Before I begin, let me say I am in favor of developing downtown and
the harbor area. Joe Gentile has shaken up our world with
his development proposal. He's told us what he wants. Now we
need to step forward and make sure we get what we, the residents, want.
Holy Cow, Beverly Hills
East
When I first read about Joe Gentile’s
redevelopment plan for Norwich harbor my reaction was HOLY COW,
well maybe not cow. I have been working on turning my old
Victorian home into a B and B and the article flashed dollar signs
in front of my eyes. Then reality set in. I live two blocks
from the harbor and one block from the proposed site of the
amusement park. Let me tell you, I am not amused about having
an amusement park in my back yard. (Think noise, litter, car
exhaust, congestion and you get the idea.) Would Beverly Hills put
up with that?
Don't Give Away the Family
Jewels
Cementing over Chelsea Harbor Drive to build elevated offices and
stores does not amuse me either. This means your drive by the
harbor would happen via tunnel. No more 5 second vacation as you
wistfully look at the boats on the river. The plan plops two
37-story towers in the middle of our harbor.
Do we really need two
37-story high rises? The tallest building in Connecticut,
according to Wikipedia, is the 38 story City Place I in Hartford.
That type of construction is appropriate for Hartford, not for an
old Colonial and Victorian town like Norwich.
The plan also encapsulates Norwich’s best natural resource, the
harbor, into a development for the rich and famous. Think
gated community, restricted access, security guards, paparazzi, and
us-Vs- them. This type of isolation will only increase the chances
we will become the poor townies to the Hollywood types.
The
plan does include a park for the public in the area of the existing
junk yard, but the only way to see the water will be to drive down
that one narrow road that accesses the area. You will no longer be
able to enjoy the view as you drive through downtown.
There are so many vacant and under utilized buildings in downtown,
why not put the offices and stores in those buildings? If a
downtown building is beyond redemption, then save just the edifice.
Doing that would still keep the flavor of Norwich. It may cost more
to develop, but hey $500 million can go a long way.
I
lived in Chicago for 25 years. One of the best things their
city planners did was to make the shoreline a public park. No
high rises are allowed directly next to the water.. That way,
everyone rich or poor, resident or visitor can enjoy the view. If
we need high rises, then build them on Chelsea Harbor Drive where
those ugly, underutilized parking garages are. (There has to
be some other place we can build garages.) Upper floor residents
would still be able to see Long Island. Lower floor residents
would enjoy the harbor view. And, the public would still have
the downtown park and a nice view. Alternatively, put the high rises
in the police station area and the condominiums where the garages
are.
How will we move folks
around?
How will we move
the increased traffic in and out of the harbor area without robbing
our downtown businesses of customers? A water ferry or monorail to
Utopia sounds nice, but that would allow potential customers to
bypass local businesses all together. (Think of New London
where visitors move directly from the ferries and trains to the
casino buses bypassing the downtown businesses.)
Two-lane Washington
St, the main northern feeder into the harbor area, is already
congested and noisy. (I have to hold my hands over my ears
when an ambulance passes by.) It would be difficult to widen
the street since some of us already have postage stamp size front
yards. What are our other alternatives?
What do WE want Norwich to
be?
Ask yourself this,
who has a bigger stake in this project, a developer who pops in for
a few years, does his thing and then leaves, or those of us who will
live here for many years to come? Joe Gentile is a
businessperson. It is his job to assure that his corporation
thrives. It is our job, as Norwich residents, to assure that
our city thrives.
One of the big
questions we have to ask ourselves is do we want Norwich to be a
tourist attraction or do we want it to stay mainly a residential
community? If we want to stay residential, then we do not need
an amusement park, because after the first visit most of us probably
will not go there anyway and neither will the movie people. Now is
the time to ask the question because if this thing is built, there
is no turning back.
Show me the Benefits
What is Norwich
getting out of this deal? Yes, there will be more jobs but
what kind of jobs? Will these just be more low paying service jobs?
Don’t tell me we will get a wonderful new sewage plant. We
need that only to support this development so it is a cost of doing
business for the developer.
Another cost of
doing business should be a consulting city planner to represent
Norwich’s interests. Gentile paid for Preston’s consultants.
He should pay for ours too.
What's the Rush?
By the way, what is
all of the rush? There is no need to rush into the Norwich
development just to provide housing for the movie folks.
Foxwoods and Mohegan have a ton of rooms. (I know they do
because they keep sending me reduced room rate offers.) Let
them stay there for a while.
My
Points in Summary
After reading this,
you may think I am against Joe Gentile and his dreams for Norwich.
Actually, I am delighted he is here, but we need to temper and shape
his plans a little. Here are my points:
- Don’t give
away our biggest asset, the harbor. Make it available to
everyone.
- Development
should be congruent with our current architecture and
complement, not fight against it.
- Minimize the
quality of life impact for those of us who live near the
proposed development
- Don’t isolate
the movie folks from the rest of us
- Spread out the
development into downtown and take advantage of our existing
architecture.
Joe, Give Us a Plan We Can
Live With
Joe, you’ve shown
us your wish list plan, now show us a plan we can all live with,
residents and movie people alike. Don’t make it an us-Vs- them
situation. Make the harbor and downtown a place for everyone
to enjoy. Let’s take our assets and build on them, not against them.
What do you Suggest?
We don’t have many
details on the plan yet. Nevertheless, knowing what we do,
what would you change, or not change about the proposed project?
Send your comments to
gloria @newlondoncountyguide.com. Please identify whether
or not you are a Norwich resident.
Click here to see other people’s
comments.
Gloria
8/24/06
LONDON
