Hartford Business Journal

www.HartfordBusiness.com March 28, 2016 • Hartford Business Journal 3 Municipalities wary of larger state role in transit-oriented development By Gregory Seay gseay@HartfordBusiness.com R evival this short legislative session of a controversial plan to place in state hands greater oversight of development on or near busway depots and rail stations is gaining wider support from municipalities, but is still raising concerns from some critics. Senate Bill 19, which proposes to create the quasi-public Transit Corridor Development Assistance Authority (TCDAA), is a reworked version of a measure that failed in last spring's legislative session to create a statewide over- seer of public and private development adja- cent to state-funded transportation initiatives. Critics say the revised measure is a veiled effort by the state to interfere in towns' sov- ereign authority to oversee how land inside their borders is used. Supporters — including the Malloy admin- istration — counter that, at its core, the mea- sure aims to unlock the development potential for hundreds of developed/undeveloped acres next door to existing or planned busway and rail depots statewide. The bill recently passed the legislature's Planning and Development Committee and has several measures in it to placate concerns raised by municipalities last year. It requires, for example, a town or city to invite the TCDAA to participate in a project within its borders and forces the authority to abide by local zon- ing, subdivision and wetland regulations. This version also is stripped of a provi- sion contained in last year's bill that would have given the state eminent domain powers to seize private property to clear the way for development. That provision raised deep con- cerns from local governments and ultimately led to the bill's failure, officials said. The new bill also gives communities that host transit-oriented development a say in the authority's affairs, by making them eli- gible for seats on its board. Furthermore, SB 19 embraces a more inclusive name for the agency, inserting "assistance'' into its title. The measure is being proposed as several major transportation initiatives take root in Connecticut, including the 9.4-mile CTfas- trak busway, which opened in March 2015, linking New Britain to downtown Hartford. It currently averages more than 16,000 riders daily, many of whom are potential diners, shoppers and tenants for various housing and retail options developers are eager to provide along the busway corridor. Meanwhile, parallel efforts are underway to enhance commuter-rail service between Hartford and New Haven, and communities in between, widening the door to more pri- vate investment in development along those routes, too, observers say. Opposing viewpoints State Sen. Toni Boucher (R-Wilton) said she still opposes the measure because cities and towns already rely on their own planning and zoning commissions to guide their land-use decisions. Moreover, Boucher said, the state's fiscal crisis is no time to be allocating $250,000 to staff and run another bureaucracy. "They can't manage their own departments, and other agencies of the state are in trouble,'' she said. "And now they want to impose them- selves on local towns and cities?'' In Newington, where consideration of any project in or adjacent to the town's transit cor- ridor is under a one-year moratorium through June, Republican Mayor Roy Zartarian, who also testified against SB 19, likened it to the mythic "Trojan horse'' of Greek lore. Newing- ton is home to two CTfastrak depots. "I think it's a first step … to take over con- trol of transit-oriented development," Zartar- ian said of the state's intent. "We know devel- opment is going to happen, but we want to be the one calling the shots.'' But some communities and the regional government councils to which they belong sup- port creating a transit-development authority. Lyle Wray, executive director of Hartford- based Capitol Region Council of Governments (CROG), said his member towns host 15 CTTran- sit and CTfastrak stations. Many, Wray said, are eager for development of apartments, retail and other commercial and public spaces next door to those stations, and a transit-development authority could accommodate those aims. "You are helping towns to do the economic development they want,'' Wray said. The Connecticut Council of Small Towns (COST), of which Newington is among 115 municipal members, reversed course this year and is embracing SB 19, largely because the eminent-domain provision is gone and a provision giving TOD communities more say in the authority's affairs was added, said COST Executive Director Betsy Gara. "We want to ensure municipalities and councils of governments have a seat at the table,'' Gara said. The Connecticut Conference of Municipalities and Naugatuck Valley Council of Governments also support the measure. The Stamford-based Western Connecticut Council of Governments, representing communities in the southwest cor- ner, opposes the bill — again. The state Department of Transportation, meantime, referred questions about SB 19 to the state Office of Policy and Management (OPM), whose undersecretary for legislative affairs, Gian-Carl Casa, testified on OPM's behalf in support of the measure. Casa said the TCDAA could prove invalu- able to communities that tap its expertise without having to hire extra staff or train existing ones. Moreover, involving TCDAA in commercial development would be volun- tary for communities, Casa and other SB 19 supporters say. "Many municipalities are asking for help in doing complex TOD projects at transit hubs,'' Casa said via email. "The municipal supporters say that local governments often do not have the expertise that a focused assistance authority can give them.'' East Hartford Mayor Marcia LeClerc, who sits on the board of the Capital Region Devel- opment Authority (CRDA), which coordinates public-private investment around the Capital Continued Developers have proposed erecting new apartments in West Hartford (right, top photo) and New Britain (right, bottom) at sites near the CTfastrak busway. P H O T O | C O N T R I B U T E D P H O T O S | H B J F I L E For trailers, tickets, venues & sponsors visit www.hjff.org March 31 - April 10, 2016 Film Schedule | 22 Films. 10 Days. 8 Countries. 7 Venues | www.hjff.org | 860-231-6316 Festival Funders Media Sponsors Venue Partners ROCK 'N REEL! THURSDAY 31 EAST JERUSALEM, WEST JERUSALEM 7:00 PM Film With DAVID BROZA LIVE! 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