Politics & Government

Was River's Edge Project Pre-Determined To Succeed By Ad-Hoc Committee?

Accusations fly at Planning & Zoning Commission Public Hearing.

Two speakers at the Planning and Zoning Commission Public Hearing on the proposed River's Edge project made accusations that the developers have been led along by an ad-hoc committee that has guaranteed the project would go through. 

Christa Mariner and Jim Zagroba made statements accusing the town of helping this project along, saying that there not only might be innapropriate handling of the issue but some of the dealings may be illegal. 

"This whole thing was pre-determined by an ad-hoc committee so I'm not sure if this hearing even matters," Zagroba said in the hearing. "I have never heard a traffic expert come up and say anything but traffic will be fine. There are dangerous levels of contaminants in that soil. Is it even suitable to build on. I reserve the right to talk at the next hearing."

Mariner raised more issues with the proposal. She also asked P&Z Chair Alan Mordhorst to recuse himself from the public hearing because he was predisposed to favor the project. He did not recuse himself.

"To start with I think the demolition of the foundry was illegal as Riverfront Future Partners have liens on all six of their properties in town and owe $36,000 in taxes," she said. "I e-mailed Town Manager Barbara Gilbert and she said there was a defect in the approval of the demolition. 

"We are also dealing with four zoning districts here but talking about it like it is one. There is no police dept. approval and the bottom line is that steps have been skipped or completely disregarded in this process."

Former Mayor Anthony LaRosa addressed P&Z to rebut the accusations.

"If this is a pre-determined project by the politicians in this town, I think that is an insult to the commissions in this town that they wouldn't have the guts to vote against something that was wrong," LaRosa said. "The Town Council tried to take it by eminent domain and we failed when I was the Mayor. The people at the state told us to work with the developer to try to help this through. So we formed a small ad-hoc committee with just a few people so we could get something done.

"The original project was 48 or 38 housing units and when the Council found out it was going to be 138 units we were livid. We did not know about it. It was passed by another commission in town. There was a lack of communication. It is something that happened. There was nothing deceptive, it was just a miscommunication. 

"I'm proud of what this project can be for Rocky Hill. Richard Tulisano has a courthouse in Hartford with his name. This park, 'Tulisano Park' is to remember a man who did a lot for this town. If he didn't like you but he thought he could help you, he would call you and offer his help. It's going to be beautiful and I think it's a great thing for Rocky Hill." 


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