CT SMART GROWTH
...fighting sprawl and building communities...
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CT SMART GROWTH
...fighting sprawl and building communities...
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Thu May 24, 2007 at 08:41:53 AM EDT
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| I received the below e-mail this morning. This River Oaks project gets more complex every day. I need to do some more research on Dover-Kohl and talk to some people about this so-called neutral company coming in to tour the site before I form an opinion about this, but my initial reaction is not good.
At the end of this past Mondays (May 21st) Zoning Commission meeting Hiram Peck, the Simsbury Director of Community Development, mentioned to the ZC that Dover-Kohl Partners (an Urban Design and Town Planning firm based in Florida) were all set to tour the River Oaks site followed by a public meeting next Weds, May 30th. Your SHARE steering committee has looked at the Dover-Kohl web site and while they have one design project which has a few favorable attributes, we are concerned that their focus appears to be on urban projects and incompatible with Simsbury's character. We are also suspect to the entire process, how the firm was chosen and retained, who decided this design consultation needed to be done, and the possible relationship of the design firm with Konover. The ZC appeared to have already known about this as they did not respond with any specific questions about what would be covered and how this had been set up (all they asked about were time & place to meet), however your SHARE steering committee members in attendance at the meeting were hearing about it for the first time.
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| commonweal :: Outside Consultant to Tour Planned River Oaks Site |
| After further questions to Hiram Peck we were told that the firm, Dover-Kohl, was coming to Simsbury to tour the CL&P property with the town staff (Hiram Peck and Howard Beach), then meet privately with the chairmen of the land use boards to be followed by a public meeting scheduled for 7 pm at Henry James Cafeteria. We were told that the firm was contacted by Hiram Peck and Dwight Merriam (the Special Council to the ZC for River Oaks) after Mr. Peck had negotiated with Konover to pay $5000 for this unbiased, objective design and planning consultation. We were also told that Mr. Peck had sent Dover-Kohl the River Oaks material presented to the town at their pre-application meeting along with the new draft Plan of Conservation and Development, as well as the SHARE website. Mr. Peck said that only town staff would accompany Dover-Kohl during the tour of the site, Konover would not be involved. When asked if a representative from SHARE could go along, Mr. Peck replied that in negotiating with Konover they had stipulated that no opposing parties be in attendance for the tour. According to Mr. Peck the negotiations with Konover's attorney, T.J. Donahue, took place via phone, and therefore there are no public records of what was said and agreed to during the negotiations. Interestingly the way the site visit and the chairman meeting have been structured, FOI laws do not require public notice or public audience. While the spirit of the FOI law would encourage public involvement, the town has chosen to close the process to the public.
More information and discussion of this proposed consultation occurred at the Design Review Board and Planning Commission meetings on Tuesday (May 22). The DRB after discussion passed two resolutions concerning the proposed consultation by Dover-Kohl. First, they stated that they were opposed to having Konover pay for this consultation and second, they believe if a design planning consultation was being done on the Southern Gateway then it should also be done on the Northern Gateway. The PC also had many questions regarding this consultation in terms of how the firm was picked, who made the decisions and who decided to have Konover pay for this. One comment that stands out was made by Mr. Peck as he stated that Konover had never done any work with Dover-Kohl. A quick Google search of Dover-Kohl and Konover would leave one questioning a possible professional relationship between the two companies as there are several apparent joint references.
Your SHARE steering committee has these comments and questions regarding this latest attempt by town hall to promote River Oaks through back door methods:
Who initiated the search for a design consultation and why weren't all of the land use boards consulted prior to choosing the final consultant? Was the Zoning Commission consulted and had they all agreed to the chosen firm as it appeared they had at the ZC meeting Monday night?
What exactly was negotiated with Konover and who approved the negotiation from the town's side?
How can a design planning firm from Florida make recommendations to the town of Simsbury after spending a half a day here? The Dover-Kohl website (www.doverkohl.com) strongly emphasizes the importance of extensive public participation through the charrette process over a period of weeks and involving hundreds of citizens when coming up with a design scheme or town plan. That will obviously not be the case next week, so how much will be accomplished and how well will their recommendations reflect the desires and opinions of the residents of Simsbury and not just Konover? Furthermore, our Planning Commission spent almost two years defining their vision for appropriate mixed-use development for that site - should we not be listening to their recommendations completed after hours of public testimony and input as well as long and thoughtful deliberation as to the development of the site in context to the historic and current land use policy in our town.
Why was none of this discussed and conducted in the open, during public meetings as required by Freedom of Information (FOI) law.
We urge all interested residents to check the Dover-Kohl website and come to next weeks public meeting on Wednesday, May 30th at 7pm at Henry James Cafeteria to hear Dover-Kohl's supposedly objective recommendations and be prepared to ask probing questions and to express your thoughts and opinions on what would be appropriate mixed-use development on the CL&P site. |
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