SEYMOUR – The Board of Selectpersons voted July 21 to sell town-owned land on Prospect Street to a neighboring property owner instead of a developer.
The successful, $5,000 bid was from Jo-Ann Cappiello, a Derby resident who owns a two-family house in Seymour on Woodside Avenue, close to 100 Prospect St.
“I’m just over the moon and happy that the board awarded me the bid,” Cappiello said. “We’ve been fighting for this for years. I’m going to keep the property the way it is and we’re just going to preserve it and protect the mountain.”
Cappiello’s bid was chosen over a $50,000 bid from Prestige Builders, a company that owns land surrounding 100 Prospect St.
Company officials previously said they want to develop their land. The company did not return an email or phone call seeking comment.
The vacant property at 100 Prospect St. is 7.5 acres. The town acquired it through a tax foreclosure in 2015.
The land is between Woodside Avenue and Swan Avenue on the Oxford border. Neighbors over the last year have urged town officials to keep the land to prevent development.
The board, at its meeting June 18, voted to put the property out to bid. The board received two sealed bids for the property and opened them at its meeting Tuesday, July 21.
“I wanted to submit the bid because at the last meeting (First Selectwoman) Annmarie (Drugonis) mentioned she’d give homeowners that were fighting the development a chance to bid,” Cappiello said. “I’m really thankful the board awarded me the bid. It’s all about protecting the properties and the homeowners.”
The land, according to town land records, is zoned as multi-family residential. It has an appraised value of $42,400, according to tax assessor information.
Debbie Zamoic-Alterio, of neighboring Oxford, had appeared at several public meetings to urge Seymour government to preserve the land.
“Thank you, I’m glad you put your residents first,” Zamoic-Alterio told the board. “You did right by the people of Seymour and you have protected something, a resource, that you could never take back.”
Drugonis and Selectman Phil Wilhelmy said they were happy with the outcome.
“I believe that in taking our time, finding out the facts and doing our homework, the decision that we made was a positive one in many ways. I’m really proud of this board in the way we interact, the way we discuss things and the way we work together,” Wilhelmy said.
“It was a long road and a lot of fact-finding along the way, but this is what happens when a board and the residents talk with one another and work together,” Drugonis said.