Date: Fri 09-Oct-1998

Publication: Bee

Author: ANDYG

Quick Words:

Fairfield-Hills-advisory-panel

Full Text:

Panel Urges Town Not To Buy Fairfield Hills Core Campus

BY ANDREW GOROSKO

An advisory panel to First Selectman Herbert Rosenthal is recommending against

buying the 185-acre core campus of Fairfield Hills from the state, saying the

disadvantages of a purchase outweigh the advantages.

In a consensus vote October 1, Fairfield Hills Advisory Committee members

listed four reasons why the town should not buy the land and approximately one

million square feet of buildings.

The advisory committee decided against a purchase due to:

The liabilities posed by maintaining existing Fairfield Hills facilities until

they would be transferred by the town to some new owner.

The costs of marketing the property and staffing an office to administer the

Fairfield Hills land and facilities.

The risks posed by ad hoc groups changing the intended uses of the Fairfield

Hills core campus and surrounding state-owned land.

The money required to buy the 185-acre parcel and buildings.

Advisory committee members suggested that if the state should seek to sell the

property to a buyer which the town thinks may not comply with town-sanctioned

new uses for the property, the town should then purchase the property at its

appraised value and resell it to a developer at that price. Under such an

arrangement the town would levy substantial penalties against that developer

if the developer doesn't comply with town-sanctioned new uses for the

property.

The state closed Fairfield Hills as a psychiatric institution in December 1995

under its policy of patient "deinstitutionalization." The state was then faced

with the issue of how to dispose of the sprawling property. Most of Fairfield

Hills has been designated for open space and agricultural uses.

The state is now marketing a 185-acre section of the 600-acre property for

private redevelopment. The 185 acres include the center of the campus, plus

most of the buildings at Fairfield Hills.

The selectmen's proposal to buy state property along Queen Street, including

about 15 acres and six vacant houses, for approximately $1.2 million is

separate from the state's marketing of the Fairfield Hills core campus.

Selection Committee

Members of the Fairfield Hills Selection Committee met recently at the state

Office of Policy and Management (OPM) in Hartford to discuss how that

committee will select private bidders on Fairfield Hills' redevelopment, and

how it will then select a master plan for future uses of the property from one

of those bidders. Mr Rosenthal participates in the selection committee and the

advisory committee.

One undisclosed major developer in this area has suggested a joint venture

with the town to redevelop the property, Mr Rosenthal said. The first

selectman added though that such a move might be risky for the town.

The state will have a private firm perform an independent environmental

analysis of Fairfield Hills, Mr Rosenthal said. Such an analysis will make it

clear to potential buyers what environmental contamination problems exist at

the property, such as the presence of asbestos, lead paint and other toxic

substances.

The environmental analysis of the property is likely to affect the property's

potential sale price, said Brian White, an advisory committee member.

Depending on the extent of asbestos removal that a developer would perform on

core campus buildings, price estimates for the property have ranged from $1

million to $10 million.

Inquiries

About 35 firms have submitted inquiries to the state on redeveloping Fairfield

Hills, Mr Rosenthal said.

"There have been many inquiries about redeveloping the property for golfing,"

he said. "The golf course issue keeps raising its head," he said.

However, golf course firms which are seeking to develop the 600-acre parcel

are repeatedly told by the state that only 185 acres of the property is for

sale, Mr Rosenthal said.

Current town zoning for Fairfield Hills would allow a section of the 185 acres

to be developed as a small golf course, not as a sprawling golf facility.

Mr Rosenthal noted that "mixed feelings" exist in town about the wisdom of

developing Fairfield Hills for golf.

Mr Rosenthal said he expects it will take at least one year before any type of

redevelopment is done at Fairfield Hills.

A brochure advertising Fairfield Hills to developers is slated to be mailed

this month, he said.

"I'm making a list. We want to send out as many of these as possible," he

said.

Mr White suggested that the town buy Fairfield Hills from the state, raze the

buildings there, and convert the property into an open space area. "The town's

got the opportunity to get something and it would be a shame if it fell

through our fingers," he said.

If the state offers the town the 185 acres at a good price, the town should

buy Fairfield Hills, he said.

Under the terms of state law, the town has the right of first refusal to

purchase Fairfield Hills.

Advisory committee member Walter Motyka, however, pointed out there are many

costs associated with owning such a piece of real estate.

These include costs for maintenance, property management, marketing,

liability, and environmental risk, plus the cost of buying the land and

buildings, according to the advisory committee. Also, if the town owned the

property, it would not generate property tax revenue as it would under private

ownership.

To foster the property's redevelopment, the Planning and Zoning Commission

(P&Z) has created what is known as the Fairfield Hills Adaptive Re-use Zone

(FHAR) for the core campus. FHAR zoning allows much redevelopment flexibility,

but excludes heavy industry as a permitted land use.

Andersen Conclusions

Arthur Andersen, a consulting firm hired by the state to help it plan for

Fairfield Hills' redevelopment, believes a developer may want to raze 70

percent of the buildings there to make it a suitable redevelopment site, Mr

Rosenthal said.

New uses suggested by Arthur Andersen for the 185 acres include: health care,

office space, retail sales, housing, educational facilities, a hotel, resort,

spa, conference center, golf course, and recreational facilities. In seven

mixed-use redevelopment scenarios, Andersen proposes various combinations of

those land uses.

In proposing new uses for the property, Andersen has sought to avoid excessive

land use. Also, Andersen kept in mind local concerns about protecting the

area's environmental quality.

In analyzing the reuse of the property, Andersen assumed the property's master

developer will rehabilitate buildings that fit into the redevelopment program

and demolish buildings that are not needed. The consultant's suggestions

involve a mixture of partial demolition, rehabilitation, and new construction.

In assessing the advantages and disadvantages of the Newtown site, Andersen

found advantageous: the property has good access to Interstate-84; sanitary

sewers are in place on the campus; a public drinking water supply is

available; the town is a stable community; and the site has flexible zoning

regulations.

Disadvantages of the Fairfield Hills site include: it is developed with many

single-purpose buildings; there are one million square feet of enclosed space;

environmental problems on the site must be addressed, including asbestos

removal, which will be costly; some demolition work will be needed; and the

property is listed on the state's historic registry, placing some limits on

the flexibility of redevelopment.