By Suzanne Carlson
Journal Inquirer
Published: Wednesday, August 10, 2011 12:23 PM EDT

VERNON — TicketNetwork CEO Donald J. Vaccaro made sure of one thing Tuesday during a closed-door discussion with landowners and three of the four mayoral candidates: He wants to see sewers installed in the area off Interstate 84 exit 66.

Mayoral candidates, Democrat Pauline Schaefer and petitioning candidates James Krupienski and Gordon Paterson, attended the meeting along with several neighboring business and landowners and Dorian Famiglietti, a lawyer at Kahan, Kerensky, and Capossela.

Republican mayoral candidate George Apel was unable to attend because of a scheduling conflict, but said today that exits 66 and 67 are two potential development areas that could help increase the grand list.

He added, however, that it’s the responsibility of the Planning and Zoning Commission to make land-use decisions in town. “I am a true believer in that if we have processes and procedures to follow, that’s what we have to do,” he said.

Paterson said the meeting was informative and “the message that came out pretty much exclusively is we just want to have it a little more ready to develop it in any sort of way.”

Several abutting landowners agreed with Vaccaro’s strong sentiment that having sewers on their parcels would allow for an expanded workforce, opening up the area to more diverse forms of development.

Vaccaro did not champion a specific type of development, but said the concert venue idea is a “dead issue” and he would be open to a mixture of retail and office space. Vaccaro was unsuccessful in a 2010 PZC application for an outdoor concert venue called “TicketNetwork Forest.”

“My personal opinion, I think, is hodgepodge development would definitely be the worst for us here. … It won’t have any flow to it at all unless it’s well-planned,” Vaccaro said, according to an audio recording of the meeting.

Krupienski reminded the group of the environmentally sensitive nature of the land, through which flows the Tankerhoosen River wild trout management area.

“Development really does need to be created in the area, but it needs to be aware of what’s surrounding it,” Krupienski said.

Famiglietti said the state Office of Policy and Management’s master plan for the area considers the exit a conservation area and the town should work to change that to better reflect the commercial nature of the industrial park.

While the town or a private developer could take the initiative to install sewers, she cautioned against acting without state support at the risk of losing future funding.

“To continue having this area labeled or designated for land-use purposes as conservation area is problematic for getting sewers in,” Famiglietti said. “I just think the town’s involvement would be important and would be meaningful to OPM.”

Vaccaro also asked candidates to advocate for changes to the town’s plan of conservation and development that would speak specifically to the exit.

“What will shape that document a little better is for the mayor to speak out and say, ‘Hey, look. We need to bring business to Vernon and in order to bring it there, we need to get the infrastructure in place to support those businesses,’” Vaccaro said.

If developers already have sewage on the property, “they don’t have to go through the Planning and Zoning Commission process and spend years doing it. … So if you can handle that, and you can handle those things and say, ‘Look, this is what we’re going to do,’ … I think it’s really almost a business decision or an economic decision for the town,” he added.

Schaefer said she felt neighboring residents should have been welcomed into the discussion, because installation of sewers would affect property values and costs.

“We all support new development opportunities and jobs for Vernon residents, but I’m not really ready to bend any rules for one or two property owners to increase their value,” Schaefer said.

All three candidates who attended said that while it’s a business owner’s prerogative to meet with elected officials in whatever way they choose, there was no reason the meeting couldn’t have been made public, especially because some with an interest in the area were left out.

Lawyer David Marder, whose office is at 76 S. Frontage Road, said today he did not receive an invitation to the meeting like others. Instead, one of Vaccaro’s assistants called to invite him to the meeting a half an hour beforehand, at which point it was too late for him to rearrange his schedule.

Marder said he is interested in area development activities and was disappointed he did not receive enough advance notice for him to attend.

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