The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Shelton increases offer to $1.44M for 26-acre Wells Family property
SHELTON — The city has moved, yet again, to purchase some 26 acres of open space off Old Mill Road.
The Board of Aldermen, at its meeting Thursday, approved the purchase of the land — long owned by the Wells Family — for $1.44 million, with the funds coming the American Rescue Act money. This marks the end of a negotiation that nearly saw the city lose out on the land to an unnamed local developer.
Mayor Mark Lauretti, after the meeting, said the purpose of the purchase was “to eliminate the threat of high-density housing” on the site.
“We are not buying (the land) as open space,” Lauretti said, adding that a portion may someday be developed. “But the majority will probably stay open.”
Wells family attorney Charles Willinger said the family decided to sell the property to the city instead of one of several interested developers because the family members would like the land to be held as open space for passive use for as long as possible.
“Although the city could not guarantee it will be open space in perpetuity, it said it has no plans to develop or sell the property to developers in the foreseeable future,” Willinger said.
The deal comes a year after the aldermen voted to buy the land from Wells Holdings, LLC, for $1.29 million. The new deal includes an additional small parcel of land, owned by the family, but not included in the initial sale agreement. The additional land spurred the price increase.
The deal appeared to be off in October 2022, when word leaked that a developer had offered more money for the property in hopes of developing the site.
When it appeared the sale to the city was off, Laura Wells went public, saying her father — the late Lyman Wells — acknowledged the land would one day be sold, but he never wanted it sold for development.
“This is not about money for me,” Laura Wells, one of five children born to Lyman and his wife, Pat, said at the time. “It is about the preservation of the land and the wildlife.”
Pat and Laura Wells own property on Old Mill Road adjacent to the open space.
The site has a tree farm and borders Route 8 along Long Hill Cross Road. Lauretti said the land is zoned LIP, or light industrial park.
At the time of the original purchase proposal in early 2022, Lauretti stated acquiring this open space is “consistent with what we want to do with other land purchases.” He said at the time he was not prepared to designate the land as permanent open space if purchased by the city, but no plans were in place for any city work on the site.
Lauretti said the city owns open space abutting this property already, and “we like to block large parcels together. It helps control what goes on the land, if anything at all.”