Tolland Development Project Tied to Haddam Land Swap

The fate of a Tolland Village Area development proposal is tied to a controversial land swap in Haddam. Even though the two towns are 40 miles apart, both pieces of land the town needs for the development are tied up in one big piece of legislation.

The Tolland officials want to create a village center development to serve as a destination spot with a new hotel as a major focal point, Town Manager Steve Werbner said.

As part of the planning process for the development town official have made two requests to the state. They asked that an open space restriction be removed from a 9-acre parcel of land the state conveyed to the town about eight years ago, Werbner said. Officials also requested the commuter lot adjacent to the property be moved to a vacant space across the street, he said. Both properties sit off of Interstate 84 at exit 68.

Sen. Tony Guglielmo, R-Stafford, said the development would be good for the town and would serve to open up the area between the highway and the University of Connecticut Storrs campus. Rep. Bryan Hurlburt, D-Tolland, agreed the town would benefit from the walk able residential and commercial development.

The Tolland proposal is not controversial and would probably pass the legislature if it was in a stand-alone bill, but it’s tied together with the controversial land swap in Haddam, which has environmentalists crying foul and local lawmakers pitted against one another.

Every year towns make requests to have surplus pieces of land deeded to them for development and other purposes. Typically conveyance bills pass without controversy because they include provisions beneficial to lawmakers on both sides of the aisle.

However, this year a similar conveyance request from the town of Haddam has some lawmakers up in arms about the measure. That provision would deed protected open space land to a developer.

Sen. Eileen Daily, D-Westbrook, co-author of the proposal, said it would exchange a 17-acre parcel of land in the Tylerville section of Haddam with an 87-acre property adjacent to a state park. The property currently owned by the state is a former sand pit, originally zoned for industrial use, she said. It has a view of the Connecticut River, but has limited public access.

If approved, the Haddam property would be developed by Riverhouse Properties and would feature a hotel and a mix of shopping areas, Daily said. Residents would have an easier time accessing the view of the river once the property is developed, she said.

In contrast, Rep. Philip Miller, D-Essex, said utilizing a conveyance bill meant to transfer ownership of surplus land to convey conserved land sets a bad precedent. He said he has heard from conservationists and people who have donated land to the state who told him if the land swap goes through, they would never donate again.

The provision had a public hearing at the state Capitol, but Miller said two events in Haddam have drawn hundreds of people critical of the idea. Daily said Wednesday that those concerns might be magnified by the growing controversy over the issue.

“I understand people have concerns and the more they hear exaggerated stories, the more worried they get. But if this goes through, the public will have much more access to the property than they currently have,” she said.

Both proposals are housed in a measure originated in the Senate, where Daily said she believes she has the votes to pass it. But if it makes it to the House unaltered, Miller said he has an amendment and 22 sponsors ready to pull the Haddam section from the bill. Miller, a freshman lawmaker, said he doesn’t intend to back off the issue and will vote against it if the amendment fails.

“I’m committed enough to this that I’m willing to take my lumps one way or another. It’s important on principal,” he said.

The regional issue has taken on a statewide significance and Guglielmo said he’s received e-mails from people outside his district, which includes Tolland, urging him to oppose the conveyance bill because of it. Recently Guglielmo, who wants the measure to pass for the Tolland proposal, was asked if he would vote against the conveyance bill.

“I’m hoping it gets resolved before it comes to that. There will be discussions to make it a free standing bill or to get the parties to agree,” he said.

Tolland’s Hurlburt said he wasn’t sure removing the Haddam provisions from the measure was such a good idea. If the House were to alter the conveyance bill and then pass it, the measure would have to be returned to the Senate for approval, he said.

“It could severely undermine our ability to get the bill passed this year,” he said Thursday. “Preserving the integrity of the bill is important since a lot of municipalities are counting on it.”

For his part Gov. Dannel P. Malloy told reporters Thursday he isn’t taking a position on the issue.

The legislature has until June 8 when the session adjourns to pass the conveyance measure.

Editor's Note: This article was corrected at 4:20 p.m. on Friday, June 3 to reflect that the bill (SB-01196) was subject to a public hearing on March 21.