That useful term “economic development” rears its ambiguous head again in the growing dispute over what the city of Hartford can do on a parcel of land. The state took the land years ago from the city and gave it back with deed restrictions. From The Courant:

At issue: A triangle of land at the busy corner where two of the city’s main arteries - Farmington Avenue and Asylum Avenue - meet Broad Street. It is bounded by I-84 and commands a view of the Capitol and downtown Hartford.

The original Hartford Public High School stood on a larger parcel there until the state took it so the highway could plow through. Ultimately, the state turned what was left of the plot back to the city with three deed restrictions: it could be used only for a park, public safety complex or economic development.

It’s a lonely parcel that slopes steeply down to I-84, a plot some call “no man’s land.” Perez launched the project, confident that the state would bend to his will and change the deed to allow his school. He was undeterred last spring when the legislature, at the urging of the city’s delegation, left the deed restrictions intact.

The state Department of Education warned the city it was putting its own money at risk by moving ahead without easing the deed restrictions.

Perez pushed on, however. The school, he and his advisers decided, is a form of economic development - one of the allowed uses. The state Office of Policy and Management asked Attorney General Richard Blumenthal to render a legal opinion on that interpretation.

So what’s really going on here? Is there some developer eying this parcel as the future site of luxury condos, or some mall like substance? Does the state plan to expand I-84 again? Did Hartford mayor Perez fail to work the system in some way?