
(Left to right) John Marini and Mayor David Cassetti (file photo) attorney Thomas Egan (photo from Egan Law LLC website).
ANSONIA — Now that the sides have agreed upon a set of facts, or at least most of them, a court hearing is scheduled for Nov. 3 in the case of Matt McGowan versus the City of Ansonia.
McGowan, an Ansonia resident, is suing the city for allegedly not following local and state laws regarding the process by which the city acquired land on Olson Drive from the Ansonia Housing Authority and then sold it to The Primrose Companies, a private developer out of Bridgeport.
Mayor David Cassetti’s administration says McGowan is wrong and that the lawsuit is an attempted act of political sabotage by Ansonia Democrats.
McGowan is being represented by Ansonia lawyer Thomas G. Egan of Egan Law, LLC. Ansonia is being represented by corporation counsel John Marini.
The lawsuit was filed in May. At a court hearing in September, Judge Arthur Hiller seemed annoyed that the two sides were in disagreement about things that could be easily proven by the public record, such as whether the city’s planning and commission voted on a “8 – 24 referral” regarding the Olson Drive property.
The judge told the two lawyers to meet and come up with a set of agreed upon facts in the case.
They did so, but at this point, it appears the sides cannot agree on the status of the 8 – 24 referral. That issue will be the subject of the Nov. 3 court hearing.
State law (section 8 – 24) forces towns and cities looking to acquire or sell land to get a referral from the local planning and zoning commission. The commission usually weighs in with a positive or negative referral.
Olson Drive was previously home to federally subsidized housing. The Ansonia Housing Authority sold the land to the city for $510,000. The city then sold it to a developer for $510,000. The housing authority is using the proceeds to provide subsidized housing elsewhere in the city.
In a court document filed Sept. 14 Egan (the plaintiff’s lawyer) alleges that the City of Ansonia never received referrals from its planning and zoning commission to either purchase or sell Olson Drive.
Marini said the only disputed fact now is whether the city received a 8 – 24 referral to purchase Olson Drive.
The public record on the 8 – 24 referral process in this case is confusing. Usually an agenda and meeting minutes can be referenced to be informed on what actions a government body took.
The ‘stipulated facts’ show agenda of the Jan. 5, 2022 meeting of the Ansonia Planning and Zoning Commission included 8 – 24 referrals on the sale of other properties to the Ansonia Housing Authority, but nothing about purchasing Olson Drive (which happened three months later).
The city points out the chairman of the planning and zoning commission sent an email and letter the night of the meeting to other city officials stating Olson Drive had received a positive 8 – 24 referral for the purchase of 1 Olson Drive.
The minutes from the January meeting were not filed until July, a violation of the state’s open records law.
The minutes do not show the commission voted on a referral specifically for Olson Drive. The minutes reflect the Olson Drive land deal was discussed. However, the motion voted upon mentions three other properties that were tangentially connected to the Olson Drive deal — but not Olson Drive.
The judge could straighten out the issue at the Nov. 3 hearing, which court documents indicate is happening in person in Superior Court in Milford. However, the state court system’s database has the hearing happening online.
Meanwhile, the redevelopment of Olson Drive is moving along. The chance the lawsuit could stop the redevelopment project seems remote, at best.
John Guedes, of The Primrose Companies, has a site plan application pending in front of the commission to build a private sports complex on the site. Part of the development will be home to a soccer club. The project is expected to be approved. Mayor David Cassetti supports it so much he allowed 137 parking spaces to be added to Olson Drive without following the process outlined in the city’s charter, according to the city attorney.
Guedes last week asked for an extension on his application. The commission is expected to continue its review on the development plans in November.