SEYMOUR – The prospect of the town selling a piece of land it owns on Prospect Street – which neighbors have voiced opposition to – resurfaced during the April 8 meeting of the Seymour Board of Selectpersons.
The board met in executive session for about 10 minutes April 8 to discuss what was listed on the meeting agenda as “discussion and possible action regarding the potential sale of town-owned property at 100 Prospect Street.”
Executive sessions are closed-door meetings allowed under state law under specific circumstances, such as discussing real estate deals.
The board voted afterward to “authorize the town attorney to proceed as discussed in executive session.”
However, officials would not share what they authorized the town attorney to do.
“No decision has been made by the Board of Selectpersons with respect to the sale of the property,” First Selectwoman Annmarie Drugonis said via an email April 15.
The land in question is a 7.5-acre vacant parcel between Woodside Avenue and Swan Avenue on the Oxford border.
A.J. Grasso, a developer based in Shelton, has said he wants to buy the land from Seymour.
Grasso, who is the developer behind multiple housing developments in Shelton and Monroe, approached the town last year about selling the land to him.
Grasso already owns 18 acres surrounding the town-owned land. The town-owned property is landlocked by Grasso’s land.
Grasso told The Valley Indy last year he wanted to purchase the land as part of a residential development.
Drugonis said the property is not listed on the town’s grand list and the town collects no taxes on the land.
The land, according to town land records, is zoned as multi-family residential. It has an appraised value of $42,400.
The Seymour Planning and Zoning Commission made a positive referral regarding selling the land at its meeting in February 2025, with members saying it’s primarily ledge and the town has no use for it, according to their meeting minutes.
Neighbors of Prospect Street, however, said the land is valuable to them. About 50 people attended a public hearing last April, and neighbors who oppose a deal have also made their opinions known at Seymour Board of Selectmen meetings.
At the board’s meeting April 8, about a half dozen neighbors again asked the town not to sell the land.
“Our quality of life matters,” said Arlene Roy, of Kulas Terrace. “It’s quiet and it’s peaceful and full of wildlife that we enjoy. Being up on the hill, we enjoy that quality of life, we love our area and we want it to stay that way. I know there has to be development, but not on this property.”
Roy showed the board several photos of the wildlife that regularly frequent the land.
Joanne Capiello, a Derby resident who owns property on Woodside Avenue near Prospect Street, voiced concerns about blasting the mountain should the land sale go through to make way for a housing development.
“This may be a small mountain, but it’s mighty and it’s fierce and any building or blasting will change the landscape of the mountain, causing significant damage to anything in its path,” Capiello said. “If you wake it up, I’m afraid of what the consequences may be.”
Capiello and others said they’re frustrated that they haven’t heard from town officials for more than a year since the matter first came to the table.
Drugonis told The Valley Indy the board is weighing its options.
“The town wanted to ensure the concerns and the questions were looked into, and that can take some time,” Drugonis said. “We still have to do our due diligence.”
Some residents also raised concerns about a potential aquifer on the property. The town’s building official, Jim Baldwin, said during the April 8 meeting that there is an aquifer, but it doesn’t extend onto that property.
Residents have said some of the houses in the area are more than 100 years old with foundations that are made of fieldstone. They worried about potential damage to their wells and foundations that could happen if a development required blasting.
Swan Avenue resident Ken Gagne expressed concerns about his home which is more than 135 years old.
“I don’t know what kind of heavy vibrations will do to my house, but I don’t really see a need for any type of development up there,” Gagne said.
Woodside Avenue resident Mike Renkewith encouraged the town to look elsewhere to develop, including the 200 plus acres it owns at Little Laurel Lime Ridge Park.
“I understand we need revenue for the town, and I’m not here to say we can never have another home development, but the town owns 209 acres of Little Laurel Lime Ridge Park, so why don’t we sell off some of that land?” Renkewith said.