Norwalk Moves Forward with $1.1M Land Purchase Despite Price Concerns

NORWALK, Conn — The purchase of a small plot of land that is causing big controversy in the city moved forward despite concerns over the shifting funding sources and $1.1 million price tag for the 0.19-acre plot near Mathews Park. City officials say the deal will improve access to the park and prevent high-density residential development at the site, but some question why the price tag is more than double the city’s own appraisal.

The Board of Estimate and Taxation (BET) approved the funding 5-2 after a spirited discussion at its Feb. 10 meeting. Three days later, the Finance and Claims Committee followed suit.

The proposal now heads to the Planning and Zoning Commission on Feb. 19 and the Common Council on Feb. 25.

Concerns Over Funding Shift

At last week’s meeting, BET members Troy Jellerette (D) and Anne Yang (R) expressed their concerns with the plan. Jellerette objected to approving a capital appropriation for the purchase, which the city had initially planned to buy using funds from the American Rescue Plan Act.

“I felt comfortable approving this as … an ARPA deal,” he said. “But now … I just think that based on that piece of property … I’m not comfortable with this now.”

The city had previously approved the purchase using ARPA funds, but Chief Financial Officer Jared Schmitt explained that the negotiations had extended past the Dec. 31 deadline to allocate those funds. As a result, the city had allocated the ARPA funds to paving projects, offsetting the proposed capital expenditure.

“We are going to take the capital budget up by $1.1 million,” said Board Chair Ed Abrams (D). “Elsewhere in the budget, there will be savings associated with what was originally a paving plan.”

Appraisal Dispute and Property Value

Another major point of contention is the price. Yang pointed out that the proposed sale price was more than double the amount that the city’s own appraiser had valued the property.

“The property, under our assessment, is appraised at $400,000,” she said, adding that it had been purchased by the current owners, 6 Butler Properties LLC, in 2020 for $392,000.

Corporation Counsel Darin Callahan replied that an independent appraiser had recently valued the property at $980,000 based on recent sales in the area.

“So I would say our assessor’s appraisal has it undervalued,” he said.

“By two-and-a-half times?” Yang asked.

No Room for Renegotiation

Despite concerns, city officials say renegotiating the price isn’t an option. Callahan and Democratic Mayor Harry Rilling explained that although the .19-acre plot is currently vacant, the appraisal considered its “highest and best” use and that, based on available parking, the property could potentially support 20 housing units.

“So once you value the number of units and the number of parking spaces and look at the comparative sales in the area, that’s how they arrived at that number,” Callahan said.

Callahan also said the developer would have had little difficulty in getting zoning approval for the hypothetical housing development, saying the city would have issued it “over-the-counter.”

Yang said she could not justify an expenditure so far above the city’s own appraisal and asked if city officials could renegotiate the purchase price.

Rilling said such an effort would be pointless, saying the negotiations had been ongoing and started at $1.4 million and had sometimes included a land swap and parking arrangements before reaching the current status.

“Right now, we’ve had many negotiations with the developer.“The price remains at 1.1 (million dollars), and he will not negotiate any further,” he said. “We’ve exhausted many, many hours of negotiations and talking and discussing. And again, it was flipping properties and giving parking spaces. This was the cleanest way that we ended up coming to an agreement.”

Callahan agreed.

“The price they really want is $1.4 million. It’s commonly a theme … and we’re reminded quite often that what they really want is $1.4 million,” he said. “The $1.1 million is, we’re not going to be able to convince them to reduce the price lower.”

The city plans to use the property to improve access to Mathews Park, which also includes the Lockwood-Mathews Mansion and Stepping Stones museums. While some officials remain wary of the price, the proposal now faces two more votes before final approval.