Friday,
April 6, 2007
BY JONATHAN
SHUGARTS
Copyright ©
2007 Republican-American
The
Konover Development Corp. withdrew an application on Thursday for a zone change
that might have brought a $64 million retail complex to 119 acres near Route 8
and
Representatives
from the corporation said they had reached an impasse with members of the
Planning and Zoning Commission over a $58,000 traffic
and economic impact study the commission requested Konover to fund.
It
was expected the 415,000-square-foot complex could have generated about $1
million in annual tax revenue for the town, and created about 800 jobs.
The
Farmington-based corporation wanted the commission to
allow for mixed commercial and retail use in what is now an industrial zone. To
make that happen, a zone change was needed.
But
it wasn't guaranteed the commission would approve Konover's application after
the study was conducted. Now, Konover has yanked the proposal, saying a main
reason was because the commission was asking the corporation to pay for a study
prematurely. Konover issued a statement about its withdrawal and informed the
commission in a letter.
Stanley
C. Glantz, senior vice president of Konover, said the impasse could have been
avoided.
"Our
concern is that equally comprehensive and expensive studies would be required
after the zone change approval, but before the final special permit/site plan
review," Glantz said in a statement.
"This
would double our costs," he said. "Consequently, we have made the
decision to reluctantly withdraw our application."
Commissioners
requested a detailed traffic and economic analysis of what would happen if the
complex was approved, and some believed Konover hadn't provided enough details
in its application.
Konover
provided information on the perimeter roads of the complex, but not those that
led to it. That was a sticking point for commissioners who believed 20,000
daily trips to the complex would impact local roads.
"They
realized that what they were proposing wasn't greeted with great enthusiasm by
the commission," said commissioner Judy Wick.
Commissioner
Mark Tedesco said he wanted to be sure the complex wouldn't cost more in
police, fire and public works services than what would be brought in by taxes.
He also wasn't impressed with Konover's presentation.
"A
multimillion-dollar operation ... and you're going to sneeze at something like
$50,000?" he said. "Is that going to break the bank?"
However,
representatives from Konover differed. They believed a peer review of the
information they provided in the application could be done, but should cost
about $7,500.
Corporation
representatives claimed they didn't have tenants confirmed for the complex, but
past Konover projects include stores such as Target, Kohl's and Best Buy.
Konover
representatives said they would conduct another traffic study after tenants had
been confirmed for the site. That was expected to cost more than $58,000.
In
addition to the complex, the corporation had offered to sweeten the proposal by
installing an athletic field for the town to use, and improve roads, all at a
cost of about $2 million to $21/2 million.
"We
are confident the commercial center would have been a tremendous asset to
"It
would have provided