Monday, May 26, 2008

ND video

I stumbled across this 90 second YouTube clip on the proposed ND:

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

The jobs are going to be good for Cheshire? I'm sorry, kids aside, minimum wage job holders don't own homes in Cheshire.

With the economy in a spin, do we really need another retail hole designed to drain our pockets? Buy local. These strip mall stores will only fuel multi-national corporations. Nothing trickles down when you send your dollars to an off-shore tax shelter.

Anonymous said...

It's obvious from their support of this mall that Sheldon Dill and Voelker don't care about Cheshire or it's current businesses.

Voelker doesn't even live in town and probably never will. We really lost when Lisa was not given this job.

We need people whor really care about our town and not just for for Cheshire's special interest.

Anonymous said...

don't care about Cheshire

that's completely unfair to say. I know Sheldon pretty well and he cares a great deal about Cheshire. Additionally, he represents businesses in town. And from that perspective, it seems appropriate to support the mall.

And if I understand the situation correctly... why the TM & TP failed to provide information to the public (forget about the Council & PZC) about secondary residential impacts is entirely unacceptable.

It's like building a nuclear reactor, then saying... "oh... we forgot about the spent fuel rods."

Secondary impacts DO matter... though I suppose the PZC and/or Council are equally to blame for the failure to provide that information to the public.

Again though... I know that Sheldon cares a great deal about Cheshire... he's lived here his whole life.

Anonymous said...

Tim, I appreciate that you are backing Sheldon Dill, but how is bringing this mall into Cheshire going to help the other businesses in our town?

I can only see it pushing many of the smaller businesses and the few restarants that we do have right out of business.

He needs to see that the additional traffic going right through our town to the north end will hamper the small businessman, not only by losing business to competition, but also keeping people away due to traffic issues.

Speakinf of which, it is nearly impossible to get down Rt 10 on a Friday night or Saturday, what happens when more traffic is added?

Just because people whave lived here their whole life, doesn't mean they care about this town (see Bowman).

Sheldon may care, but I think his thinking is not correct. He may be the one trying to get rid of "the spent fuel rods".

Anonymous said...

how is bringing this mall into Cheshire going to help the other businesses in our town?

Personally, I think it would add competition (and traffic)... which would not necessarily benefit businesses... but it may increase property values. And in that sense, it might help business "value," though not "revenue."

Anyway... that wasn't really my point. I just didn't want the "don't care" comment to sit.

Anonymous said...

Understood.
I just think if you cared about businesses in this town, you would not want this to happen.
Sheldon was always a good member to our TC, but you have to wonder what he is thinking to back this.

Anonymous said...

West Hartford's Blue/black development has not lowered their taxes. All the promises and hype. We have plenty of Towns that we can look at and see that it doesn't help. Why are we doing this???

Anonymous said...

That is exactly why you don't want the lifestyle center-you don't want the minimum wage job holders to come here to work. Well then don't eat because who do you think picks your food for the supermarket?

Anonymous said...

Maybe people will shop at the local stores due to the high cost of GAS. This will keep them in business and maintain our tax base. Many are owned by town residents. Let's support what we have before it goes away. Have you seen the shopping malls lately? Nobody is around.

Anonymous said...

Watch out folks! Weiner is coming with the third and final step in the process...the ACTUAL plan...not the pretty pictures (love those Weiner watercolors of the people shopping!)
There have been hints from them that "changes" will be necessary in the original design. It is clear that they are having some difficulty signing up tenants....so they may have to forget about the boutiques and go for some more boxes?
And there was a comment a bout "phasing"......in other words, they build the least desireable stuff and hope the good stuff comes later.
The residential is the biggest timne bomb. Smart growth and "sustainability" precludes putting residential at the extreme end of town...away from fire, police, ambulance, sewers, etc etc etc. Putting residential in the north end of town is exactly the OPPOSITE of logical community development. The only reason it is in this zone text change is because they had to sell the "package" of this mall...residential, entertainment (theatres?) and retail. It all sounded so good.
Now reality hits and we will see what the place is really going to be like.
AND PLEASE REMEMBER: Weiner's project may be the most beautiful mall ever built, but the retail (and apartments) that will be buildt across the street and behind Dietter's Nursery (and along West Johnson.....won't be as beautiful....they will be more retail sprawl. Once Fazzone and the boys get the Interchange malled, how long will it be before they start down Rt 10 trying to change the zones along the way. Why not? Once you lay down and sell yourself, the next time gets easy.
One final thought: THE ONLY cogent reason for doing this is the tax revenue. But the Town Manager estimated an approximately $1.5 million net increase....and the impact on the sewers were never calculated. Even at 1.5 million, that is less than half of the ONE YEAR increase in this year's budget. Is this a windfall that is going to solve our financial problems? NO. We would more than two projects like this per year forever to keep out taxes level....and there isn't enough land left for that.
This deal will chance the face of Cheshire and take us off the list of towns like Madison, Glastonbury, Simsbury, etc. that have avoided the commercial sprawl that makes other towns ugly and increasingly unliveable.

Anonymous said...

Good jobs? Dill must be drinking the Kool-Aid again. Most of these are low paid retail clerk jobs with no benefits.
And the land that the mall will be on will NEVER have an office or mfg. or research facility....with good jobs. We traded one of the last great sites in Cheshire for retail ....more boxes to sell stuff made overseas. Great going Dill and the C of C! We need more long range thinking like that.
As for Dill...remember: his salary depends on growing the dues paying members of the C of C. What better way to make sure the pay check keeps coming than to get dozens of new members from the mall site, even if he has to throw some of the long time small businesses in Cheshire under the multi-national corporate bus to do it.