of Cheshire has never been a draw for people.
The $58'000 probably was not the real reason but what the study would find was. It is interesting to read all the local papers and that's all you see. Proposals to text and zoning change everywhere. Madison,Old Saybrook,North Haven,
Guilford,Waterbury,Simsbury,Watertown and many more.Some of these towns are currently in some type of court battle( North Haven and Old Saybrook). Is this the new 55 and over building craze? Less expensive land to build residential?. More bang for the buck. Less expensive not to build a mall. Why have they picked Cheshire? Because of our average income of $80,000? I believe most people need that to survive. More people need to understand what's at stake.
What is at stake?
Cheshire must require the developer to perform all the impact studies before any zone change decision. If this is not done, the owners of the other 300 acres can then make proposals to develop their land in a similar manner and they would win in court if the town objected.
Do right by the people of Cheshire and do the study first.
Right now the zoning provides Cheshire the greatest opportunity to create good paying jobs, provide the highest dollar amount of taxes for the least cost to the town for services and to have the least impact on the environment.
The reason this has not been developed under the current zoning may well be that one can make more money if one can get a zone change for businesses that are willing to pay more. It makes sense to try to make as much as you can.
As we found with the Whole Foods site, they wanted to build 200 rental units and the town rejected the zone change from industrially zone. Then after the court sided with the town, a real effort was made to find a buyer that conformed with the zoning. So, all of cheshire won. Whole Foods provides revenue with little cost to the town. This should serve as an example that our zoning works as long as people realize that our long term development plan is just that and that you just can't change it for more profit.
Turn this down and it's guaranteed that this property will find a buyer that conforms to our development plan. If it is not turned down it is the green light to challenge other parts of the plan and finally to deep six it.
Approve the zone change and you can expect not just 500,000 sq ft of retail and 160 rental units, but if you use these same figures to make a projection for the other 300 acres you could expect up to 640 haousing units and 2,000,000 sq ft of retail. Once it is changed, you can't go back and if anyone says you can, doesn't know what they are talking about. Once it is changed it becomes unsuitable for the businesses it is now zoned for. The town's cost to support 400 deleloped acres could be huge. It will definitely be the end of the volunteer fire dept, who would want that much added responsibility?
Is Cheshire to remain different from its surrounding towns?
What project? The one that we as citizens are not to envision because only a change to our zoning laws is what is being considered by P&Z? Oh that "ONE". The "ONE" the developer is able to present before the Town Council, Chamber, Economic Dev. Comm. and senior center. Slightly unfair? Yes, it's his dime. That's about all he has invested in our town. We as citizens have much more invested. "Hate" is a stong word. Maybe "QUESTION" can be used. I like the center of our Town. It might not be a draw as you stated but it is better than RT10 futher north..
Cheshire did not win, on the Whole Foods site. An attorney failed to file correctly or there would be 200 units there.
Turn it down, like the mall. No buyer will come in fact real estate pros. say we must reconsider different uses. There will be no new factories or Corp. HQ. What we should is give a tax break to owner since we won't let anything be built.
11:57 Go to town hall and obtain the info on record of the current owners. You will be surprised. It's not W/S development. Your idea of a break (tax) sounds good but we will have to include all in the IC zone. Maybe the town should have purchased it before the LLC's. That is water over the dam, under the bridge whatever is on the site..
I would give a tax break to anyone who brings a plan for development and we reject it.
Why would WS own the property? It would make no sense until they have approvals.
They appear to be the kind of company that will do the right thing in the North end.
Also the owners of the property are long time Cheshire people who have their families in town, do you think that they would do something that they thought would hurt the community?
Let's see the plan before we reject it.
I don't want rental housing. Period
Don't worry about the tax breaks, these people are business people and know the risks, but there really are no risks as they have already sold off the Soughtington part of the parcel for the 90 Riverside Condominiums built by Brodach and sold by Calcagni. And, they could easily get more than they paid for the remainder.
The town did win and that's why Whole Foods is there. The town won because it was zoned industrial and everybody knows that. And, it is the same owner that took the town to court that is a part owner of the property and these could be the same people that want to build the residential. W/S does not do residential and you know who manages rentals.
The people who are trying to put a stop to this wonderful project need to take a good look at the north end and see it as a great place to eat and shop.
Nobody seems to care about what exists now. Let's abandon everything in town so we can shop and eat at a new place.
Great, get the approval and then they can do what they want(check out Canton). Sounds like a good deal for them. Have you been reading what has happened in other towns? Will we be immune from law suits? No. That's the big problem. If this was the only site that would be changed there might not be as many questions but it's the whole 400 acres...
The sad part is rumor has it that it's a done deal....
The correct process for this zone text chage should be the developers do all of the studies, fiscal, environmental,impact and whatever else. Turn the studies in to the P&Z, allow the Town to review and validate the findings. If it is the right thing to do then it will be approved, if not, it will not.
What is the wrong way is to change the text of the zoning to allow a project that has yet to be presented.
Town center, are you kidding? Very few people I know shop in this town, there isnt any place to shop, Very few people can find good quality restuarants in this town, becuase there arent any. Ya know what this town's reputation is? Snobbish behavior. Too many people in this town think that other towns are second class, their schools, their kids, their lifestyles all second class to Cheshire, As someone who came from living in one of the richest communities in America, I can tell you, this town has its head up its behind. There is nothing so special here....
Go back, now!!!!
Cheshire already has a lifestyle center-is this a joke or what?
The two areas of downtown and the new north end don't even compare. This flyer is a joke and no one will take it very seriously.
Are you kidding
Who are you kidding? We have lots of good restaurant. Have you ever tried any?
You think W/S is going to provide the high quality that you desire?
How many times will you drive there for one of your wonderful places? Go to Canton and see the wonderful selection. The following are the only eating places there and this was taken right off The Shoppes of the Farmington Valley webb site.
Eateries
E 923 693-4057 **Baja Fresh Mexican Grill
F 705 693-0115 Barnes & Noble Cafe
F 703 693-3202 **Ben & Jerry’s
E 913 693-3314 **Flatbread Company
G 400 693-9513 **Panera Bread
E 921 693-7770 **RuBabs Cafe & Creperie
F 700 693-4040 **Simmer Restaurant
C 500 693-1116 **Terra Ristorante Italiano
Who are you kidding? Cheshire has much better, try them sometime.
You think these mall restaurants are worth the millions of dollars for school additions, a paid fire dept and new station, much more congested roads, added police force fro crime and traffic control, major upgrade of the sewer station that is already at its peak........................
This will make the pool look like a well thought out project.
well, if I wanted Nantucket style seafood or sushi I'd be in the right town. Would an Applebee's be so terrible for our town....or is a vacant lot a better idea?
the North end will great and I will support it all the way. the shoppes the rest and the be good
Ok nice try with the flyer=but it still does not hold a candle to the lifestyle center
Under no circumstance should this zone change be made until after thorough impact studies are made of the all the costs and the impact on the lives of Cheshire residents. These studies should be made to reflect the eventual development of the total 400 acres. These costs should include school population growth, additional cost of building addition classrooms, school redistricting, additional education personnel, school redistricting, school buses, capital expenses to upgrade and expand the sewage treatment plant, road widening( Peck and Dickerman), additional police services for mall incidents and traffic control, capital costs of an additional fire station and the equipment to handle buildings over 50,000 sq ft and over 65 ft high, cost of a paid fire dept, and all the other services.
Before any vote is taken, public hearings must include input from the Dept. Public Works, Police, Dept Education, Fire Dept, and other departments that can be effected.
Don't rush this and be sorry.
You'll never find Applebees at the W/S strip mall. This certainly isn't fine dining, but it is fast. The W/S mall would be 4.1 miles from the center of town. You could easily go to the Applebee's in Wallingford, 5.4 miles from the center. Use mapquest to find it.I hope this helps you. If you are looking for any other restaurants, use a google search.
All this gloom and bad news-poppycock I say. There will be very little strain on our services and we all want this so lets have it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
people do not think the Town has a center, but in a sort of way we do, like has been mentioned. Just because all the business es are not in a single parking lot does not disqualify as it as a center. Maybe the difference of opinion is based in the idea of convience. In reality this type of development is not required for Cheshire. We do not have the people to support it, it will become a center for more problems than benefits and in the long run will drive development in that area of town more towards residential and that will be a mistake.
The shopes that are going in to the north end are a wonderful idea and a normal extension of our capitalist society-and what could be wrong with that. I thought America was all about opportunity and making it if you had the money and a work ethic. Now the Republican no no sayers are crying foul.
Something is wrong here.
Anon 10:37, I have tried many many restuarants in town that is how I knwo how bad they are. Aside from Romano's, Vespucci's and bagelicious, the restaurants in this town stink. Lousy food, lousy service. Give me some examples of what you think are good ? How about family restuarants, can you tell me where those are...?
there's something wrong when I need to use Google to find a reasonably priced family restaurant outside Cheshire (name one left in town?) and the supposed pro-business party is fighting to keep a vacant lot idle
That's ok...we'll spend a mill on fancy sidewalks around Ye Olde Auto Body
In response to the following comment:
Turn it down, like the mall. No buyer will come in fact real estate pros.
You sound like the real estate pro that said it or you are quoting the current local owners of the property. Why wouldn't they want to say it. They will make a bundle by this zone change and the selling of the Cheshire school system. Do you know who the owners are?
The new north end will be great! It is the best!
There are many dem's who don't support the text change. I'am one of 5 (that is all I have asked). Show me the numbers...
The least the flyers have done is make me aware of what is going on. Before I had no Idea of this very important matter. You think the town would make the public more aware due to the impact of this proposed change . For or against the general public has no knowledge. A town referendum shoud be the only way this change gets approved.
You are all hung up on the fact that someone is making money on this deal. Too bad that's life, you could have made, they did we didn't. Who cares????
We have many visionaries on this subject. Let's go back and look at our history and learn from it.
I'm shocked but not surprised at some of the comments posted. Think of this as a resume for someone to be considered for a commitee to plan the future of Cheshire. Who would you choose? Clearly there are a few objective people who are looking beneath the surface of this issue. Maybe a townwide referendum is the fair way for all residents to voice the opinion.
We should not approve ANYTHING without an impact study FIRST. To give the go ahead to a zone text change before these studies are completed is rediculous.
"Maybe a townwide referendum is the fair way for all residents to voice the opinion."
I agree, this is what we should do, Tim should check out if this legal.
When you look at the retail landscape here in Cheshire it is in need of a boost. The north end will do that. We can have a downtown and uptown area and it will not sap our services.
I think Bowman and Calgani own it. It's under an LLC to try to hide the ownership.
I think that West Hartford had a referemdum on Blue back, so it might be the right way to go, let the people decide!!!
Hide ownership or limit liability?
Hide ownership or liability?
Both. Try and find out who the principles are of an LLC. It's good for business not the good for the public.
Man o man alive-This is the best thing that ever happened to Cheshire and I am going to be there at the ribbon cutting ceremony with my new suit from brooks brothers which I bought at the shoppes at chshire
Brooks Brothers in Cheshire? Give me a break they'd be out of business in a month. Cheshire may have high income but many are living month to month.
At least they have jobs.
W/S Development has a development in Wallingford CT called Meeting Brook. It houses the new Lowes. Why didn't they tell us about this wonderful site. Maybe they didn't think it would help their cause. It is 168,000 sq ft maybe that's why they are asking for buildings over 50,000 sq ft.
Beware! Their not only asking for stores over 50,000 square feet but for buildings over 65 feet high. Does this leave us open to multi-level apartment buildings? I wonder. Everyone is saying how nice to have shopping but their not looking at the big picture. Maybe WS Development doesn't want Cheshire to see the big picture. Ignorance is bliss!
This not about shopping or eating at restaurants. It is about opening up Cheshire to Condos big box stores and making route 10 like Queen ST. in Southington. Once we open the door the flood will come and a lot will be decided in court. We are a gem among the surrounding towns. Lets keep it that way.There is a lot of pressure to come in Cheshire and Capitalize on all hard work that the people have done to make this a great town. The DEM. want to see what W/S has to offer so let them do all the studies and pay for them all before we consider changing the zoning. There is too much risk to just making a blind change in Zoning in the North End
WS did say that they developed Lowes.
I think Queen St. would be fine, bring it on!!!!
O'K Paul
Raisng kids there should be great. They'll have a all that blacktop to skate on. Malls are terrific places to raise kids. They'll grow up faster and wiser.
So you will let your kids stakeboard all the way to the North End of town. That is you being a poor partent and has nothing to do with the development.
At the last P&Z meeting there were a few parents that thought the development would be a great place for their children to hang out. Has anyone been to the Meriden Square on Friday nights. Does anyone think that the kids that hang out in Meriden won't come here. Are we dumb enough to think because we're Cheshire they won't come. Wise up! As a town we should be able to do better for our children than a shopping plaza for recreation.
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