Norwich residents get chance to comment on proposed second business park
Nov. 5—NORWICH — As permitting gets underway for a proposed $24 million, 384-acre second business park in Occum, neighbors are rallying opposition to the plan many say would ruin Norwich's quiet corner.
The first chance for public comment will be at a neighborhood meeting at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Norwich Worship Center, 165 Lawler Lane. Norwich Community Development Corp. officials will explain the Business Park North plan and answer questions.
Wednesday's meeting will be less formal, with more audience interaction with project officials than the City Council-zoning board public hearing at 7:30 p.m. Monday Dec. 5 at Kelly Middle School, 25 Mahan Drive.
In Norwich, the City Council serves as the zoning board, which handcuffs aldermen and Mayor Peter Nystrom from discussing the project outside the public hearing and zoning board review.
Nystrom, Alderwoman Stacy Gould and Alderman Swaranjit Singh Khalsa are voting members of the NCDC Board of Directors and have had to recuse themselves and skip executive session discussions at recent meetings, as the project neared permit stage.
The Commission on the City Plan must give a recommendation on the proposed business park master plan to the zoning board. The commission will discuss the plan at its 7 p.m. meeting Nov. 15 at City Hall, but there will be no public hearing at that time.
NCDC has an option to purchase the 17 properties for $3.55 million from M&A Holdings LLC and Byron Brook Country Club LLC. The owners had purchased the properties, including the former Tarryk and Doolittle farms, in the early 2000s for a golf course resort and residential project that fell through. The parcels now are zoned for a planned development district or general commercial development.
NCDC's option expires Dec. 31. The agency had hoped to secure federal funding as part of a larger, unsuccessful regional federal grant application this summer. NCDC President Kevin Brown said the agency continues to work on alternative purchase avenues.
Meanwhile, NCDC and real estate consultant Henry Resnikoff have pushed forward with design and permitting. The City Council-zoning board approved zoning regulations for a Business Master Plan District in April 2021. The Dec. 5 meeting will review the specific plan for the property.
The conceptual master plan map submitted in September shows the property divided into potential development parcels with a dozen buildings ranging from 9,000 square feet to 500,000 square feet.
The plan calls for reconstructing Exit 18 ramp off Interstate 395 at Route 97 to create a designated main entrance into the business park. A roundabout is proposed where the new road intersects with Canterbury Turnpike to keep business park traffic off the rural road.
There are 148 abutting property owners to the 17 business park parcels on Canterbury Turnpike, Scotland Road, Lawler Lane and Route 97 in Occum.
Dozens of residents have taken to Facebook forums to voice opposition to the project and rally residents to attend public meetings. Opponents pledge to circulate petitions to present to the City Council-zoning board to a project some say would ruin the rural character of the city's "quiet corner" and disrupt wildlife habitat.
Opponents questioned the need for a second business park, citing vacant commercial and industrial buildings in the current Stanley Israelite Norwich Business Park and elsewhere in the city. Others questioned promises of a property tax windfall if the city grants generous tax breaks "only to have the business pack up and leave" once the tax breaks end, one commenter posted.
Samuel Browning, a local attorney and former alderman, is an abutter on Scotland Road. "I'm probably in the minority in that I don't oppose this," Browning said. But he has questions and concerns, especially about the access road and traffic.
"I hope they get the highway ramp done," Browning said. "If they don't get the access right from day one, it will be screwed up. it will increase the opposition."
Browning also said the first city business park is nearly full, because the city allowed condominiums and apartment complexes. "They turned great swaths of it into condos."
Pastor Jeff Sharp at the Norwich Worship Center said he was approached by a neighbor who asked the church to host the neighborhood meeting. The church seats about 200 people, and if necessary could set up an overflow video viewing room downstairs.
Sharp said the congregation, which has about 120 to 130 active members, has not discussed the business park much. The church itself sold rear land to the former golf course project in 2007. Sharp said the church uses its large lawn that would overlook the development for barbecues and youth activities.
"We've known for a number of years that something would be built around us," Sharp said.
NCDC President Brown said project officials will give a presentation and answer questions in an informal setting Wednesday. They will discuss impacts on residents, buffer zones and a proposed public bikeway and walking path.
Brown said officials will assure residents that no construction is imminent. The project needs local, state and federal permitting, including approval from the Office of State Traffic Administration for the access road. NCDC will apply for federal funding again in spring.
Brown said he understands concerns about traffic on residential roads and said the proposed access roads would come first.
"We would not put the cart before the horse," Brown said. "Yes, we understand the concern about the traffic pattern."
Fact Box:
Upcoming public meetings on the proposed Business Park North in Occum area of Norwich:
Wednesday, Nov. 9: Neighborhood meeting with Norwich Community Development Corp. staff, 6:30 p.m., Norwich Worship Center, 165 Lawler Lane, Norwich.
Tuesday, Nov. 15: Commission on the City Plan to review proposed project master plan, 7 p.m., Norwich City Hall, 100 Broadway. No public hearing.
Monday, Dec. 5: City Council-zoning board public hearing and potential vote by zoning board on proposed Business Master Plan, 7:30 p.m., Kelly Middle School auditorium, 25 Mahan Drive.
