There is very much a sense of transition in Newtown these days. The very idea of adding housing on its sprawling Fairfield Hills campus, practically taboo for years, appears to be on the verge of becoming a reality; vacant commercial properties are being groomed for new tenants; even the first selectman is ditching his affiliation with the Democratic Party.
The last matter, Dan Rosenthal is quick to point out, is not as dramatic as it might seem. “It”™s not born out of some massive disagreement with the party,” Rosenthal, who will seek a third term this year as a Serve America Movement candidate, told the Business Journal. “I just feel this should be a nonpartisan role ”” not that I feel I was acting in a partisan fashion before this.”
The party, formed in part by former staffers of the George W. Bush administration, aims to be a catch-all organization encompassing a wide range of ideologies. The first election it officially participated in was the 2018 New York gubernatorial contest, with Stephanie Miner, a former chair of the state”™s Democratic Party, running with former Republican Mayor of Pelham Michael Volpe as her running mate. The SAM ticket finished last out of five, with 0.91% of the vote.
While the move will require Rosenthal to petition his name onto the ballot, Rosenthal ”” who ran unopposed in 2020 and seems likely to do so again in 2022 ”” appeared confident that his new affiliation will not be a hindrance.
“I think a lot of people are getting tired of all the pre-judging of someone by their party affiliation ”” ”˜Oh, they”™re a Democrat”™ or ”˜They”™re a Republican,”™ what do I need to talk to them for?”™ This is about all of us rolling our sleeves up and working together.”
Rosenthal added that he believed Newtown could ultimately install a town manager or administrator, something he said “I think would make a lot of sense.”
Meanwhile, the town and its government worked together to move ahead with the mixed-use development of a pair of former state hospital buildings at the 185-acre Fairfield Hills campus via a 9,401 to 7,311 vote last November.
Winn Development, a residential developer based in Boston, has been chosen to submit a formal proposal for the adaptive reuse of a pair of long-vacant buildings on Newtown”™s Fairfield Hills campus ”” the 200,000-square-foot Kent House, built in 1940, and the 90,000-square-foot Shelton House, which opened in 1933 ”” for mixed-use.
Rosenthal said that Winn, which has completed a number of similar projects across the country, is now in the process of engaging the community for input as it finalizes its proposal, due later this year.
As for the roughly half-dozen buildings still vacant since the hospital closed in 1995, Rosenthal said the clock is ticking on whether to demolish them. “No one to date has expressed a meaningful interest in them,” he said.
The property also includes five duplexes of 4,200 gross square feet each, which the town believes are ripe for the redevelopment picking, given the strong housing market.
Fairfield Hills is already home to the town hall, as well as a community center, senior center, volunteer ambulance station, NYA Sports & Fitness and NewSylum Brewing ”” all of which opened over the past few years. Rosenthal said the momentum for building a community on the site remains strong.
In the meantime, the town also recently swung a deal with Kimball Midwest, a national industrial supplier based in Columbus, Ohio, to take over the 142,000-square-foot building at 14 Prospect Drive as a distribution center. Situated on 41 acres, the building has been a manufacturing facility for Shelton”™s Hubbell Inc., which closed it in 2019.
“Keeping that building in productive use was the name of the game,” Rosenthal said, adding that he worked closely with Newtown Economic Development Chairman Wes Thompson to finalize an incentives package, which includes an annual tax abatement of approximately 30%, or $5,500, per year over three years.
“It”™s a 1950s to 1960s era building and you don”™t want something like that sitting around,” Rosenthal said. Kimball, which acquired the property for $4.4 million, has said it expects to spend another $2 million for improvements.
Meanwhile, South Main Street has added Patty”™s Pantry, a restaurant that last year replaced longtime mainstay Botsford Drive-In at 282 S. Main, while RV dealer Country Camper is in the midst of construction at nearby 201 S. Main.
Not new to Newtown is legalized marijuana businesses, at least for now. The town banned such retailers within hours of the state”™s legalization of recreational marijuana on July 1.
“It”™s kind of a moving target,” Rosenthal said of the issue. “P&Z is taking a wait-and-see position, especially since some of the regulations haven”™t been clarified yet.”
Also playing into the decision is the passage in Danbury, to Newtown”™s west, of a one-year ban on new marijuana businesses, which went into effect at the end of July. In addition, Trumbull, to the town”™s southeast, has put a hold on allowing any nonmedical retail dispensaries through Aug. 31, 2022.
Since the state law allows just one marijuana retailer per every 25,000 residents, Rosenthal said that such a business in Newtown ”” population about 28,000 ”” could end up attracting people from the surrounding towns, negatively impacting traffic and other businesses. “We can always revisit it later.”
As for mandating masks for indoors businesses ”” as Bridgeport, Norwalk and Stamford have done recently ”” Rosenthal said no such move was in the immediate offing.
“I appreciate the governor allowing local dynamics to play a part here,” he said of Ned Lamont”™s decision not to order a statewide mandate. “I have conversations with our health director (Donna Culbert) and we”™re not seeing an unchecked community spread, like they are in more urban areas. We”™re seeing more cases, but nothing that appears alarming. That doesn”™t mean it”™s not a concern.”
Rosenthal noted that as of Aug. 4, the percentage of Newtown”™s population who had received at least one dose of a Covid vaccination stood at 69.2%, compared with the state”™s 64%.
“Where we are right now, I”™d say it”™s fairly under control,” he said. “But the situation is fluid.”
Rosenthal has been doing a great job for Newtown, a big improvement over previous administrations.