| Housing Shortage Expected in Eastern Connecticut |
Utopia Vote Raises Critical Questions; Officials ponder need for new housing,
other challenges to the region
By Paul Choiniere, Richard Rainey, Day Writers
Published on 5/25/2006
Eastern Connecticut awoke Wednesday to the reality that it may one day soon
have a theme park on the scale of Disney World, only it will be called Utopia.
For three years, the proposed Utopia Studios Ltd. project, with its indoor theme
parks, movie studios and 4,200 hotel rooms, was seen as only a concept, and by
some critics as a pipe dream. Now it is suddenly tangible.
On Tuesday, Preston voters approved entering into a development agreement,
and First Selectman Robert Congdon signed it Wednesday. If all requirements
and deadlines are met, Utopia Studios could take possession of the former
Norwich Hospital property sometime by the end of this year or early in 2007.
But how ready is the region? Utopia Chief Financial Officer Joseph Gentile said
his $1.6 billion project will employ 22,000 people and that 4,700 others will be
employed building it.
Where will they come from? And where will they live?
Business and labor leaders say the project has the potential to substantially
expand the region's economy and are confident any challenges can be overcome.
“I think it's terrific that they did this, and I was actually holding my breath that they
would do this,” said Doug Fisher, a Northeast Utilities executive who chairs a
regional economic diversification subcommittee.
“We have a situation on our hands now that at least something's happening,” said
Tony Sheridan, president of the Eastern Connecticut Chamber of Commerce.
Foxwoods Resort Casino and Mohegan Sun have depended on an immigration of
new workers from outside the region, and even outside the country, to fill their
staffing needs. But the result has been a shortage of housing, particularly rental
housing, that a regional study concluded will not abate without a 35 percent
increase in construction of affordable rental units. And that study did not consider
the effect of a Utopia work force.
Renee Main of the Builders Association of Eastern Connecticut said her
organization is concerned about the current lack of houses, apartments and
condominiums in the area to support a potential tidal wave of 22,000 new families.
“There already is a (housing) shortage, but this will really exacerbate it,” she said.
Bozrah First Selectman Keith Robbins, who chairs the Southeastern Connecticut
Council of Governments, said the region has to start planning now how it will
handle the increased demand for housing and the other challenges Utopia would
create.
Robbins called Wednesday for legislation that would bring back to the region
some of the money that Utopia and other tourist attractions generate. That could
come as a percentage of a tax on ticket sales, or a ticket surcharge could be
added. A significant percentage of hotel taxes should also be available to the
region, he said.
Such steps would require significant structural changes. With no county
government, Connecticut has no mechanism for assessing and spending such a
tax regionally. That role could appropriately fall to the council of governments,
Robbins said. Made up of the elected leaders of the 20 municipalities in the
region, the council is largely an advisory agency.
Congdon, the Preston first selectman, said the revenues generated by such
special taxes or surcharges could be substantial, rivaling the casino slot
revenues, which annually total about $435 million.
Possible uses for such money, say the two leaders, could include:
• Building the public water and sewer connections needed to support multi-family
housing.
• Providing financial incentives so communities would welcome housing growth,
now seen as a problem by most because of increased education and other
service costs.
• Bolstering police and other emergency services.
Robbins said the region is prepared to manage the growth that would follow a
huge project, but the key is getting the legislature to provide the resources to get
the job done.
“They want to keep us barefoot and pregnant,” said Congdon, who served a term
as a state legislator. “The legislature likes to have all the money go there and
then they divvy it out, but very often for political favors, rather than need.”
Congdon said he also is open to property tax reform as a way of addressing
regional needs, even if it means some of the windfall Preston stands to gain from
Utopia would be shared.
“I think everything is on the table. We have to find a way to address the burden of
property taxes,” Congdon said. “Should Preston have a mill rate of 5 and a
(neighboring town) a mill rate of 40? I don't think so.”
James Butler, executive director of the council of governments, said he will
recommended that the COG dust off plans for a major analysis of how the region
would deal with a development on the scale of Utopia.
About a year ago, the council approved spending $50,000 on the “Regional
Analysis of Large-Scale Developments,” but postponed the effort when local
leaders turned their attention to the threatened closing of the Naval Submarine
Base in Groton.
Butler said it is probably time to gear up that study, and he will suggest it focus on
the Utopia development and the $700 million expansion under way at Foxwoods.
The study would look at the effect on the job market, housing, utilities, schools
and traffic.
Utopia estimates 22 million people will pass through the gates of the Utopia
complex annually. The state Department of Transportation and the State Traffic
Commission will have ultimate authority in approving plans for handling the
resulting traffic.
“Everything up to this point has been hypothetical,” said DOT traffic engineer Ken
Lussier, who said the department is awaiting a formal application from the
developer.
While Utopia will certainly bring more traffic to the region, and chew up more open
space for housing, many see that as the price of badly needed economic growth.
“I'm just flying today,” said Linda Rosati, regional organizer for the Hotel
Employees and Restaurant Employees Union.
She said the Utopia project –– and Gentile's promise that its work force would be
union-affiliated –– will lead to more jobs, higher salaries and a better standard of
living for wage workers in southeastern Connecticut.
David Krug, vice president of Chelsea-Groton Bank in Norwich, said the project
could be a boon for local banks and lenders. More residents means more
depositors and a greater need for home loans, he said.
“We're the largest secure lender for properties of $3 million or less (in
southeastern Connecticut), and we've been so for the past eight years or so, so
we would probably be serving a lot of the needs of folks buying real estate in the
area,” Krug said.
Utopia will likely put Norwich at the epicenter of a large-scale impact on the
region's health care system as thousands of workers flock to the area. And The
William W. Backus Hospital, the regional health center here, has been planning
for some time.
Hospital officials had Utopia in mind as they planned the facility's future for the
next five years, said Shawn Mawhiney, a hospital spokesman.
“Obviously, a proposed project the size of Utopia would bring more visitors and
workers into the region, which would almost certainly generate more visits to the
hospital, and we have already been considering the potential impacts of this
development,” Mawhiney said.
The hospital has begun a $50 million expansion that will double the size of the
emergency room, expand the surgery department and bring in innovative new
equipment. “I think the hospital is taking it in stride,” he said.
other challenges to the region
By Paul Choiniere, Richard Rainey, Day Writers
Published on 5/25/2006
Eastern Connecticut awoke Wednesday to the reality that it may one day soon
have a theme park on the scale of Disney World, only it will be called Utopia.
For three years, the proposed Utopia Studios Ltd. project, with its indoor theme
parks, movie studios and 4,200 hotel rooms, was seen as only a concept, and by
some critics as a pipe dream. Now it is suddenly tangible.
On Tuesday, Preston voters approved entering into a development agreement,
and First Selectman Robert Congdon signed it Wednesday. If all requirements
and deadlines are met, Utopia Studios could take possession of the former
Norwich Hospital property sometime by the end of this year or early in 2007.
But how ready is the region? Utopia Chief Financial Officer Joseph Gentile said
his $1.6 billion project will employ 22,000 people and that 4,700 others will be
employed building it.
Where will they come from? And where will they live?
Business and labor leaders say the project has the potential to substantially
expand the region's economy and are confident any challenges can be overcome.
“I think it's terrific that they did this, and I was actually holding my breath that they
would do this,” said Doug Fisher, a Northeast Utilities executive who chairs a
regional economic diversification subcommittee.
“We have a situation on our hands now that at least something's happening,” said
Tony Sheridan, president of the Eastern Connecticut Chamber of Commerce.
Foxwoods Resort Casino and Mohegan Sun have depended on an immigration of
new workers from outside the region, and even outside the country, to fill their
staffing needs. But the result has been a shortage of housing, particularly rental
housing, that a regional study concluded will not abate without a 35 percent
increase in construction of affordable rental units. And that study did not consider
the effect of a Utopia work force.
Renee Main of the Builders Association of Eastern Connecticut said her
organization is concerned about the current lack of houses, apartments and
condominiums in the area to support a potential tidal wave of 22,000 new families.
“There already is a (housing) shortage, but this will really exacerbate it,” she said.
Bozrah First Selectman Keith Robbins, who chairs the Southeastern Connecticut
Council of Governments, said the region has to start planning now how it will
handle the increased demand for housing and the other challenges Utopia would
create.
Robbins called Wednesday for legislation that would bring back to the region
some of the money that Utopia and other tourist attractions generate. That could
come as a percentage of a tax on ticket sales, or a ticket surcharge could be
added. A significant percentage of hotel taxes should also be available to the
region, he said.
Such steps would require significant structural changes. With no county
government, Connecticut has no mechanism for assessing and spending such a
tax regionally. That role could appropriately fall to the council of governments,
Robbins said. Made up of the elected leaders of the 20 municipalities in the
region, the council is largely an advisory agency.
Congdon, the Preston first selectman, said the revenues generated by such
special taxes or surcharges could be substantial, rivaling the casino slot
revenues, which annually total about $435 million.
Possible uses for such money, say the two leaders, could include:
• Building the public water and sewer connections needed to support multi-family
housing.
• Providing financial incentives so communities would welcome housing growth,
now seen as a problem by most because of increased education and other
service costs.
• Bolstering police and other emergency services.
Robbins said the region is prepared to manage the growth that would follow a
huge project, but the key is getting the legislature to provide the resources to get
the job done.
“They want to keep us barefoot and pregnant,” said Congdon, who served a term
as a state legislator. “The legislature likes to have all the money go there and
then they divvy it out, but very often for political favors, rather than need.”
Congdon said he also is open to property tax reform as a way of addressing
regional needs, even if it means some of the windfall Preston stands to gain from
Utopia would be shared.
“I think everything is on the table. We have to find a way to address the burden of
property taxes,” Congdon said. “Should Preston have a mill rate of 5 and a
(neighboring town) a mill rate of 40? I don't think so.”
James Butler, executive director of the council of governments, said he will
recommended that the COG dust off plans for a major analysis of how the region
would deal with a development on the scale of Utopia.
About a year ago, the council approved spending $50,000 on the “Regional
Analysis of Large-Scale Developments,” but postponed the effort when local
leaders turned their attention to the threatened closing of the Naval Submarine
Base in Groton.
Butler said it is probably time to gear up that study, and he will suggest it focus on
the Utopia development and the $700 million expansion under way at Foxwoods.
The study would look at the effect on the job market, housing, utilities, schools
and traffic.
Utopia estimates 22 million people will pass through the gates of the Utopia
complex annually. The state Department of Transportation and the State Traffic
Commission will have ultimate authority in approving plans for handling the
resulting traffic.
“Everything up to this point has been hypothetical,” said DOT traffic engineer Ken
Lussier, who said the department is awaiting a formal application from the
developer.
While Utopia will certainly bring more traffic to the region, and chew up more open
space for housing, many see that as the price of badly needed economic growth.
“I'm just flying today,” said Linda Rosati, regional organizer for the Hotel
Employees and Restaurant Employees Union.
She said the Utopia project –– and Gentile's promise that its work force would be
union-affiliated –– will lead to more jobs, higher salaries and a better standard of
living for wage workers in southeastern Connecticut.
David Krug, vice president of Chelsea-Groton Bank in Norwich, said the project
could be a boon for local banks and lenders. More residents means more
depositors and a greater need for home loans, he said.
“We're the largest secure lender for properties of $3 million or less (in
southeastern Connecticut), and we've been so for the past eight years or so, so
we would probably be serving a lot of the needs of folks buying real estate in the
area,” Krug said.
Utopia will likely put Norwich at the epicenter of a large-scale impact on the
region's health care system as thousands of workers flock to the area. And The
William W. Backus Hospital, the regional health center here, has been planning
for some time.
Hospital officials had Utopia in mind as they planned the facility's future for the
next five years, said Shawn Mawhiney, a hospital spokesman.
“Obviously, a proposed project the size of Utopia would bring more visitors and
workers into the region, which would almost certainly generate more visits to the
hospital, and we have already been considering the potential impacts of this
development,” Mawhiney said.
The hospital has begun a $50 million expansion that will double the size of the
emergency room, expand the surgery department and bring in innovative new
equipment. “I think the hospital is taking it in stride,” he said.
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