A Look Into The Future

After years of state indecision, Seaside Regional Center is a short time away from entering the town of Waterford’s control. Then, the real argument can start.

The Process

On Monday, the Government Administration and Elections Committee meeting approved an $8 million sale to Farmington developer Mark Steiner. The move has been long overdue, State Rep. Elizabeth “Betsy” Ritter said.

“I think it has been an unbelievably long and powerful road for the town,” she said. “Hopefully something better can be done with the building.”

Attorney General George Jepsen has to give final approval to the sale before it officially becomes Steiner’s property. Jepsen’s role is just to ensure the sale was done legally, providing no opinion on the sale, First Selectman Dan Steward said.

The next step is Steiner submitting plans for the property. The idea is to build expensive condominiums for seniors, although the amount of condos being built and the style they are being built in will not be revealed until he submits the plans, Town Planner Tom Wagner said.

“We are talking about $750,000 to $1 million condos,” Steward said. “These are going to be high-end homes. We expect many of these people to have another place to live in the winter, and live in these condos in the summer.”
The Regulations

The town of Waterford has special regulations just for the Seaside property, unlike any other set of regulations in town. The reason is to “preserve and complement the architectural style of the historic structures,” while providing public access to the waterfront that “least impacts the adjacent residential neighborhood,” according to the regulation.

The lot is 32 acres, with the regulations stating that there be no more than four living units per buildable acre. At most, Steiner could submit an application with 128 units, although it is likely the maximum will be lower because no all the acres will be buildable, Wagner said.

Steiner must either renovate the existing buildings are rebuild them almost exactly as they were for approval, Wagner said. It is possible that other new structures in a similar style could be built on the site, he said.

Four acres of waterfront property will be reserved for public access, along with 25 parking spots, according to the regulations. The state will continue to control Shore Road Group Home, which sits on the property, according to Steward.

The Controversy

Neighbors of Seaside were not happy about the sale to Steiner. They fear “overdevelopment” and a rapid changing of the area, they said.

“The biggest concern is the density,” said Deborah Green, who lives next to the facility. “We live in a neighborhood. This is not a neighborhood.”

Green and fellow neighbor Kathleen Jacques, who have been most vocal against Steiner’s proposal, both said they are not against renovating the existing buildings. What bothers them is the possible creation of new structures, particularly duplexes.

“I do not want a bunch of duplexes in my backyard,” Green said.

The plan will turn a rural part of town into a “dense” part of town overnight, Jacques said.

“If I wanted to live in that kind of area, I’d live in New London,” she said. “On our street, we have six neighbors. Now all of a sudden, we could have 240 neighbors.”

The women received no support from Steward or Ritter. Both said they understood the women’s frustration, but were strong supporters of the proposals.

“I have been in favor of this sale for probably five years, or as long as I’ve been here,” Steward said, who was first elected in 2005.  “... There is a concern down there of people that have very lovely homes. This process should provide us with a very lovely facility.”

Ritter agreed. The current state of the buildings is a “disgrace,” and this will fix the situation rather than “letting them rot,” she said.

“I think it will be better than it was,” she said. “These were beautiful, beautiful buildings; I hope they can be restored.”

The Money

Currently, Seaside is assessed at $17,124,900. Waterford does receive some state funds for the property, but they are only a percentage of what the full property tax would be.

Once Steiner buys the property, he will begin to pay the full tax, instead of the taxpayers. Once this development is finished, the assessment will go much higher, Steward said.

Steiner told the state Monday he plans to provide over $1 million of tax funds to the town, according to Jacques. At the town’s current tax rate of 18.04 mills, the property would have to be assessed at more than $55 million.

“This is what it is about,” Jacques said. “The town stands to make money off this, so they are going to do whatever (Steiner) wants.”

Steward disagreed, saying the motive was to improve that site. The state has proven itself unable to maintain the site, with it becoming infested with rodents and decaying, he said.

Additionally, many people have broken into the site and some vagrants have used the building to live in, he said. In 2010, two men were caught stealing copper from the building, he said.

Patch made two phone calls to Steiner and left a voicemail, but they were not returned.