Naugatuck closes on joint land purchase

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NAUGATUCK — The borough closed Thursday morning on property it is purchasing jointly with the Waterbury Development Corp. to gain access to 160 acres of industrial space between the two towns.

Waterbury and Naugatuck are evenly splitting the $390,000 cost of the 10.5-acre parcel at the end of Great Hill Road that was owned by Michael Devino. The purchase allows the municipalities to build a road into the prime industrial land.

Naugatuck will enjoy the tax benefits of developing the 55 acres of land within its borders and Waterbury will finally be able to develop land it’s owned since 1987. In addition to the land on the edge of Naugatuck’s Industrial Park, Waterbury owns an adjacent 105 acres within the city off South Main Street.

“The project works for both towns,” Naugatuck Mayor N. Warren “Pete” Hess said at a Naugatuck Chamber of Commerce breakfast Thursday.

In the past, the unviable options were to either build a road from Baldwin Street, which, with its steep grade, was cost-prohibitive; or come through a residential area against the neighbor’s wishes.

“This is the first step toward unlocking the economic potential of the Waterbury-owned land in the Naugatuck Industrial Park. Through the acquisition of this property, we now possess a key piece of real estate through which we can construct a roadway and bring utilities to the upper elevation of the Waterbury-owned property,” said James Nardozzi, interim CEO of Waterbury Development Corp.

He said the corporation will sell the excess land once the roadway is built to help recoup costs.

The project won’t affect residential neighborhoods, Nardozzi said, because the plans would not reduce the 150-foot residential buffer on the Waterbury side. It won’t bring trucks through the neighborhoods or impact the green space along South Main Street, he said.

“We want viable, livable neighborhoods for families and children,” Nardozzi said. “You won’t look up and see a deforested hill. You won’t notice the complex at all because we are using those flat features at the top.”

Over the years, the city has tried to develop the land into a shopping center, rock quarry, casino, IMAX theater, and dog-racing track, but all of those proposals fell through.

Hess said Cheshire engineering consultant Milone & MacBroom, Inc.is designing the road that will bring water, sewer and utilities to the property. A preliminary plan divides the land into nine much more level lots — four in Waterbury and five in Naugatuck.

The municipalities are applying for a grant from the state Department of Economic and Community Development to pay for construction, as well as reimbursement for the land acquisition.

City officials are seeking to rezone the 106 acres of forest land within Waterbury’s boarders from commercial to industrial to make it more attractive to developers.