CT town nixes massive mega-warehouse plan with residents favoring conservation

Despite the addition of massive distribution centers near Bradley International Airport in recent years, Windsor Locks rejected a developer’s proposal to create a mega-warehouse along Route 20.

Scannell Properties had forecast creating 200 temporary construction jobs and 144 full-time warehouse jobs after the building was completed, and estimated Windsor Locks could get as much as $900,000 in new annual tax revenue.

But municipal officials sided with residents who warned of steeply worsened noise and traffic. They also cautioned that tranquility at the almost 200-acre Waterworks Brook parcel nearby would be ruined by such a massive industrial operation.

Scannell wanted Windsor Locks to rezone more than 70 acres to permit its project. When the planning and zoning commission reviewed the proposal earlier this month, Vice Chairman Alan Gannuscio said the town had seen ” a zone-change-a-palooza” since the Thrall family decided about a decade ago to stop growing tobacco on the property.

Most recently, JABPS Sports Management in 2018 proposed a sprawling sports complex that would have included a 3,500-seat stadium, nearly two dozen indoor basketball and volleyball courts, eight outdoor playing fields and more for the property at Old County Road and Route 20. But that developer dropped the Windsor Locks plan and is now pursuing a similar one in Enfield.

Scannell this year noted that the planning and zoning commission had given that project the go-ahead, and also emphasized that numerous warehouses are already near the property.

But former state Rep. Carl Schiessl and other residents balked at the company’s plan this summer, stressing that the conservation easement on nearby land was intended to permanently protect it along its wildlife habitats.

Gannuscio appeared to agree, noting that that the town bought the nearby Waterworks property because of conservation efforts by the local residents and state officials.

“What more of a Plan of Conservation and No Development could you ask for?,” he asked his colleagues, noting that in the town’s long-term development plan trucking or distribution uses of the property should be discouraged.

Gannuscio noted that the zone change request had been met with organized opposition, and added that a zone change with the potential to harm neighbors and preserved lands shouldn’t be approved.

Commission member Vincent Zimnoch acknowledged that Scannell and its consultants had suggested the town would get financial benefits from the warehouse, but said that’s not a consideration for the zoning commission. Instead, commissioners are responsible for the well-being of residents, he said.

Since the property is not connected to rail lines, it would have to be served by trucks, said Zimnoch, who emphasized that the town’s long-term development plan specifically discourages trucking industries in that area.

Chairwoman Peggy Sayers said the Waterworks property is an asset to the town, and it is vital the new development not harm it or residential neighbors. She said she was concerned about extensive water runoff if the building and parking lot are constructed.

The commission voted down Scannell’s request 4-1.