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Independent Party Events October 25 - 7:00 pm, held at Campaign Headquarters located in the old Brooks store in the Adams Shopping Center December 6 (consolidated Nov & Dec meeting) All meetings held (unless otherwise noted) at the Thomaston Savings Bank, Watertown Branch at 7:00 p.m. Smart Development Symposium On September 28, the Independent Party sponsored a symposium on Smart Development which was attended by approximately 50 members of the community. It featured Fred Carstensen, the Director of the Connecticut Center for Economic Analysis and economic advisor to Governor Malloy, and Leslie Creane, the Director of Planning and Zoning for Hamden and the primary editor of the first blended Form and Use Based Zoning Regulations in Connecticut. The following are notes from the Symposium: Fred Carstensen Connecticut’s business climate: Contrary to public perception, our economy is not negatively impacted by high wages or taxes We have most efficient use of energy of any state. Business is staying away from Connecticut because of the uncertainty of the time it takes for state approvals and the unstable business tax environment. Our business standards are OK, but businesses can’t get answers or find out when they can get answers to questions about their approvals. The Department of Revenue Services has not been consistent in interpreting tax laws. These problems are fixable. The leadership in state agencies has been poor for 16 years. Roland and Rell had no interest in how their agencies functioned. We have begun to address these issues. Our workforce has a declining skill level. UNCONN's president is aware of issues and is focusing on what needs to be done. The governor understands the link between education and business. The state has not marketed itself in 20 years. Economic Development: Retail is not economic development. Retail does not increase the tax base You don’t buy more when a new store opens. New stores decrease the value of existing retail properties, so there is no net increase to the tax base. The only exception is specialty retail like Cabella’s as it lures business away from other states. Big box stores build cheap buildings. When companies like Borders vacate them, they cause big problems as it is difficult to find other uses for the properties. Manchester mall caused a 20 year vacancy of a nearby shopping center. How can we foster Economic Development: Plan our community. Don’t assume manufacturing is dead. Connecticut is the most competitive manufacturing state in the country as we have been creating manufacturing jobs, relative to other states. Consider medical development. Our population is aging. Medical development does not put stress on the existing infrastructure from things like traffic. The most successful communities have streamlined their permit process to give businesses quick responses. Windsor has developed one stop shopping, a point person who will advocate internally within the system. Urge our state legislators to fix our business culture. Plan our community: Be actively involved in designing your community. Get ahead of the curve, don’t just wait for developers to come and give you what they want you to have. When adding retail, don’t put it in isolated areas. You want people to congregate. Have mechanisms to draw people together, sidewalks so people will walk, transportation. Successful developments/communities include West Hartford’s Blueback Square. Visually engaging, not linear so you don’t know how far you are walking. Route 262 is a good location, with easy access. Retail development on Route 262 is incompatible with the large shipping businesses we already have in the business park. How Connecticut Can Drive Economic Development: Large companies drive job creation. Connecticut businesses have $2.5 billion in earned and unused tax credits that Connecticut will not let them use. Businesses have cut their investments in Connecticut because of this. Let the businesses use these tax credits to fund capital projects that create jobs. UTC has a large amount of unused tax credits and orders they need to fill. Why can’t we do this so we get some of the jobs? This could create 40,000 to 100,000 jobs. The taxes that would be paid by the people holding these jobs would more than offset the cost of letting the businesses use their tax credits. Leslie Creane Smart Zoning is a proactive approach to zoning: Outline a clear vision for different sections of the community. Involve the community in creating the visions. Break the community into small sections and create a vision for each section. Hamden designed these sections around their old trolley stops as they felt that was where their villages formed. Walkable neighborhoods, people will walk ¼ mile. Having businesses know they will be welcomed in certain areas can attract the types of businesses we want in the exact places that we want them. Maximize the tax base. Multi use buildings so they can easily be retrofitted as needs change for other uses. For example, 3 story buildings that can hold retail, commercial or residential. Smaller stores you can walk to versus big box. You can fit more businesses in the same amount of square feet as you don’t need huge parking lots. Hamden minimizes the risk from big box by requiring them to have small stores around their perimeter. Then when the big box store moves out, the property does not appear to be abandoned. |