By Peter Berman
To the Editor:
NORWALK, Conn. – It’s almost a foregone conclusion that Attorney Frank Zullo, a former Democratic mayor, will convince Planning and Zoning to site BJ’s big box on Route 7 south of the Merritt Parkway where big boxes haven’t previously been built. Attorney Zullo, the long standing preeminent local attorney on P&Z matters, will argue that BJ’s offers shopping convenience, good jobs, new taxes and use of vacant land. Opponents will argue the problem is not BJ’s per se but its inappropriate site location citing our 30 year history with western Route 1 – further congestion on already heavily used roads, only low jobs, modest tax increases from warehouse structures, noise, pollution, lowered adjacent valuation on residential properties, interference with existing businesses and forcing some well established local owned small businesses to close.
Moreover, they’ll claim there’s a real danger that P&Z will follow the Route 1 precedent of letting in a whole slew of additional big boxes on Route 7 to further congest and cause havoc along one of the city’s major thoroughfares. Route 7 will then have both the worst and best of development – big box below the Merritt and high valued corporate parks above.
City officials will argue that Norwalk has large quantities of unused and underutilized land left over from its long ago days as a manufacturing city and that current P&Z allows big boxes to be built along major thorough fares. Something is better than nothing. One more big box or even a major new stream of big box will not alter the city’s industrial structure. Norwalk will still remain a residential town.
Knowledgeable residents could cite the large professional literature on the consequences of big box sitings over the past decades across America. To wit big boxes do bring only low wage jobs, do devalue neighboring residential properties, impose real hardships on existing local businesses, do bring in major traffic congestion, pollution and noise and importantly do discourage high value added corporate development with its high paying jobs. Norwalk’s experience with big box on Route 1 since the early 1980’s confirms the national experience. Residents could site the success of these arguments in other Connecticut communities questioning whether the “externalities” of big box were worth the convenience.
While it’s certainly true that another big box added to the dozens already present in Norwalk will not really affect the city as a whole and add a minor convenience to most city residents, big box enthusiasm by city government over the last three decades does raise some major issues. None of the surrounding towns with an equal population have allowed big box development. Even Stamford with it’s burgeoning skyline and expanding grand list has restricted big box sitings. Only Norwalk has encouraged big box earning the distinction of big box City in southwestern Fairfield County.
The larger question is why Norwalk has failed to replicate it’s early success with the hugely successful and admired Merritt 7 complex in the 1970’s/1980’s bringing in high valued jobs. Reportedly, P&Z placed height restrictions along western Route 1, thereby discouraging such corporate development and opening the gates to big box development. Faced with both stagnant residential property values over the past three years amidst a national housing boom and a stagnant grand list overall, Norwalk obviously has a major problem attracting high-valued corporate development. Indeed, Norwalk illustrates the big box experience nationally – big box sitings discourage nearby corporate park development.
So while it’s a good bet that BJ’s will be built, the real question is whether city officials, candidates and concerned citizens will come to grips with the reality that promoting Norwalk as a “big box city” has a real cost well beyond the obvious traffic congestion, pollution and reduced property valuations. Our city will continue to be the odd man out when it comes to encouraging high value added corporate development with its high paid jobs. Of course, there’s more to the story, e.g. Norwalk’s reputation as a high property tax city with the highest costs of providing municipal services among any of the cities in Connecticut. When it comes to encouraging development Norwalk has a self imposed double whammy — big box enthusiasm and punitive real estate taxes leading to stagnant property values.
At day’s end there are real opportunities for P&Z to thoughtfully consider the city’s future economic development and encouraging business expansion of its grand list. Recent decades experience together with the current issue suggests the P&Z has the expertise or confidence to properly focus on the major issues before it. Indeed, as Common Councilman Doug Hempstead reminded us recently, in Norwalk there are no qualifications to serve on any of the city’s commissions. “Big box city” reflects the wisdom of those comments. P&Z is viewed as many as an extension of the mayor’s office rather than its intended purpose as an independent commission of concerned and interested citizens.
So here’s a welcome to BJ’s. And to those residents subject to the immediate congestion, pollution and noise of the new BJ’s, here’s an opportunity to speak and make your own “noise” before the P&Z. Who knows, maybe BJ’s management will have the good corporate sense to locate somewhere else in Norwalk. No matter where BJ’s is located its managers and shareholders will prosper – Norwalk is indeed a “big box mecca” and it’s citizens have no problems with added congestion and pollution. Those objecting to big box development and high property taxes can move. Just about anywhere.
Peter I. Berman
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