Nearly Two Years Later: The Haddam Land Swap Amendment to be Permanently Repealed

For more than a year, the controversial Haddam Land Swap made headlines with stories of the developers who sought the property, the state department that wanted to trade the property, polititians who came out for or against it and the protesters who fought to stop the swap.

The original proposal would have traded state-owned 17.4 acres of land in Tylerville to a development team in exchange for 87 acres of forest land that abuts the Cockaponset State Forest in Higganum. The developers, who own the Riverhouse at Goodspeed Station, wanted the 17.4 acres for retail development.

After all of the legal wrangling, the developers notified the state’s Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) in April of last year (more than a year after the original conveyance bill) that they were backing out of the deal due to the disparity in the property appraisals.

The original bill, however, did not provide for a permanent closure of the process when the developer pulled out of the deal. This current legislature will provide that final closure to permanently repeal the Haddam Land Swap amendment that had been passed during the original 2011 legislative session.

Read the entire current conveyance bill here. 

Anyone wanting to submit testimony can send an email to Cynthia.dunne@cga.ct.gov with the subject line HB6672 Section 10.

There will be a public hearing on Monday, March 25th at 11 a.m. Testimony can also be submitted at that time.

Read Patch articles on the Land Swap here.