Windsor Locks is in negotiations to purchase a portion of the Windsor Locks Commons as the town continues its efforts toward revitalizing the downtown Main Street section.
The area, located at 255 Main St., is home to two businesses — JJ’s News & Variety and Windsor Locks Diner — and is owned by John Lombard of Locks LLC.
During a recent Board of Selectmen meeting, First Selectman J. Christopher Kervick said the town would use funds from the American Rescue Plan Act for the purchase.
The town received roughly $3.6 million, but the Board of Finance has already allocated approximately $1.2 million to cover losses related to local rental car companies from their struggles during the pandemic, which leaves $2.4 million for the town to use, the Journal Inquirer reported last month.
The purchase of the parcel was endorsed by the Downtown Development Authority, Kervick said. The committee is responsible for putting together redevelopment plans and overseeing land owned by the town involving downtown redevelopment.
The area was the last parcel developed under the town’s first redevelopment effort in the late 1960s and into the early 1970s, but has since been poorly maintained, Kervick said.
“The town needs some of that property for our Main Street redesign, and we have a big grant to redesign Main Street and we need a little bit of that property to widen sidewalks and put a roundabout in, so we would carve out what we need and then sell the remainder to a developer,” Kervick said.
He added, “The problem is there is no developer out there that is ready to buy that parcel just yet.
“The best way to market property to a developer or to secure state or federal assistance with our transit-oriented development is to have site control and there’s only two ways to have site control: you either own it or have the option to buy it.”
The grant Kervick referenced is the $1.8 million Responsible Growth and Transit-Oriented Development Program grant, which was awarded to the town in December 2017.
Selectman Paul M. Harrington said he is not entirely opposed to the purchase, but noted there are risks involved.
“The terms ‘risk’ and ‘town government’ should never be put together. There is just too much at stake to take risks. This has nothing to do with who proposed the idea, or what we have in mind, there’s just too many risks,” Harrington said. “We represent over 12,000 people and we can’t afford to jeopardize the well-being of our citizens. It just sounds to me like we are prioritizing our wish list rather than our need list.”
Harrington said the risks include a lack of a developer, and the idea that the town might need funds from the American Rescue Plan Act for pandemic-related community needs in the near future, rather than economic development needs.
Selectman Scott A. Storms could not be reached for comment.
