Today’s Hour runs with a state of the city report. All of my favorite topics are there, roads, pot holes, zoning and art. From the Hour:
If roads paved, property taxes paid, redevelopment projects advanced and open space preserved are yardsticks by which to measure a community’s health, Norwalk has evolved under Mayor Richard A. Moccia.
Moccia, while declining to equate Norwalk to other cities — “we’re very different” — said he believes progress is being made on a number of fronts, including striking a balance between urban and suburban living.
“We maintain the hometown atmosphere, but we’re also growing as an urban center. And it’s a difficult balance,” Moccia said. “Compared to other cities, I think if you look at us, as far as economically, as far as culturally, we’re growing as fast as any city in this state, maybe faster than others.”
Moccia took office in November 2005 with promises to promote fiscal discipline, hire a full-time grants coordinator and negotiate a firefighters’ contract. Since then, the Republican mayor has delivered on those promises and advanced redevelopment projects, while encountering fresh challenges along the line.
Roads and taxes
Moccia has sought to streamline city government by hiring fewer outside consultants than did his predecessor, Democrat Alex Knopp, and saving dollars where possible. The Department of Public Works, for instance, instituted a worker safety program aimed at reducing compensation costs.
Over the last three years, the city and school district have run on operating budgets that have boosted the annual tax levy, on average, by 5.2 percent. After factoring in non-tax revenues, the actual annual increase to taxpayers has hovered in the 4-percent range — at or near inflation rate.
The additional dollars, in large part, have gone toward public safety. Under Moccia, the Police Department has hired extra officers and transferred officers from office to patrol duties.
In the area of infrastructure, the city boosted capital spending on road paving and reconstruction from $2.5 million in fiscal year 2006-07 to $4 million in fiscal year 2008-09. In a policy shift aimed at saving money, the public works department last year began putting its annual slate of roadwork out to bid in mid-winter, rather than mid-summer, to catch paving firms when they’re looking for work.
Over the last two years, nearly 60 city streets, or portions thereof, have been repaved. They include East Avenue, Fort Point Street, Grand Avenue, Keeler Avenue, St. Mary’s Lane, William Street and Weed Avenue, according to the public works officials. Overall, the city has 260 miles of streets.
“I think, on the infrastructure of the city of Norwalk, (Moccia) has made (road maintenance) a priority and addressed the flooding,” said Councilman Douglas E. Hempstead, a District D Republican.
Several projects aimed at curbing flooding, including in the Buckingham Place and Lockwood Lane areas, are advancing from design to construction. Moccia and others concede, however, that there are never enough dollars available to repair and upgrade each and every section of the city’s aging sewer system.
I don’t think we have invested enough in road maintenance, traffic light maintenance and upgrades, and we have not held third party contractors responsible for restoring our roads to the same or better condition once they have been dug up. Osborne ave anyone? Our sidewalks are impassable in some areas (Harbor Ave.) too.
Urban renewal, business climate and city planning
Moccia has made advancing several large urban renewal projects a priority of his administration. Under him, District 95/7 SoNo, Spinnaker Real Estate Partners’ plan for the Reed-Putnam area, has moved from drawings to groundbreaking. POKO Partners LLC recently received site-plan approval to construct new housing and retail in the Wall Street area — a priority under the Knopp administration.
And, after two decades of debate, Stanley M. Seligson Properties’ renewal plan for West Avenue — the development is called Waypointe — is advancing toward site-plan review and construction. That said, debate continues over whether eminent domain will be employed for the project. Several private property owners haven’t sold their properties to Seligson. The use of eminent domain ultimately would rest with the council.
Norwalk continues to be a magnet for business. In 2006, Virgin Atlantic Airways decided to move from Belden Avenue to North Water Street in South Norwalk rather than relocate to Stamford. This year, Wuesthof-Trident of America, a German knife manufacturer, chose to relocate from Briarcliff Manor, N.Y. to the former Norwalk Community College property on Wilson Avenue, also in South Norwalk.
Under Moccia, the city’s updated its Plan of Conservation and Development. The revised master plan, years overdue, will serve as a blueprint for zoning regulation and determine what’s built where.
Councilwoman Laurel E. Lindstrom, a District C Democrat, is pleased that the new master plan has been completed. She followed the effort from its beginning. At the same time, Lindstrom says similar planning is needed to address other issues, such as traffic and speeding.
“Speeding has not gone away. We have really not gone forward with any traffic-calming projects for several years. There’s only so much that slow down weeks can do,” said Lindstrom, who represents District C.
Last week, as school resumed, the city launched another Slow Down Days. Federal grant money will pay for police overtime for more enforcement. A plan to make Strawberry Hill Avenue safer by installing a new traffic light, more striped crosswalks, bicycle lanes, and upgrades to school zone signs, remains in the works.
Speeding is hardly a problem these days, except for Strawberry Hill because or traffic congestion and poor road conditions. The DOT drags its bureaucratic foot when it comes to approving plans that would reduce traffic or regulate it, ie. traffic lights.
Arts and parks
Moccia said he is extremely pleased with the expansion of the Mayor’s Advisory Commission on the Arts and Culture, which recently published an arts walk brochure highlighting the city’s cultural attractions.
“Economic growth is wonderful and infrastructure (is important), but I think that to expand on our arts community, which I think has been a little lacking in Norwalk over the years, was very important,” Moccia said.
Also on the cultural front, the city has become a star attraction for movie makers. Last year, The Connecticut Film Center, based in Stamford, set up a film studio at 345 Ely Ave. — the former Swank, Inc., leather manufacturing headquarters. City officials credit a state tax-incentive program for the local film industry.
The Department of Recreation and Parks, under Moccia’s administration, this summer opened the Fodor Farm Community Garden. Residents can rent a garden plot for $5 annually. The project has proven so popular that the city is seeking additional grant money to expand the garden and allow more families to plant.
In recent years, the city has installed bocce ball courts, refurbished restrooms and made other improvements to Calf Pasture and Shady beaches in East Norwalk. The projects are part of an effort to draw more people to city parks parks. Improvements have also been made to Cranbury Park in the northern section of Norwalk.
Elsewhere, the city has partnered with residents and neighborhood organizations to preserve open space. The former White Barn Theatre, once slated to become a housing subdivision, will become home to an eco-friendly school operated by The Connecticut Friends Schools.
Last spring, Norwalk Land Trust, with help from the city and others, created a 16.2-acre contiguous public nature preserve along Farm Creek in Rowayton.
We are fortunate to have a Mayor who gets why the creative economy fuels economic diversity. Norwalk has many cultural assets and I am proud to serve on a commission that advocates support for the arts and cultural heritage within Norwalk.
Norwalk’s history
For the Norwalk Preservation Trust, saving buildings has proven difficult. To the regret of the trust, the Capt. Daskam House at 134 East Ave. was torn down. The fate of the Grumman St. John House at 93 East Ave. remains in the hands of a court, after the trust, and later state Attorney General Richard Blumenthal intervened.
The owners of The Norwalk Inn & Conference Center want to raze the house, which they own, to expand the inn. Moccia has sided with the innkeepers, saying the matter revolves around private property rights.
While having disagreed with Moccia on the limits of historic preservation, Trust President Tod Bryant said furthering historic preservation is as much about raising awareness as who’s in the mayor’s office.
“I don’t think you can put it down, as much, to any administration, as to a raising of awareness about how valuable our historic resources are,” Bryant said.
That said, Bryant believes historic preservation fared better under former Mayor Alex Knopp, whom he credits for the city’s 90-day demolition delay ordinance. The Historical Commission has taken a turn for the worse under Moccia, according to Bryant. Moccia’s appointees to the commission have focused their attentions to commission-managed properties, rather than private properties such as The Norwalk Inn.
“The Historical Commission seems to be stepping away from the active role it had taken,” Bryant said.
Preservation goes beyond individual buildings and should be out street scapes and neighborhoods. This is where Mayor Moccia has focused attention. Under Moccia’s administration, funding for maintenance and repair of the City’s historic properties was increased. While 93 East ave. remains a contentious issue for the Norwalk Preservation Trust, it is not the fulcrum to judge whether Norwalk is doing a better job in preservation.
There is much in the way of facade improvements, architectural restoration grants and other things that should be available to property owners in historic areas of Norwalk. The success of cites like Mysitc, CT and Salem Ma, offer case studies on how to merge former industrial basedeconomies with information age economies coupled with tourism. That convesation, just hasn’t happened in Norwalk.
New challenges
The last three years have not been without setbacks for Moccia. The council this year rejected a request to appoint a charter revision commission to consider extending the city’s mayoral terms to four-years.
Moccia and other supporters of the measure maintain that two-year terms leave mayors concentrating on reelection in the second year of their terms, rather than on city business. Moccia noted that four-year terms, if approved by voters at the ballot box, would not take effect until the 2009 election when his current term expires.
Also this year, the council shot down a municipal solid-waste disposal contract that would have used a private transfer station on Meadow Street. Moccia and public works officials labeled the plan a money saver. Council Democrats and South Norwalk residents countered it would add odors, noise and traffic to the neighborhood.
Moccia said he’s not pleased with littering in Norwalk. Despite boosted fines and tougher regulations, litter continues to accumulate along major arteries, such as Westport and Connecticut avenues, as well as Wall Street, according to Moccia. He said much of the litter originates from fast-food restaurants. And while Moccia doesn’t blame the restaurants, he believes the city can work with them to find a solution.
“Once the summer is over, I’m going to talk to some people, to see if perhaps we can work with the fast-food chains. … maybe putting more trash baskets out in the parking lots,” Moccia said.
The city has stepped up enforcement of zoning regulations addressing illegal apartments, vehicles parked on lawns, illegal contractors’ yards and other infractions.
The Board of Estimate and Taxation approved Moccia’s request for funding to hire an attorney to focus solely on zoning enforcement. The attorney, Assistance Corporation Counsel Brian L. McCann, last week secured in Stamford Superior Court an agreement requiring The Original Grasso Construction, Inc., to construct an enclosure for sand, gravel and other construction materials at its Wilson Avenue property.
Littering is a huge problem. The fact that people still put out trash bags instead of using enclosed trash containers is a major contributing factor. Wall Street, North Main street are prime examples.
