A first of its kind application for local tax breaks for a massive residential rental complex in Hawleyville referred to as the "Covered Bridge" development became the first under the Newtown Business Incentive Plan to be rejected July 27 when the Board of Finance voted 4-1 against it. Following substantial deliberations and discussion, the majority of finance officials opted against the application after the Board of Selectmen sent it forward with unanimous support.

Town Planning Director George Benson said that while the Economic Development Commission, which is charged with vetting and forwarding incentive plan applications through the mandated three-step approval process, could continue its effort to gain Legislative Council approval, he would advise against it.

"My understanding is the finance board has already suggested the EDC consider bringing back a proposal with a lesser benefit for consideration," Mr Benson said, "so it will be up to the EDC to decide if they want to try and bring it to the council, or come back with a different proposal, or not. I would advise against taking this to the council after it was [rejected] by finance."

Finance members Aaron Carlson, Kelley Johnson, Mark Boland, and Vice Chair James Gaston all voted against the proposal; Sandy Roussas was absent for the vote. Finance board Chairman John Godin, who was the sole yes vote in favor of the current EDC incentive proposal, said he could have gone either way.

 The Newtown Bee following the meeting that he considered the selectmen's unanimous approval of the proposal, and saw merit in treating the residential complex as a potential economic generator that had the potential of bringing long-term revenues to the town that would far outpace any short-term property tax losses resulting from the incentive benefit.

But Mr Godin told

"The underlying theme behind the 'nay' votes was that the project could and should stand on its own without any abatements," Mr Godin said. "In supporting it, I viewed this as a different kind of commercial development, because it still had the potential of building activity and traffic in town - regardless of any other merits of the proposal."

The finance chairman said when he drives by retail complexes like the Sand Hill Plaza, with its many empty storefronts, "that's not a positive." And that the infusion of a measurable block of new local residents could make the difference in increasing, supporting, or retaining other forms of commercial service and hospitality sector businesses, which in turn would start or continue generating more local nonresidential property taxes.

"If you look at this project with the 270 or 280 occupants, that's increasing our population by one percent," he said. "That's not a lot, unless you consider population growth has been flat over the past few years. Even if you consider a projected population growth of 0.7 percent that might occur naturally, a one percent increase still means more bodies shopping, going to restaurants, and supporting local businesses of all sizes."

Mr Godin also noted that Newtown would need to add 80 or more new private homes to accommodate the 280 potential occupants that could otherwise occupy rental space at the proposed Covered Bridge development. But such a complex provides distinct advantages to several demographic bases that would likely not be inclined to purchase or even rent a private residence.

"You have your late 20- and early 30-somethings who might not want an urban lifestyle, or who may be returning to town with future plans to start a family and transition into a residential home. And there are younger single parents, and all those like me with equity in their homes, who love the town and would love to remain living here but in a less expensive or down-scaled situation," he said. "Once people's kids go to college or move away, a lot of them may not need all the space of a three- or four-bedroom home."

Mr Godin also pointed out that the $32 million market value of the Covered Bridge project would generate assessed property taxes on $22.4 million. He also said any concerns that such a complex would hearken an influx of similar block housing developments are unfounded, because there is not enough developable property in town to sustain many, if any, more projects of this scope.

And he countered those who suggested such a development would flood the school district with new students costing taxpayers as much as $14,000 per student per year to support.

"I'm not an expert on projecting student population, but the latest study suggested the school district has the capacity to absorb 30 to 40 more children across the pre-K through 12 range, provided the district does not close an existing school," he said.

Mr Godin said that with about 88 percent of local tax revenues coming from residential homes, the town must grow the commercial grand list. And such a complex would instantly become one of the town's top taxpayers, and Newtown could certainly afford to have that commercial revenue sooner than later, along with the influx of jobs and support to local businesses that would come as soon as construction began.

"I want to encourage out-of-the-box thinking when it comes to commercial development, which explains why I went the way I went on the vote," he said. "And even if many potential residents of that kind of development may not intend to stay in town and move into a single-family home, from day one you are adding the tax revenues of every car they drive. That's new tax base right there offsetting residential property taxes."