Editorial

Pact will give city leverage

In her assessment of the goals her administration has set forth for the 2022 calendar year, Mayor Nancy Rossi pointed to a particularly unique goal within her list: The Haven. Since it was announced in 2014, The Haven project has seen spasms of work followed by months of languishing delays.

When it was announced, The Haven was outlined as an upscale outlet shopping mall, that will include other amenities, utilizing the site on New Haven Harbor. Delays occurred when property purchases were stalled, an understandable situation. Other hurdles included state review of traffic patterns with the loss of the original Exit 44, and current patters established with the current access roads. Once those hurdles were removed, delays still happened.

We note over the last several days earth-moving equipment has been placed at the site and is making progress removing some of the mounds that were created when various buildings along the former Water Street were razed. This was after delays of some weeks following those demolitions. Meanwhile, the former residential properties in the four-block area are still standing some two-plus years after sales were finalized, and two-and-a-half years after Water Street was closed.

In her goals list, Mayor Rossi outlined a new agreement that she is attempting to hammer out between the Simon Property Group and city. We noted in her response a certain frustration, which she shares will property owners on the perimeter of the project, and general annoyance over the snails’ pace the project has taken.

We hope this new agreement is one that is beneficial to both sides, but, more importantly, is one that allows city officials and residents some inkling as to what can be expected over the next few years. We are old enough to remember that a statement from the developers – and there have been scant few of those – announced we would be shopping at the new mall by Christmas 2022. That looks highly unlikely now.

The reticence on the part of the Simon Property Group to communicate with officials and residents is the stuff of legend around West Haven. We have heard the angst expressed by city officials over the years, who, while wanting to press the developers for details, did not want to create an adversarial relationship, or do something to endanger the project. The city never really dealt with the firm from a position of strength.

That was made manifest by the delay caused when the developer asked for a special taxation district to help recoup the costs. Sales taxes at the mall will be the regular state tax with a bit more added to pay for the project. This request was a surprise to some officials and residents.

Mrs. Rossi indicated the new agreement, once codified, would give the city a better a “better outline the schedule for development. Once the agreement is complete, we expect a timeline and reasonable expectations for the project,” she said in her answers in the Jan. 20 edition.

We hope so.

We are nearing eight years since the announcement of the project and have seen little real movement toward its completion. Residents in that neighborhood have shown patience, but that will not last forever. Having a timeline with real expectations and real progress toward completion has been a long time in coming.