Lt. Gov. Nancy Wyman received an earful Wednesday during a visit with property owners who say they are trapped in limbo within the stagnant Derby Downtown Redevelopment Zone.
Wyman was invited to a municipal parking lot off Caroline Street in the redevelopment zone by Anita Dugatto, a Democrat running for mayor trying to unseat incumbent Republican Anthony Staffieri.
Dugatto said the Staffieri administration hasn’t been working with property owners in the redevelopment zone, hasn’t sought help with economic development from the state — and hasn’t had an honest dialogue with Derby residents about the redevelopment zone.
“Look at where we were eight years ago. Look at where we are today. Have we improved?” Dugatto asked.
Sheila O’Malley, the city’s economic development director and Staffieri’s chief administrative assistant, said neither she nor Staffieri would comment for this story, but pointed to an August letter regarding economic development she submitted to the Derby Board of Aldermen. The letter states three developers have separate concepts for the zone.
The letter is printed below in its entirety.
Just 30 minutes before Dugatto’s press event, Staffieri was at a monthly meeting of the Valley Council of Governments touting Derby’s economic development successes to the lieutenant governor, such as the former “DOT property” behind BJ’s Wholesale off Division Street that will be developed into an industrial park.
The city is undergoing a “renaissance,” Staffieri said.
In The Zone
The Derby redevelopment zone stretches along the Housatonic River from the Derby-Shelton bridge toward the former Lifetouch property on Main Street.
While city officials once made big development promises for the zone, now the city’s Redevelopment Agency rarely meets, said Sandy Thompson, a Shelton resident who has owned a two-story brick building at 22 Caroline St. with her husband, Wally, for almost 30 years.
Thompson’s building once housed New Britain Candy, and, later, New England Sheetrock. Now it sits vacant. Potential tenants back out.
The reason — no one knows what’s happening with the city’s redevelopment zone. Will the property be taken through eminent domain? Meanwhile, property owners wait for the long-promised Route 34 widening project to start. What’s that project going to do to the properties in the redevelopment zone?
Thompson said she can’t get any answers. Officials from Eclipse Development, the city’s former “preferred” developer, said publicly they were negotiating with property owners in the redevelopment zone, but Thompson said they never contacted her, nor did they return multiple e‑mails.
Meanwhile, the value of her property circles the toilet.
“It’s not fair. This is our livelihood,” Thompson said.
The video below has comments from Dugatto, Thompson and the lieutenant governor:
Vin Tonucci, Dugatto’s campaign manager, said the Derby Redevelopment Agency has met for just 57 minutes in the last two years.
“That shows you the level of commitment down here,” Tonucci said.
Bill Malerba, who owns the former Derby Savings Bank on Main Street, pointed across the Housatonic River to Shelton, a city which seems to have no problem attracting redevelopment. The new Avalon apartment building is visible from Derby’s beleaguered redevelopment zone.
“Look at Shelton. They make Derby look like fools over here,” Malerba said.
Main Street building owner Carl Yacobacci said his property is slated to be taken as part of the Route 34 widening project — if the state ever moves forward with its project.
The uncertainty in the area is killing business.
“You just can’t do business like that,” Yacobacci said.
His comments are in the video below:
Officials from the state Department of Transportation are going to start contacting property owners affected by the Route 34 widening project in November, city officials said.
Wyman listened to the complaints and promised to contact the state DOT to check up on the status of the Route 34 project. She said the state would help with the redevelopment zone wherever she could — assuming there’s a way to help.
“We need to do something to put people back to work. People here are hungry. They need jobs,” Thompson said.
Dugatto, who owns Sunflower Dental on Elizabeth Street, indicated Derby City Hall needs to rebuild credibility with residents, especially when it comes to the redevelopment zone.
It’s time to listen to people again, Dugatto said.
“Derby has to become business friendly,” she said. “Business owners here are frustrated. They don’t know where to go. They don’t know who to contact. They don’t know what to do with their properties. Then they attend meetings that don’t happen. There is no communication and there is no detailed plan that the public is privy to.”
Those in attendance during the campaign event included former Mayor Marc Garofalo, who is running for town clerk, and Ron Sill, a member of the Board of Aldermen.
