Town Seeks Expert Help For Technology Park Design

By Jan Howard

The town is seeking the services of a licensed professional engineer and surveyor or firm to prepare mapping and documents for the design and engineering of the Fairfield Hills Technology Park.

Proposals are to be received at the office of the town’s financial director, Ben Spragg, by 11 am on Monday, April 26. For information, contact Public Works Director Fred Hurley at 270-4300.

The parcel, zoned Industrial M-5, includes three parcels, a 37.54-acre parcel located on the northeastern boundary of Fairfield Hills, east of the Housatonic Railroad and to the south of property fronting on Commerce Road, and two town-owned, two-acre parcels located on Commerce Road, which were purchased in 1996.

The donation of the 37.54-acre parcel by the state hinges on it being developed for an industrial subdivision. It is included as part of the transaction for the Fairfield Hills campus. Mr Rosenthal said the 37-plus-acre property was originally to be leased to the town. However, he noted, “Somewhere in the process it appeared simpler to donate the property.”

Any plan for the property would require approvals by the Conservation and Planning and Zoning commissions.

The Board of Selectmen on October 6, 2003, voted unanimously to endorse the creation of wetlands and preliminary engineering studies to help determine the direction to be taken for development of the technology park.

Community Development Director Elizabeth Stocker had advised First Selectman Herb Rosenthal about three options the town should consider for development of the 37.54 acres of industrial zoned land.

The three options include selling the land as is; designing and obtaining approval from the Planning and Zoning Commission for a commercial/industrial subdivision, then selling the undeveloped land; and developing the site as a municipal development plan.

“The town is leaning to option two,” Mr Rosenthal said this week. “We have to develop it.

“Option two would give us the most return,” he said. “It would be the least risk for the town.”

Under this option, the town would obtain the necessary approvals for a subdivision, construct the road, and have utilities installed before selling the lots.

The engineering study would help the town to determine the number of lots that could be created in the subdivision, Mr Rosenthal said. “I’m hoping there would be more than eight or ten,” he said, adding the number of lots depends on the amount of wetlands that exist on the property.

He noted the town has estimates on what the road would cost, but a study would determine the exact cost of the road and utilities.

The project would have three phases, an initial or discovery phase, final design, and permitting.

The initial phase would involve creation of a concept design and assistance to the town to determine the development potential of the property and preparation of cost estimates for future phases of development.

According to the town, the perimeter of the 37.54-acre parcel was recently surveyed for the state, and the two town-owned parcels are part of a previously approved subdivision.