|
| |
PLANNING COMMITTEE MINUTES
For copies
of the previous minutes please contact Sally Johnson at
Phone: 203-854-7810 x 6778 or Email sjohnson@norwalkct.org
CITY OF NORWALK
PLANNING COMMITTEE
SPECIAL MEETING
JULY 16, 2007
ATTENDANCE: Matthew Miklave, Chairman; William Krummel, Rev. Phyllis
Bolden, Nicholas Kydes (7:49 p.m.); Douglas Hempstead (8:13
p.m.)
STAFF: Timothy Sheehan, Redevelopment Director; John Burritt, Assistant
Director; Munro Johnson, Sr. Development Project Manager
CALL TO ORDER
Mr. Miklave called the meeting to order at 7: 35 p.m. and stated that there
was no quorum present.
I. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION
Mr. Miklave asked three times if there was any member of the public present who wished to address the Committee. No one present wished to address the committee.
II. BUSINESS
A. REED PUTNAM LDA – PARCELS 1, 2 & 4
1, Approval of the 95/7 Conceptual Master Site
2. Approval of the 95/7 Land Disposition Agreement
3. Approval of the 95/7 Reed Putnam Urban Renewal Plan Amendments
Mr. Miklave announced that since there was not a quorum present, that he would, as Chairman, send the above named three items to be included by the Council for their approval on July 24th. He also stated that the fact that a quorum was not present did not reflect on the importance of the project, but simply that the other Committee members had been unavoidably delayed. Mr. Miklave said that the 95/7 project had been very non-controversial over the last six years of planning and development and that he believed that the development plan is consistent with the Plan for Norwalk. He also stated that countless hours of hard work had been invested by those involved to arrive at the current proposal. The Planning Committee had considerable discussion on the proposed project. Mr. Miklave also said that this project was a credit to perseverance.
Mr. Krummel had some questions about the infrastructure section of the LDA concerning the traffic permits. Mr. Burritt explained that the State requires traffic permits for more than 200 vehicles. When the project changed from an all office complex to mixed use, the State will need to review the traffic permit again. Mr. Burritt then reviewed the details of this process with Mr. Krummel and the language that was included in the LDA regarding this.
Mr. Krummel then asked what the City’s contribution would be to this project. Mr. Burritt said that he was not sure at this time.
Mr. Kydes arrived at 7:49 p.m.
Mr. Burritt explained that the City presently had funds to cover the City’s portion of the cost estimate. Tighe and Bond have updated those cost estimates approximately every six to nine months. The Railroad underpass and that Interstate 95 ramp will be the most expensive portions of project for the City.
Mr. Krummel then asked if the Redevelopment Agency was considering a Special Service District for the project. Mr. Sheehan stated that a Special Service District was not being considered as a financing vehicle, one might be considered for the ongoing maintenance costs of the development.
Mr. Miklave then announced that he would not be able to attend the Council meeting on the 24th and asked Mr. Krummel to present the proposal to the Council. Mr. Krummel agreed.
B. WALL STREET REDEVELOPMENT
1. Presentation of the draft LDA – Parcel 2A
Mr. Johnson then introduced a PowerPoint proposal for the Wall Street Development Plan. Mr. Johnson explained that there was a proposed Planning Committee of the Common Council (PCCC) schedule included in the presentation. Mr. Miklave commented that the proposed schedule listed a public hearing in August, which was a difficult month for meetings with so many people on vacation. A discussion followed about possible dates for the public hearing and the Committee agreed that a public hearing should be scheduled in September after Labor Day. Following that, a special meeting of the Planning Committee would be held before the Council meeting to approve sending the proposal to the Common Council for a final decision.
Mr. Hempstead arrived at 8:13 p.m.
Mr. Johnson then proceeded with his presentation of the plan. He stated that this area is the second lowest portion of the City in terms of producing tax revenue. The proposed plan includes 371 residential units; 61,355 sq ft of commercial space, and 876 parking spaces. The plan also includes historic preservation, green design, minority contracting, 248 new public parking spaces, cultural reuse of the Globe Theater, 122 units for working families, connectivity and is expected to produce 10 times the current tax revenue.
Mr. Johnson then went on to review the figures and the break out of the various phases of the project. Mr. Sheehan stated that the figures for the infrastructure costs does not include the cost of land acquisition or the cost of the garage.
At this point in time, the discussion turned to the construction of the proposed automated parking garage. Mr. Johnson showed a CNN clip about the automated parking garage concept to the Commission.
Mr. Johnson noted that the page and paragraph numbers included on the slides and printed copies of the presentation referred to the sections of the LDA where the subject was covered. He then proceeded to cover the topics of the municipal land resources, public financing components, the Agency Support and Coordination, and the City/Agency/ Redeveloper covenants. Mr. Johnson and Mr. Sheehan pointed out that this proposed plan does not involve any “takings”. That process had been given to the Council to decide on a parcel by parcel basis. Mr. Johnson then reviewed the process for project expenses, parking during the project construction and the long term economic sustainability of the parking issue. Mr. Johnson concluded his presentation by giving an overview of the processes for project design, construction and the ongoing Planning Committee involvement.
Mr. Kydes stated that he had a few concerns. One major concern was that the City would only have one shot at doing this project properly and correctly to have the downtown area of Norwalk succeed, grow and prosper. He said that the issue of having 40% low income housing supported by CHAFA or funded CHAFA was troublesome for him. Mr. Kydes said that downtown Bridgeport, New Haven and Hartford in which the infrastructure that was build for the low income housing basically has turned that housing to ghost towns. 40% is a very large percentage for that area to absorb, especially when it exceeds the State regulation requirements, which are from 12-15%. Mr. Kydes said that it would be important to be careful because it will be important to bring in the right foot traffic and economic growth. Mr. Kydes said that he was not sure that having 40% low income housing would not be able to support the type of growth the City is looking to create. Instead, this might make the area undesirable. Mr. Kydes said that he had not heard the 40% number in any of the previous presentations.
Mr. Miklave stated that there was no press in the room and went on to say that Mr. Kydes’ comments were deeply offensive. Mr. Kydes objected and said that he had not attacked Mr. Miklave. Mr. Miklave said for the record, that Mr. Kydes was out of order. Mr. Kydes said that Mr. Miklave was attacking him and requested that the meeting be adjourned. Mr. Kydes said that he was concerned about the taxes. Mr. Miklave said that Mr. Kydes was out of order and requested that Mr. Kydes leave the meeting. Mr. Kydes replied that he would not leave the meeting because Mr. Miklave was attacking him. Mr. Miklave said that Mr. Kydes’ comments equating, even if low income was equated with to work force housing, which Mr. Kydes did – which is not true. Saying that having 40% low income residents would make the area undesirable was racist and offensive. Mr. Kydes then said that Mr. Miklave was out of order and had no right to use those words in regard to him. Mr. Kydes said that he was concerned about two issues here, one of which was the tax burden on the City.
Mr. Miklave called a recess at 9:16 p.m.
Rev. Bolden left the meeting at 9:16 p.m.
Mr. Miklave called the meeting back to order at 9:23 p.m.
ADJOURNMENT
Mr. Miklave adjourned the meeting at 9:25 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Sharon L. Soltes
Telesco Secretarial Service
 |
 |