By Bob McGarry, Haddam First Selectman
(February 1, 2024) — The Rossi property on Saybrook Road has been sitting in its current, nearly vacant, deteriorating state since the Rossi Lumber Company moved out in 1994. The site is a detriment to revitalizing Higganum Center, and it generated a minimal tax revenue, approximately $21,000 per year. We have been studying it and debating what to do about it for more than 30 years, but taking no action.
Haddam’s Plan of Conservation and Development (POCD), our master plan, was approved by our Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) after a public hearing in 2017. It calls for developing the Rossi property. That recommendation was endorsed by more than 250 residents who participated in the Higganum Center Study in 2019. Both of these documents are on the town website.
At a town meeting on November 9, 2022, we voted to buy the Rossi property for $2.5 million. (For more information regarding why we bought it see Should the Town Buy the Rossi Property?, HK-Now, September 29, 2022.) Our initial vision for developing the property was to have a pharmacy and possibly medical office space on the front half (Saybrook Road side) of the property with light industrial use on the remaining half. Light industrial use would allow the local businesses that are current tenants and our Department of Public Works (DPW) to remain. Following discussions with our environmental consultants, we realized it might be possible to have some residential units on the front corner of the property next to HES.
We knew the property had environmental issues which needed to be remediated. On December 12, 2022, we were awarded a $1.5 million Brownfields Grant from the state Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD) to fund that remediation. The grant requires us to have a private partner to improve the property after the town has it cleaned up.
We issued a request for proposals (RFP) from interested contractors through the state’s procurement portal and on the town’s website. The state approved the RFP. We received one response. We met with the contractor numerous times to develop a concept plan that included residential, commercial (including a restaurant), and light industrial space. Two plans resulted, one with DPW remaining, one with DPW relocating. (The developer is revising the concept plans based on comments from the 1/25 information meeting. The revised plan(s) will be posted on our website.)
On November 22, 2023, DECD gave us until March 31, 2024 to have a signed sales agreement with a developer or risk losing the $1.5 million. This was unexpected. We never had a deadline for the Brownfields Grant we received for the Scovil Hoe property. We have a draft sales agreement to sell the property for $250,000. The developer must invest at least five million dollars more in improvements on it before he gets the title. State statute requires our P&Z to review the proposed sale to determine if it complies with our POCD.
At their meeting on January 18, 2024, P&Z found it did. Contrary to what has been posted on Facebook, P&Z did not approve the developer or either of the concept plans for the site. They determined only that developing the property complied with the POCD. Here are the approvals the developer must get to build on the site:
- Connecticut Department of Public Health for the wells and septic
- Connecticut Department of Transportation for sight lines and traffic on Saybrook Road
- Haddam Inland Wetlands
- Haddam Architectural Review Committee (for exterior appearance)
- Haddam P&Z
Why should we make this sale?
- Cost – We don’t need to fund the development. It costs us nothing.
- Revenue – Estimated property tax on the development would be in the vicinity of $211,000. One way to help keep your property taxes affordable is commercial growth. Recent commercial development, completed or under construction, will generate about $500,000 in taxes; two other projects that have been approved will generate about $200,000 more.
- People – We need to bring people into Higganum Center to revitalize it. With apartments, space for small business and possibly a restaurant in the existing office building on the site, the proposed development would do that.
- Visual – Improving the visual appeal of the center makes the town more attractive to new residents and businesses.
What are the drawbacks?
- Complexity/Uncertainty – Developing Rossi is a very complex project. There are lots of moving pieces. We have to expect changes. What remains constant, however, is whatever is built has to be approved by P&Z.
- Opportunity Costs – If we take this sale now, we give up the chance of getting a better one in the future. That’s true, but let’s not let the quest for perfection keep us from improvements. No development will be perfect.
I plan to have another informational session on this in February, tentatively Saturday, February 24, 2024. Details will be posted on the town’s website. I hope you can attend. A referendum to approve/disapprove the sale will be held in March 2024.
We have an opportunity to make a major improvement in Higganum Center. If we don’t act, we’ll lose it.
