Derby Mayor Anita Dugatto is asking for development proposals for city-owned land off Division Street.
Update – Wednesday, June 3. The city’s formal request for proposals is now embedded at the end of this post.
“This is important because we need more business and industrial development,” Dugatto said Monday (June 1). “If we have more businesses paying taxes, it will help the residents. The residents pay the majority of taxes in Derby.”
The land is an industrial zone. Dugatto said light manufacturing is an acceptable use.
It’s a narrow stretch of about 28 acres between the Derby Greenway and the railroad tracks.
It was commonly referred to as the “former DOT property” because it was once owned by the state Department of Transportation.
Under Mayor Anthony Staffieri’s administration, the city, using grant money in part, built a road through the property. The goal is to spur private investment and help the city’s tax base.
The road starts near BJ’s Wholesale and stretches back toward the Derby train station.
Local Democrats, in the last election cycle, dubbed the project the “road to nowhere,” citing a lack of progress.
Planning and zoning meeting minutes from Staffieri’s administration show the city found an unspecified amount of debris buried in the ground during the construction of the road, forcing the city to apply for and receive a $250,000 grant to clean the mess up.
More recently, a portion of the land has become the subject of a civil lawsuit between the family members and business associates of the former property owners. The case is still pending in court.
At an Aldermen meeting May 28, the majority of the city’s legislature voted to put a request for proposals out to bid.
A bid package is available in the mayor’s office in Derby City Hall. Copies can be purchased for $100. Developers who bid must include a $2,500 good faith deposit.
The documents show the city is willing to sell chunks of the land for $25,000.
A conceptual plan from 2009 showed five separate buildings on the land, ranging in size from 6,000 to 40,000 square feet.
In addition, the old conceptual plan shows about 400 parking spaces sprinkled throughout the property.
Dugatto said the conceptual plan isn’t set in stone.
“This is the first step. Let’s get it out there,” Dugatto said.