A community forum was conducted by the Newtown League of Senior Voters at the Senior Center, 14 Riverside Road, on Friday, March 24, at 4 pm. A five-person panel discussed how economic development affects real estate values.

Newtown League of Senior Voters President and co-founder Rudy Magnan said he organized the event to increase awareness of the topic and to help the senior population better understand what is happening in Newtown.

"You can get an idea of how real estate values are connected to other parts of the puzzle. They're connected to taxes, supply and demand, and economic development. They're connected to other policies that implement the value of your home," said Mr Magnan.

The local speakers were chosen because they offered a wide range of perspectives on what is involved with the town and real estate, Mr Magnan said.

The panel included Robert Rau, chairman of the Economic Development Commission; Christal Preszler, deputy director of planning for economic and community development; Wes Thompson, vice chairman of the Economic Development Commission; Kathy Hamilton, a realtor with William Raveis; and Bryan Atherton, managing partner of Northeast Investment Realty based in Shelton.

Before the panel spoke, Mr Magnan emphasized to the crowd, "We have to educate the seniors and other people in town, because an educated citizen is a better voter. Hopefully, out of this, we will have a chance for a better understanding of what Newtown is all about in terms of residential and commercial real estate."

The Grand List

Mr Rau was the first speaker of the event and started off by explaining the grand list for those that were unfamiliar.

"The grand list is the monetary value of the most recently assessed real estate - residential real estate, commercial and industrial buildings," Mr Rau said. "It is the basis for the taxation in town. It is used to determine what the mill rate is, and that in turn tells us what we have to pay for every piece of property we own, or car we own."

He explained the Economic Development Commission's mission to increase the grand list, with the objective of increasing the commercial and industrial aspects.

"We want to increase the grand list [while] maintaining the character of the town," Mr Rau said.

Ms Preszler echoed this statement during her presentation saying, "We want to reduce the tax burden, but we also want to still like where we live."

That means developing the town to where it is appealing to a range of people, including attracting millennials to Newtown's current aging community.

"Bringing in younger people, and people in general, helps support businesses," said Ms Preszler. "When you start to have more pockets of people you are able to support your businesses, it allows businesses to remain, and attracts new businesses, which will help the taxes, also."

She handed out a packet to everyone in attendance with further information on Newtown's recent projects like The Village at Lexington Gardens, as well as about local infrastructures such as streetscapes and other approved construction projects.

Diversity In Housing

Mr Thompson added to the conversation by saying Newtown needs diversity in housing choices, like apartments for rent.

"There are a lot of advantages of having apartments in town," Mr Thompson said.

Some of the positive elements he listed included how people living in the apartments will spend money locally and that usually people who rent will go on to buy their home in the same town.

From a realtor's perspective, Ms Hamilton said, "I find that the rents in Newtown are very high; a minimum rent in Newtown is $1,500 a month and that is for something very tiny."

She explained that affordable housing needs to be offered to appeal to young people, like millennials, and for single parents looking to keep their children in the school system.

Mr Thompson explained that there are state regulations about having diversity of housing. With that in mind he said, "If we don't attract the type of apartments we want, we'll get things we don't want."

Business Incentives; Technology

Also part of the discussion was the topic of business incentive programs for companies choosing to move or open in Newtown. Mr Thompson said Newtown is competing with New York and has to convince businesses it is the better choice.

Mr Atherton brought up the importance of including technology in the conversation when talking about office, industrial, retail, and residential real estate.

"Technology is changing everything," said Mr Atherton.

Its impact is clear, he said. He even cited how he orders 80 percent of his goods online from Amazon and how autonomous cars are going to decrease a need for parking.

"In the next 20 years there will be more technology advances than there has been in the history of life as we know it today," Mr Atherton said.

He explained that the town needs to embrace change and incorporate more technology to satisfy businesses and create the right properties.

"What has to happen for municipalities to be competitive is to understand they need to change legislation to meet the demand," said Mr Atherton.

An example that he brought up was how his company's project across from the Blue Colony Diner had to change the zoning in order to create a Starbucks with a drive-through.

He said this particular project being developed in town met a need within the community, because many parents with children in the car drive to nearby towns just to get their morning cup of coffee. They need a drive-though window option, so they do not have to get out of the car to go inside.

Mr Atherton said changes like these are meant to attract and maintain residents.

People who attended the event were also given opportunities to ask the panel questions and receive feedback on topics covered in the discussion.