Malloy proposes transit authority for
train station projects
CT Post Bill Cummings and Alex Gecan Monday, March
16, 2015
The
governor has also drawn criticism over $145,000 in donations to the state Democratic Party by the developer of the Stamford project. Those
donations came in as the company was being selected by the state.
State
Rep. Gail Lavielle,
R-Wilton. labeled the bill "eminent domain
on steroids."
The bill
would challenge home rule, said state Sen. Jonathan Steinberg, D-Westport.
HARTFORD -- A plan by
Gov. Dannel P. Malloyto create a statewide transit authority to oversee
development of train stations is drawing opposition from officials and
advocates worried about losing local control.
"Were Dannel Malloy still
mayor of Stamford, he would scream bloody murder
if a bill like this was introduced in Hartford,"
said James Cameron, founder of the Commuter Action Group.
"As governor, he seems to have no qualms at telling 169
towns and cities he knows best, that Hartford will determine if skyscrapers
built by private developers should be plopped down in your town and mine,"
Cameron said.
Malloy is backing a bill now before the General Assembly that would create the Connecticut Transit Corridor Development Authority,
a quasi-state agency charged with redeveloping existing train stations and
building new ones, such as a second station proposed for Bridgeport. Continue reading at …. http://www.ctpost.com/local/article/Malloy-proposes-transit-authority-for-train-6137736.php
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Eminent domain on steroids: New bill
threatens cities, towns
Minuteman News Center
By CONNECTICUT
State Rep. Gail Lavielle
http://www.minutemannewscenter.com/articles/2015/03/17/westport/opinion/op_ed/doc55085f7696c16445437252.txt?viewmode=fullstory
How would you feel if a group of people who lived elsewhere
in the state and whom no one had elected were to take over certain planning and
zoning functions in your town or city and unilaterally make critical decisions
about entire neighborhoods — like who could own property there, and what they
could do with it? Although this scenario seems far-fetched, it is clearly outlined
in governor’s bill HB 6851, which has just received a public hearing in the
General Assembly.
HB 6851 would strip towns and cities of part of their local planning and zoning
decision-making authority by transferring it to a board of state-level appointees.
It would also permanently expose all those who own property anywhere within
half a mile of a rail or bus station to the threat of eminent domain.
On the surface, the purpose of HB 6851 is laudable: to promote transit-oriented
development. TOD both encourages the use of public transit and makes it easily
accessible to people who cannot or choose not to drive.
TOD’s
potential beneficiaries include, among others, young professionals, seniors,
people with disabilities, and people with limited incomes.
Those living outside TOD areas benefit too, from reduced vehicle emissions,
less traffic, a multi-generational populace, and concentration of development
away from greenspaces.
TOD is a concept that many communities would like to pursue. But under HB 6851
they might not have the chance, because instead, it would be pursued for them
by a group of political appointees, without any requirement for local approvals
at all.
Here’s the substance of the bill:
• It creates a quasi-public entity called the Connecticut Transit Corridor
Development Authority (TCDA) that would be run by a board of 11 voting members,
including seven political appointees and four state agency commissioners.
• It allows the TCDA to promote TOD in TCDA districts, which include all properties
within a half-mile radius of a rail or bus station.
• It gives the TCDA board eminent domain powers within TCDA districts.
• It requires the TCDA board to consult with the chief elected official of a
municipality where development is taking place, but does not require the board
to obtain his or her approval for anything. Nor does it require the TCDA board
to consult with or obtain approvals from any local legislative bodies, boards,
or commissions.
• It gives the TCDA the authority to issue its own bonds, financed by revenues
collected through fees and rents, as well as state taxes.
In short, the bill would give 11 non-elected people the authority to do
whatever they wanted in 500-acre swaths of any city or town in Connecticut with a rail
or bus station, and no one in those municipalities would be able to do anything
about it.
Many transit stations are in downtown or village areas. Those areas could
change dramatically, with no consideration for the views of local residents or
property owners. The changes could do a lot of good, like providing needed
affordable housing or new transit parking facilities, but they could also do a
lot of harm. For example, the TCDA could demolish a beloved local merchant’s
shop to replace it with housing or offices, take over a parking lot that
generates municipal revenues and pass on the revenues to the state, or
expropriate owners of private homes.
The political composition of the board also raises questions about contractor
and developer selection and agreements, whatever the political party or parties
making TCDA board appointments.
Were the legislative intent simply to offer TOD assistance and incentives to
municipalities and to give their citizens or elected officials a vote in local
decisions, HB 6851 could easily have been drafted differently. But it wasn’t.
Instead, the language of the bill explicitly allows a non-elected body to
supersede completely the authority of representative local government with no
checks and balances whatsoever.
HB 6851 now awaits consideration by the legislature’s Planning and Development
Committee. The administration’s proposal of the bill raises many disturbing
questions about its policy stance on the state’s role in local government.
The implications are vast for residents of every city and town in Connecticut.
State Rep. Gail Lavielle
represents Wilton, Norwalk
and Westport.
She is ranking
member of the General
Assembly’s Education
Committee and the
Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation. She is also a member of the
Appropriations and
Transportation Committees.