Connecticut SMART GROWTH - Griswold Airport

Former Griswold Airport Update

commonweal — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 13:20:51 GMT

The site of the former Griswold Airport will become 42 acres of open space instead of a 127-unit housing development. I first discussed this issue on this blog in May of 2007 and again in January of 2008. At the time I argued that despite the fact the proposed development adhered to many Smart Growth principals, the location of the development created too many environmental concerns for me. My opinion was nothing should be built on the property and that it should be bought by the state or some other entity to preserve the land. Needless to say, I am happy that the land will now be preserved for future generations.

More on Griswold Airport Development

commonweal — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 19:00:48 GMT

Today's Courant reports that the DEP has approved the proposed sewage treatment system for the Madison Landing development. As I wrote yesterday, the Attorney General is investigating the pact that opened up the land to development in the first place.

Tom Andersen over at his blog Sphere has also been commenting on this development. In his opinion, CT needs to do something to counter the state's prevailing development practices which have led to sprawl. So if Griswold Airport is going to get developed, why not give this development, which conforms to many Smart Growth principles, a shot.

I agree with Mr. Andersen that the state's development practices need to change, but one aspect of those practices is developing near or on environmentally sensitive areas. This development only continues this penchant for destroying CT's environment. Just because it adheres to some Smart Growth principles doesn't mean it has to be built.

Where Mr. Andersen and I agree is that every effort should be made by the state and local officials, along with the group opposed to the plan, to purchase the land for preservation. I am also very suspect of a process that allows a development to move forward when the original pact that opened the land for development in the first place may have been illegal. Shouldn't the approval process for this project be put on hold until the Attorney General concludes his investigation? It would only make sense to do so.

Still Dealing with the Rowland Legacy

commonweal — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 21:27:30 GMT

Back in May I wrote about the efforts of a developer from New York to build a densely packed development of 127 residential units, mostly row houses and apartment buildings, on the site of the old Griswold airport and directly adjacent to sensitive tidal wetlands. I maintained at the time, and still do, that while the development itself was an example of traditional, compact neighborhood development, it had no business near such an environmentally sensitive area.

Well, according to the Hartford Courant, the Attorney General Blumenthal is now looking into the pact that opened up the land to development in the first place.

From the article by Kim Martineau,

In trading away a valuable easement at the edge of Hammonasset Beach State Park - the most visited park in the state - the state Department of Environmental Protection disregarded a policy meant to protect the public trust, a state watchdog agency contends.
The easement deal, made seven years ago, opened the former Griswold Airport to more extensive development and is being investigated by the state attorney general. It appears to have been approved without appraisals or public notification, despite strong public interest in saving the airport, which borders a state wildlife preserve, from development...The former DEP commissioner, Arthur Rocque Jr.,[head of DEP under John Rowland] had approved the easement exchange without public notification, appraisals or justifying its compatibility with park purposes, the council found. Rocque, it turns out, had ignored a policy crafted by the DEP and the Council on Environmental Quality in 1990..."The state was basically doing a favor for the developer and being very reckless with the public trust," said Keith Ainsworth, a New Haven environmental lawyer who has asked the state to void the deal.

Like a bad case of athlete's foot, the Rowland legacy of corruption continues to live on!