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Incorporated in 1989 under the laws of the State of Connecticut, the Concerned Citizens for the Preservation of Watertown is a non profit group of Watertown citizens. Our purpose is to further the common good and general welfare of the community by bringing about civic betterment and social improvements, and conserving the colonial character of the Town of Watertown. CCPW is a bi-partisan group, composed of citizens from all walks of life, and all geographic areas of our community who share one concern: the future of Watertown and the preservation of our quality of life.
In 1989, CCPW fought the development of a million square foot mall in one of our prime industrial restricted areas. This area is known as the Route 262 / Route 8 Corridor. After a two year struggle with popular support against a well funded developer, we prevailed and the retail mall proposal was defeated. In addition, the pro-mall Town Council in power at the time was defeated at the next election and the town manager, who was deeply involved in promoting this project, was dismissed.
Currently we find ourselves once again at a crossroads as to the future of our community. Do we want Big Box retail centers - or controlled, orderly, high-end Primary job producing development? Jobs for students and retirees, minimum wage, no health insurance jobs - or solid middle class manufacturing and office jobs?
Almost 20 years ago the people of Watertown discarded large retail type development after CCPW demonstrated that once the hidden costs were deducted, it was not a good source of net tax revenue – and was likely going to cost us much more than it would bring in.
Here we go again. The roadwork costs (see the 1989 Study on this site) that were so high years ago would only be much higher today. Although Retail Big Boxes and Konover Developers maintain their own security forces, arrests for shoplifting and any other crime are made by Town Police, which may require that we hire more officers. We are blessed with a volunteer Fire Department, but how much extra wear and tear on our equipment could this development cause? Many other towns across the country have found themselves with a property tax increase after a Big Box development has moved into town because of the additional services and maintenance required.
Konover Development has been vague about the size of the retail center that they wish to develop. At the Watertown Town Council meeting held on March 6, Konover CEO Mike Goman said that this proposed retail development would be somewhere between 400,000 and 750,000 sq. ft. To help understand the scope of a project that size, please click here for a visual and some size information.
At that meeting, Mr. Goman stated that "..in any market if you introduce a new competitor, especially a good, strong, successful competitor, what happens to everybody else? Everybody else has to adjust. They either have to get stronger or better or improve or change or adapt somehow..." Is your favorite downtown shop “strong” enough to compete with a Big Box that is literally one thousand times larger? Is your livelihood dependent on such a small business? Is our downtown so robust that it will survive? And if Mr. Goman’s statement of "...the long history of national retail chains coming into a local community and making the overall retail community stronger..." holds true for a downtown area located a few miles away rather than adjacent to a Big Box, as he used in his examples, then how much more will we spend on roads - and whose property value goes down as their street becomes highly traveled?
Is this situation really win/win, or could it be that many, if not all of us, lose? You decide. Our goal is to provide you with ALL the information you need to come to an informed decision.
