The South End illustrates why Zoning Board should be elected
If we no longer want our city to work for BLT, then we need to ensure part of our next charter revisions require members of our zoning and planning boards to be elected so they can be held accountable.
Stamford offers amazing assets to its residents. It is situated on Long Island Sound, is close to New York City, has beaches and plenty of parks. Our downtown is disjointed but all will find a restaurant and bar scene with theaters.
Retail does not seem to extend far outside of the center of Stamford managed by the Downtown Special Services District.
Once you leave that area, streets are no longer cleaned, sidewalks are overgrown with weeds and trash gathers.
Our historical South End, once home of Yale & Towne, Pitney Bowes and the old Blickensderfer typewriter factory (home of the invention of the first portable typewriter) is under full-force development, in one of the biggest construction projects in the nation. This development, overseen by Building Land & Technology (BLT) has been a source of constant dust and noise as well as controversy for more than a decade.
Let’s start by clearing up a misconception. If you think this is good for jobs, it is not. The Connecticut economy has contracted by more than 30 percent since March, there have been 1 million unemployment applications, and from January until April 300,000 jobs were lost (only around half have returned). During this time, BLT kept building, not by supplying jobs to local workers, union laborers, or supporting the backbone of our state’s economy, but by continuing to hire workers from out of state, as they have since they started building in Stamford.
Until last year BLT was paying the lowest building permit fees in the state and it took a huge battle by members of the Board of Representatives to stop the mayor from raising fees on homeowners, and turn around and raise the fees on developers. A portion of that $14 million surplus was used to pave roads that were in disrepair for decades — not because BLT offered to be a part of their community, but because they were forced to pay.
This was thanks to the same Board of Representatives that BLT sued for voting against their zoning plans to build a 25-story high building right across the street from residential at much lower density. Buildings are being presented for zoning changes to dramatically increase density, which will continue overshadowing the neighborhood and local businesses, and at the expense of some of our last valuable historical buildings.
People often say the South End looks much better than what it was, after years of closing factories and real estate depression. But after decades, it is not only Stamford that has learned that development turns into over-development when nobody is watching (or turning a blind eye) and the costs are far greater than the tax income earned. The decisions of the non-elected Zoning Board and Planning Board might be causing more stress to our city and residents than imagined.
The practice of brownfield remediation (toxic soil created from decades of industrial waste) in the South End enabled BLT to simply pull out toxic soil and put it back, only to cap it and cover it with these rental apartment buildings. When those piles of toxic soil were left uncovered for weeks, the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) had to force the developer to cover the source of coal tar smells — with tarps. BLT was ordered to self-monitor the air quality only after the fact. While this practice may not be illegal, it is certainly immoral, and ignoring the long-term health concerns that have been spoken about for decades by the EPA. There are currently questions being raised around PCBs and the lack of involvement of the federal agency.
BLT has also been using cheap materials such as EIFS (polystyrene/plastic) for the outside walls, which is then covered and sealed with a thin layer of cement paint. The next buildings to be erected might have fake bricks stuck to a foam material as discussed during a recent zoning meeting. Some folks might remember the controversy when people were eating at a Harbor Point terrace while shaved pieces of polystyrene were made it appear to be snowing in the summer and fell into their plates, our waterways, and catch basins.
The cost of living in these buildings, and their proximity to New York City, is not meant to have a long-term clientele. These are transition residences, and in the time of a pandemic, are increasingly unaffordable. Stamford thrives when we support the families who have owned homes for three generations, and who know the history and stories of their neighbors. Stamford thrives when we welcome newcomers to raise their families here just as generations have done. Neighborhoods that thrive are the vital portion of mental health and happiness that a municipality must provide its citizens. Otherwise, the municipality has failed.
The State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) and Attorney General (Stamford’s own) William Tong representing them, are fighting back. Yet already BLT has torn down a portion of the Blickensderfer factory, known as the Annex. Remember, it was not too many years ago that BLT destroyed the historical boatyard in an “overnight” action. Then, the Zoning Board voted in favor of zoning changes that retroactively made their actions legal. Why does the administration of Stamford, at every turn, seem to be little more than a field office of BLT?
An exodus of taxpayers replaced by renters? Polystyrene in our wetlands (and plates)? A tax burden? Cheap construction? Privatizing our schools?
If we no longer want our city to work for BLT, then we need to ensure part of our next charter revisions require members of our zoning and planning boards to be elected so they can be held accountable.
Unlike most municipalities, P&Z board members are appointed by the mayor. No elections, no democracy. No opportunity for the people to elect from among various neighborhoods and districts so as to protect that which is most important — our zoning laws. The Stamford City Charter must be changed to prevent an administration from selling out the citizens to large developers.
Developers need to stop contributing to environmental justice issues and environmental racism. Our coastal state is one of (if not) the most segregated in the nation and we have a lot of work ahead of us. It starts at home.