Politics & Government

Lawmakers Repeal Controversial Haddam Land Swap

After a two-year saga, both the House and the Senate unanimously approved a bill that repealed the controversial 2011 deal to swap state land in Tylerville for private development.

It's official. The Haddam land swap deal is dead.

The state House and Senate voted unanimously late Wednesday evening to pass a bill, H.B. No. 6672, that dealt with a number of property exchanges between the state and private owners. 

And for Haddam residents, the bill officially repealed a controversial 2011 deal brokered between the state and a private developer known around here as the "Haddam land swap."

Under the proposal passed two years ago, the state would exchange 17.4 acres of Connecticut River property in Tylerville for 87 acres of private land in Higganum. A private developer, Riverhouse at Goodspeed, then planned on developing commercial property on that 17.4 acres, a move that garnered severe backlash from local officials and residents alike.

The deal originally fell through, however, after the developer backed out due to disparities over the property appraisals

Still, the swap was still recorded on the books, and in the bill that passed on Wednesday — backed by Haddam state Rep. Phil Miller — there contained a single sentence on Page 16 officially revoking the land swap: "This bill repeals a land exchange authorization in Haddam."

The vote was 146-0 in the House and 35-0 in the Senate.

“I worked with the staff attorney and the members of the Government Elections and Administration Committee to formally close the land swap,” Miller said in a news release. “Preventing this deal will ensure state-owned lands are not developed, keeping our air, water and land clean.” 

Miller, who also represents Chester, Essex and Deep River, went on to say the land swap did not represent the best interests of the people of Haddam. 

"Conservation is incredibly important to maintaining the beauty of the region,” he said. “While I agree that in general economic development is essential, we must find better ways to balance the conflicting desires of seeing more investment in our communities while investing in all that we already have.” 

Read the full text of the bill here.

Here are some past stories on this topic:


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