Miller Proposes Amendment to Block Land Swap

State Rep. Phil Miller, D-Essex, will introduce an amendment to the state’s land conveyance bill to remove from that pending legislation a controversial proposal to swap 17.4 acres of state-owned land in the Tylerville section of Haddam.

Miller announced his plan Saturday during a rally on the Tylerville land, organized by opponents of the land swap proposal.

Miller said he has at least a dozen other legislators who will sign on to the amendment and that together they will work hard to get at least 76 House votes to pass the amendment and block the land swap.

Miller called on some of the dozens of people who gathered around the bed of the pickup truck where he made the announcement to assist him in getting the amendment passed.

“I would ask all of you to write key members of the House and Senate,” he said.  “The legislature has no business conveying conservation land.”

Miller’s strong opposition to the land swap plan, which calls for trading the 17.4 acres near the Connecticut River for 87 acres in Higganum that abut the Cockaponset State Forest, has put him at odds with state Sen. Eileen M. Daily, D-Westbrook, who is pushing the land swap deal on behalf of the owners of the Riverhouse at Goodspeed Station. The banquet facility owners want the land so they can build a train station, retail shops and other developments that would complement their banquet hall.

Miller said he has heard from some constituents who have land holdings in the lower Connecticut River valley region who have said they are second-guessing their plans to donate their land to the state for conservation. Those constituents, Miller said, have told him they will not donate their land if this swap is approved by the state.

Opponents of the land swap have argued that it could have a chilling effect on future land sales or donations to the state.

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