Construction-weary Danbury residents make noise about proposed $80M cancer center on the West Side

Rob Ryser

DANBURY — A group of West Side residents who are tired of construction and ripped up roads are not sure what is worse — the prospect of a new $80 million cancer center on Wooster Heights Road, or the fact that they’re just now learning about it.

“We have rallied ourselves to let our neighbors know what you’re doing, and I think there should have been better communication,” West Side resident Janet Murphy said during a public hearing last week. “This could be another potential nightmare, especially just having gone through the (Eversource) gas line replacement.”

Murphy is referring to plans launched a year ago to create what would be Connecticut’s first cancer center to use proton therapy — a technology that aims to kill tumors with a minimum of damage to healthy tissue. The state Office of Health Strategy is considering Danbury Proton and a second proposal by Hartford HealthCare and the Yale New Haven Health System to use the novel therapy.

The state’s decisions are expected before the end of the summer.

Meanwhile Danbury Proton is seeking permission from Danbury’s Planning Commission to build a single-story 16,000-square-foot treatment center on a 3-acre site across Route 7 from the Danbury Municipal Airport and the Danbury Fair mall.

The Planning Commission closed the public hearing last week after hearing from a handful of construction-weary residents of Wooster Heights, setting up a vote by the five-member elected board on July 21.

Planning Commission Chairman Arnold Finaldi, one of four board members who signaled they supported approving Danbury Proton last week, said the proposal should not trigger neighborhood fears that construction will be like the Keystone Place assisted living facility across the street because that project was 10 times the size of Danbury Proton.

“While I empathize with a lot of the neighbors and what they have been through — I have sat in that same traffic — I think that I am fairly comfortable that the scale of this project is much smaller, and will be much less impactful,” Finaldi said.

A small group of neighbors who joined the public hearing on the videoconferencing platform Zoom said city planners didn’t know the half of it.

“We’ve had nonstop uproar here on the streets … and although you keep saying it’s going to be a small amount, you keep adding and adding,” said Kim McCormack, a resident of Terre Haute Road. “There’s days where you’re backed up trying to get up Wooster Heights, and days when getting out of Terre Haute is like taking your life in your hands.”

The proposed site at 85 Wooster Heights Road is on the periphery of the city’s hot West Side, where a $36 million rehabilitation hospital has been approved in the sprawling Reserve residential development, and where owners of a 1.2 million-square-foot office park at the former Union Carbide headquarters are building apartments, medical offices and a 1,400-student academy.

Danbury Proton’s attorney said the specialized treatment center would add 300 trips a day to the 12,000 traffic trips that are already happening daily to the west of the site, and the 10,000 traffic trips that are already happening daily to the east of the site.

“I certainly understand the concerns of the neighborhood that they may be tired of construction, but we are here to tell you that this is going to be less impactful than any of those items you have suffered through,” attorney Thomas Beecher said during the July 7 public hearing. “Once this project is done, there will be very little impact on the neighborhood.”

None of the residents who voiced their concerns had a problem with the cancer center itself.

“I am 100 percent supportive of the outcome — so after it is built I have no issues whatsoever,” said longtime Dartmouth Lane resident Jackie Reizes during the public hearing. “We’re community people .. .and our issue is we were not informed about anything.”

Stephen Courtney, a managing member of Danbury Proton, said during the public hearing that it was not his intention to “secretly do an $80 million project in this town.”

“When we started this project over a year ago, we created a website with numerous tabs of information because we wanted to be a good neighbor and be transparent with our project,” Courtney said. “We are quite surprised to find out that anybody in Danbury didn’t know about the project because we spent a lot of time energy and money getting that news out.”

Torrington committee combs through school project to keep costs down

Emily M. Olson

TORRINGTON — When the School Building Committee last met, estimates for the new middle-high school project showed a total cost of $186.4 million, an increase of nearly $27 million over the $159 million voters approved in November 2020.

Several City Council members are concerned by that increase, and said the committee must not allow the project to exceed the amount approved by voters.

“Residents approved spending $159 million, and we’re hearing it’s much more,” said council member Paul Cavagnero. He called for more accountability and direct reporting from the committee on the project’s spending plans.

Council member Sharon Waagner also was concerned, and said residents were contacting her about it. “People are upset,” she said.

But building committee Chairman Ed Arum said Wednesday that the whole project still is in the planning stages, and that there is plenty of contingency money to cover any extra costs. He also noted that during this part of the committee’s work, changes can be made to the design that could mitigate potential overruns.

“It’s amazing to me that the City Council members are surprised by the information we’re providing, when they were at the last meeting in June and heard the whole discussion,” he said. “They were all there. We were over by $8 million, but we have a $25 million contingency fund for designs and construction. That’s standard for any project.

“We can’t go over the approved amount — everyone knows that, and that’s why we review every design, every element,” he said. “The voters approved this project, and we will meet that number.”

Arum said every council member receives the agendas and accompanying handouts for each meeting, and are welcome to attend them. Cavagnero has complained about a lack of transparency on the project during previous council meetings.

“It bothers me a little bit that the council members are saying things like this, when they were there and heard and saw everything,” Arum said.

Torrington chose Construction Solutions Group LLC of East Hartford as the project construction company. CSG will be in charge of the construction of the new middle-high school and central office administration at 50 Major Besse Drive, and will oversee demolition of the old high school building. O&G Industries also is part of the construction of the school. The project designer is SLAM Collaborative, an architectural firm in Glastonbury. Those agencies were chosen earlier this year.

During the building committee’s June 24 meeting, Arum said Construction Solutions, O&G and SLAM worked with him, committee member Mario Longobucco, Assistant Superintendent Susan Fergusson and Superintendent of Schools Susan Lubomski to review costs and make changes to the designs that would save money.

“For example, we eliminated a corridor around the gym, that saved us about $750,000,” he said. “We also reduced the project by making changes to the basement area, and that cut 4,400 square feet from the building overall. That saved us more than $1 million. As we go along, these are the kinds of changes we’re talking about.

“Nothing’s been taken out that will affect the Torrington school system,” Arum said. “This is the schematic design process, where we look at every single thing and figure out if it can be changed, or if it should be changed. Once we complete that, the next step is design development. Those are the priorities we’re on now.”

More information on the project and recorded meetings can be found at torrington.org.

Developers show interest in affordable housing developments in Waterford

Johana Vazquez 

Waterford — Local businessman Scott Gladstone, best known for his ownership interest in several Wireless Zone stores in the region, is the most recent developer to pitch an idea for affordable housing to the Planning and Zoning Commission during a meeting Tuesday night.

The commission is in the middle of drafting an affordable housing plan in an effort to increase the percentage of housing deemed affordable in town by state statute, and developers are showing interest.

Meanwhile, two other affordable housing projects are in preliminary stages. There is the prospect of two apartment buildings on Turnpike Road and small, single-family homes expected on Great Neck Road that are not affordable by statute but Planning Director Abby Piersall said they have the potential for lower price points. She expects applications soon.

Property on Willetts Avenue is being cleared for an affordable apartment complex to be named Waterford Woods, built by the same developers of Waterford Parc on 22 Miner Lane.

Gladstone, who has developed property in the area before, presented a conceptual layout for a development on 109R and 131 Clark Lane in a voluntary preliminary discussion with the commission Tuesday night.

"I kept hearing about a lack of affordable housing," Gladstone said in an interview, explaining why he embarked on this development.

Named Citizen of the Year in 2015 by the Chamber of Commerce of Eastern Connecticut, Gladstone has resided in Waterford for the past 23 years. He has raised his children in Waterford, praising the town's "great" school system and area. He said his vision is to allow families to afford to live here and enjoy it, too.

The idea so far is for 47 small, single-family units on a large parcel of land.

Gladstone explained that affordable housing developments have to follow "strict" measures by state statute, such as renting on a scale based on income. He has hired Attorney Mark Branse to assure his idea is in compliance with regulations.

However, Gladstone has not submitted an application for the development. "This is a feasibility study," he said. "There is no plan, no finer details."

He said he has no idea what type of homes they will be, whether they will be modular or mobile, rental or sold. He also faces the challenge of sizeable wetlands on the property.

While Gladstone admits his plans may never come to fruition, he is willing to give it a try and will only go through with it "if it works for everyone" — the families that would reside in the homes and the town.

Planners examine how another bridge in Farmington would reduce Route 4 traffic back-ups

DON STACOM

Years of traffic backups through Farmington have led to a $150,000 study about whether a new bridge connecting New Britain Avenue and Route 4 would help.

The goal is to create another bridge over the Farmington River to reduce congestion that has been building along Route 4 and throughout the town’s Unionville section.

The Capitol Region Council of Governments previously did some preliminary traffic modeling and concluded a bridge could benefit motorists on Route 4, one of the busiest east-west thoroughfares in the Farmington Valley.

“The results show significant decreased traffic volume in Unionville center, minor decreased traffic volume in Farmington center, and significant increases in traffic on some roadways adjacent to the new roadway connection,” CRCOG reported.

A more detailed analysis is being done to determine specific benefits and impacts of extending Monteith Drive with a bridge across the river. The state is funding 90% of the study cost, with Farmington paying the remaining $15,000.

The traffic backups that are anticipated for a Route 4 water line project this summer show it would be good to have more options for getting through town, Town Council Chairman C. J. Thomas said.

“Although this detour by the Connecticut Water Co. is temporary, it points out the significant regional need for a third bridge crossing the river,” Thomas said.

Town leaders have talked about the idea for another river crossing for more than 15 years, but cost has been a major obstacle. A rough estimate in 2012 was $50 million, and at the time it appeared neither state nor federal funding would be available because the extension of Monteith would be a town — not a state — roadway.

But Route 4 between the Burlington line and I-84 is a major regional corridor, carrying huge amounts of commuter traffic from Canton, Burlington, Harwinton, Torrington and parts of Litchfield County. Eastbound traffic jams up in Unionville in the morning rush hour, and westbound traffic backs up near Farmington center during the afternoon commute.

Drivers looking for an alternate route find few options, partly because the Farmington River runs parallel to Route 4 through most of the town. Motorists can cross the river on Route 177 in Unionville, but not again until the nearly 4 miles to the east when the river turns sharply northward.

That leaves New Britain Avenue — the simplest alternate to Route 4 — unreachable except at either Unionville or Farmington center. A new bridge would connect Route 4 and New Britain Avenue at a point in between.

Monteith is listed as a roadway currently, but is largely just a boulevard-style driveway from Route 4 to the library, town hall and high school. Extending it to the south would mean clearing trees on both sides of the river and bridging the river itself, all a distance of well less than 2,000 feet.

In a 2018 report, Town Manager Kathleen Blonski reported to the council that a Monteith extension would cause minimal environmental impact and would connect various town-owned properties, since the police department and senior center are nearby on New Britain Avenue.

It would also improve the longevity of the Unionville Bridge, which is often bumper-to-bumper during both rush hours and sometimes on weekends, too.

“The proposed bridge will be a benefit to the region as a whole and will alleviate traffic congestion in both town centers, thus alleviating traffic congestion regionally,” Blonski wrote at the time.

Blonski said Wednesday that part of the study will including updating the $50 million cost estimate. Researchers also will look at how a Monteith extension would affect other streets in town, examining factors from school bus traffic and emergency vehicle access to the impact on cyclists and pedestrians.

“The CRCOG study is the first step needed to secure additional funding from various funding sources,” Blonski said.

The Capitol Region Council of Governments expects to conclude the study in early to mid-2022.