Politics & Government
United Water Property Battle Resumes, 2013 Recap
Zoning Board meets on Thursday for the first time in 2014.
As we enter 2014, the fate of the United Water property remains unsettled. The Hekemian application to have the property rezoned has been in front of the New Milford Zoning Board since early in 2012.
We saw a bit of everything from this application in 2013. A deal was made with the Board of Education, the board stood by their decision and the deal was eventually rescinded.
A borough engineer said that the flood impact of the development would be so small that it couldn't be measured and heck, even The Lance, New Milford High School's journalistic publication, weighed in on the United Water property proposals.
Find out what's happening in New Milfordwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
"I don't even want to talk about the United Water property," said Mayor Ann Subrizi at the 2014 reorganization meeting. "It's out of my hands."
In November of 2013, Hekemian attorney Andy DelVecchio sent a letter to board members asking that the volume of meetings be increased in an effort to get the application finished more quickly.
Find out what's happening in New Milfordwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
In his letter, DelVecchio acknowledges that the board has, at the request of the applicant, scheduled at least one and at times, two special meetings in addition to their regular monthly meeting. The special meetings often consisted of four hours of evidence, testimony and questioning.
The two sides came together on Dec. 2 for a special meeting and sure enough, weather cancelled the scheduled Dec. 10 meeting and ended the saga of the United Water property application in 2013.
Here’s what went down in 2013:
- Hekemian Submits Revised Traffic Impact Analysis for United Water Development
- New Milford BOE Enters into Contract for 'Field of Dreams' with Hekemian
- Board of Ed Stands By Decision to Enter Agreement with Hekemian, Attorneys Weigh In
- Field Donation to New Milford Board of Education Rescinded by Hekemian
- Vote to Rezone United Water Property Defeated
- Flood Effect 'Unmeasurable' for Proposed Development of United Water Property
- Candidates Debate Potential Lawsuit with United Water Developer
- Hekemian Attorney Requests More Meetings, Less Public Interaction
The Zoning Board meets on Thursday evening at 7 p.m. at Borough Hall for their first meeting of 2014.
Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.