Hartford Business Journal

6 HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | April 11, 2022 DEAL WATCH By Michael Puffer mpuffer@hartfordbusiness.com S ome cities and towns that once rolled out the red carpet for new giant distribution centers – and the accompanying growth in tax revenue and jobs – are becoming increasingly hesitant. As towns like Windsor and South Windsor have experienced a warehouse boom, residents are raising increasing alarm over congestion, pollution and noise concerns, prompting some local governments to contemplate stricter land-use controls. "I don't think there's any question we are seeing that, if you want to call it NIMBY," said Mark Duclos, president of Hartford brokerage firm Sentry Commercial. "Towns are getting pushback from citizens who don't want to see it in their backyard, like South Windsor, or the pace of growth just outpaced regulations and things have started to get away from towns." Growing resistance to warehouse development was a topic during a recent panel discussion at the Society of Industrial and Office Retailers' Northeast Regional Conference in Boston, Duclos said. Panelists agreed they are starting to see greater pushback, he said. Duclos said higher hurdles contemplated in some towns will likely drive developers to look elsewhere. "It's slowing down development and there's plenty of demand out there," Duclos said. "What we don't need is even less supply. That's a challenge." Big piece of CT's economy Many top officials in Waterbury turned out for a January press conference celebrating the announcement of plans to bring a massive Amazon distribution center to a piece of city-owned land. Gov. Ned Lamont was there, touting logistics as a key part of Connecticut's economic reawakening. "We are going to be a logistics center for this entire region," Lamont said. "You see, that is a big piece of our future." That vision was already well underway as a wave of massive distribution centers swept through the state over the past decade. Towns just north of Hartford have seen a big share of that development. Now, Windsor and South Windsor are contemplating or adopting new regulations to grant local officials greater discretion. But this is hardly happening in isolation. Officials in Wallingford, Northborough, Mass., and several California communities have contemplated distribution center moratoriums, zoning changes or other controls, according to published reports. In South Windsor, a resident's petition for a year-long moratorium on new warehouse and distribution center construction has won support from the town. The Planning and Zoning Commission on April 5 unanimously approved the moratorium so it could take time to craft tighter restrictions. The community of 27,000 has added seven large distribution centers since 2009, ranging from a 176,763-square-foot building for food-and-beverage distributor Vistar, to a 652,000-square-foot property for discount supermarket Aldi. South Windsor moratorium advocates argue distribution centers have provided questionable benefits while causing environmental health concerns, traffic congestion, noise pollution and other impacts. Kathy Kerrigan, a retired insurance worker and teacher who launched the petition, said residents are coming to understand the impacts that accompany this type of development. "Eight years ago, most people in town were generally in favor of them because of the tax base and jobs, but the reality has set in," Kerrigan said. Kerrigan lives in a handsome, 112-year-old home on a stretch of South Windsor's Main Street that is lined with antique houses. A 292,000-square-foot warehouse for auto-parts distributor MOBIS takes up a good chunk of the skyline behind her backyard, across busy Route 5. Windsor eyes stronger review In neighboring Windsor, Town Planner Eric Barz said local officials last year asked him to investigate the possibility of stronger warehouse regulations, following approval of a roughly 500,000-square-foot distribution facility. The town is now considering adoption of a special-use permit that would create a higher bar for distribution center approvals; currently such facilities are allowed by right in industrial areas. Barz said conditions that would trigger a special-use permit could include the sheer size of a facility; ratios of loading docks to square footage; truck storage numbers; and other thresholds like proximity to non- commercial or residential areas. Barz acknowledged the proposal has been "kind of on a back burner" in his busy planning office. He wasn't certain when it might come up for board review or a vote. Windsor doesn't currently have any logistics proposals under review, Barz said, but he has had discussions with potential applicants. "There is also a lot of interest in [speculative] warehouse [development] right now," Barz said. Last July, Windsor officials approved Scannell Properties' plans for two new spec warehouse buildings totaling 487,200 square feet on a 40-acre triangle of former farmland between Kennedy Road, Hayden Station Road and River Street. At the time, Scannell, an industrial real estate giant headquartered in Indiana, was building a nearby 823,000-square-foot Amazon distribution center. Amazon previously opened a 1.5 million- square-foot distribution facility at 200 Iron Ore Road in 2015. Scannell issued a statement in response to questions. "We value the strong relationships we've built with local communities through our development projects in the South Windsor and greater Hartford area, and we respect the community's concerns," the company wrote. "Scannell abides by all regulations and will operate within local policies and procedures." Enfield residents fight warehouse In Enfield, major developer Winstanley Enterprises' plans for an 819,000-square-foot distribution center on former farmland between Shaker Pond and Crescent Lake faced staunch opposition from a determined group of residents, who raised concerns of congestion, pollution, runoff and harm to endangered species. After listening to both sides, local boards greenlighted the project. Opponents have pledged court appeals and are raising money for attorney fees through a GoFundMe page. Cheryl Cote, one of dozens of residents pooling money for the fight, said the group aims not only to oppose this project, but also convince the town to adopt tighter zoning regulations. Thirty-five years ago, Cote and her husband, Paul, moved into a converted 1,100-square-foot cottage along the east side of Shaker Pond with their 1-year-old daughter and newborn son. Now, they have grandchildren who visit to swim in the pond in summers. They worry about runoff from the new warehouse polluting the lake and making it unsafe for use. Warehouse workers at Veritiv Corp.'s Enfield distribution center on Bacon Road transport and stack inventory. Warehouse, logistics development boom could see broader resistance HBJ PHOTO | STEVE LASCHEVER Mark Duclos

• Cover