Developers Roll Out Extensive Proposal for Southbury Corporate Park

Nearly 125 residents gathered at town hall Wednesday to hear developers explain their aspirations for the Southbury Corporate Park, a 202-acre tract of land bound by Lakeside and Ichabod Roads and Interstate 84. Their plans, if adopted, will constitute the largest land development project in Southbury since IBM moved to town three decades ago.

The first stage of the developers’ proposal involves the installation of over 400 high-income apartments. Rental fees collected, which may range from $1,000 to $3,000 a month for one and two-bedroom units, will then finance the commercial parts of the plan. Developers hope to install a medical center, a restaurant, and a limited-service hotel, in addition to one million square feet of office and light industrial space.

When the project is completed, a process expected to take ten years, developers expect their tenants to generate $4 million in gross tax revenue each year.

One of the project’s original concerns was about the residential phase of the development. Taxpayers bought the land to prevent the construction of 44 homes, which were estimated to increase school prices by $300,000 when adjusted for tax income. However, developer Vincent Cumminotto estimated that due to the small size and high rent of the units, each set of 100 apartments would only bring six to ten students.

“The expenses of students who will live in apartments will be more than compensated through additional tax revenue,” said Cumminotto.

Hesitations to the proposal mainly centered on concerns about maintaining the town’s historically rural nature.

The site would require “improvements to the points of entry,” explained developer John Mancini. To complete the project, an extra lane would be added to route 172 by the state police barracks, and traffic lights would be installed at the intersection of Exit 14, Lakeside and Georges Hill Road. Expenses for these improvements, as well as any others mandated by town and state authorities, would be covered by developers.

Plans for the park also include a waste treatment plant, which gave way to questions about its affect on water supplies downhill. Mancini stated that tests would be conducted, but he “does not anticipate” any issues.

More general concerns also arose. Questions submitted on index cards to the panel of developers included a comment, which stated: “If I wanted to live near apartments, I would have lived in Waterbury.”

The sentiment elicited applause from the audience.

Mancini replied that the project would make every effort to respect the local environment. “This should not be viewed as a stand alone difference from the rest of the town,” he said.

First selectman Bill Davis stated that, depending on public reaction to the plan, it would have to be presented to the land use board and planning commission before it is addressed by the board of selectman. The town charter mandates no referendum, but he would support holding one “if the public interest is there.”

Davis was not certain, however, that the proposal would ever get that far. “I’m not sure it will even pass through planning,” he said.