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August 24, 2005
A slight bump?
Hopefully, recent legal actions brought against a planned $250 million rail and commercial development in Fairfield won't amount to much more than a slight bump in the route to constructing a genuine regional asset.
The development, which will include Fairfield's third New Haven Line rail station as well as 1,500 rail commuter parking spaces, won final approval in late July from Fairfield's Town Plan and Zoning Commission.
However, the TPZ's approval is now the target of two lawsuits, one filed by a Monroe lawyer whose family owns a 0.4-acre parcel on Kings Highway near the planned development.
The lawsuit seeks to overturn the TPZ ruling because the state Department of Transportation has indicated it will take the 0.4-acre parcel by eminent domain to build a bridge that links Kings Highway East to the 35-acre development site on Black Rock Turnpike.
Eminent domain powers must be judiciously exercised, but this is one case in which such a seizure would be warranted.
There is a greater public good to be served by the Fairfield development because it is one of the first examples in this region of a commercial project with office buildings, a hotel and retail space that is directly linked to mass transit.
Given Fairfield County's heavily congested highways, this cluster development makes far greater sense than many commercial ventures.
Town of Fairfield officials say they were not surprised by the lawsuit and don't think the TPZ approval will be overturned in Superior Court.
We trust that will be the case. This Fairfield project — which attracted state DOT interest while still in its conceptual stages — could serve as a model for similar future projects in the region.
Posted by connpost on August 24, 2005 09:53 AM
