A consultant hired by Ansonia to develop a “master plan” for economic development in the city will reveal his initial findings Thursday.
Richard Stoltz, a consultant with the Hartford-based real estate firm Bartram & Cochran, said Wednesday that’s he’s written drafts of parts of his final report and has been sharing them with city officials. Stoltz’s firm was hired by Aldermen in September to perform a 14-week review.
“In general there are a great deal of opportunities,” Stoltz said. “We’re very excited about what we’re seeing. There are some significant possibilities.”
Stoltz is scheduled to discuss his findings at a meeting of the city’s Economic Development Commission Thursday at 7 p.m. in City Hall.
He said he didn’t want to reveal publicly the information he’s collected so far in advance of Thursday’s meeting, but said he’ll discuss with the commission things such as:
- The current state of economic development in Ansonia
- Input from a public hearing last month
- The city’s inventory of businesses, categorized by sector
- Real estate trends downtown and in adjacent areas
- Interviews of local and state business leaders
A final report will be coming next month.
In addition, Stoltz said he’s in the process of finalizing a “highest and best use” report on downtown real estate.
“It says ‘Here’s the kinds of businesses across all different sectors that make sense for Ansonia and that Ansonia should try to attract,” he said.
Whether that report will list “book store/yarn store/wine bar” as such a “highest and best” use remains to be seen, but such an establishment is on the commission’s agenda for Thursday’s meeting, under the heading “new businesses.”
The commission’s chairman, Vinnie Scarlata, has been trying to lure Written Words Bookstore, a popular shop in Shelton’s White Hills, to relocate to downtown Ansonia.
The store’s lease is up at the end of the year and its owners, Dorothy Sim-Broder and her husband, David, have been looking for a new location.
Dorothy Sim-Broder said Wednesday that while Ansonia could eventually be a great setting for a bookstore like hers, it isn’t yet.
“I’m not ruling it out at this point but there’s certainly reservations,” she said, chief among them being the fear that a lot of her customers who live in Monroe won’t travel as far as Ansonia to keep going to her store.
“It is not where it needs to be at this time, Main Street itself,” she said. “If everything in (Scarlata’s) vision materializes, I think Main Street will be absolutely gorgeous, it will be thriving. Unfortunately, now, because of years of neglect, it is not the case.”
Right now she said she’s hoping to stay in Shelton and is trying to find a property there to call a new home.
“There are always possibilities,” she said. “We’re looking at two or three locations at this time, but there are always hurdles to get through.”
Scarlata said Wednesday that a business like Written Words would be perfect for Ansonia, but that he feels the same way Sim-Broder does about the downtown as it is right now.
“Do I see that as a fit for us on Main Street? Absolutely I do,” he said. “My problem is, and I said this to Dorothy, I can’t sell her in good conscience (just) on my enthusiasm for Ansonia.”
“I have to be able to feed this lady and her business, and not just fill her with a vision of anticipation,” Scarlata said. “That doesn’t pay the bills.”
“That’s exactly the conundrum I have with our downtown,” Scarlata said. “I keep looking for the silver bullet to fix everything and it’s just not there.”