Many of us, including myself, ran for local government for the first time in 2005 on the basis to jump start downtown redevelopment.
When we first came into office, we met weekly with the old developer to try to determine where the project was, and where it was actually going.
After 2 years of these weekly meetings, we came to the conclusion the old developer had no intention of working in Derby, and he was waiting for a financial windfall from the State. The Board of Aldermen made the wise decision to cut ties, and after first asking for 25 million, the developer settled for 1.75 million, which is much less than was owed to him per the contract.
Although the old developer still owns property in the zone, he will be treated as any other property owner, and the financial responsibility to obtain those properties falls on the new developer. The private properties will not be purchased until there is a buildable plan in place.
The Redevelopment Agency (who holds a public forum at EVERY meeting) then spent 2 years engaged in a nationwide search for a new downtown developer.
We publicly entertained many different proposals and researched many different ideas, including a community college setting, but we realized that colleges fall into a PILOT (Payment In Lieu of Taxes) Program, and Derby wouldn’t realize the full benefit of a tax base.
This idea is still being pushed by those who do not know any better. During the course of our research, we were told time and time again that the “mom and pop” downtown we all initially desired was unfortunately a thing of the past.
The premise of a good development is that a major retail attraction will draw people into other areas of Derby, which in turn will fill up retail space throughout the City. We entered into a contract with our new developer, Eclipse Development, long before this election season, and we have stuck with the timelines set out in that agreement.
The Valley Council of Governments and our State DOT are close to beginning construction on our new Main Street, and according to their engineers, their project will in no way affect the start of ours.
We forsee our new development as a retail and restaurant village center, with the character of the new buildings honoring the character of our past history.
The writer is a Republican running for re-election in Derby’s Third Ward. He is also chairman of the Derby Redevelopment Agency.
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