Siteplanfor Enfield sports complex almost ready for review
Jul. 8—The Planning and Zoning Commission in May voted 4 to 3 to rezone the farmland parcel from residential to business regional. That was the first step in the land-use approval process for Borgia's project.
He intends to present a site plan for review before the Inland Wetlands and Watercourses Agency and then the PZC some time next month.
Also in the works is a fixed tax assessment agreement with the town, an economic development tool allowed by the state.
Such agreements allow municipalities to fix the tax assessment increase resulting from improvements made to real property for a certain amount of years. When a property is improved, its value increases as does the portion subject to the tax. Fixing the assessment freezes the property's taxable value for a set period, which would improve the economics of the project and and aid the developers in financing it.
Officials have been working on the fixed tax assessment agreement, which Town Manager Ellen Zoppo-Sassu said is slated for the Town Council's July 17 agenda for discussion and a possible vote.
Borgia has described the concept of All Sports Village as a regional center for tournaments among young people's travel sports teams.
The project originally called for Fast Track Realty to lease a portion of the 32.6-acre Brainerd Park, which was donated to Enfield by Agnes M. Brainerd in 1958, for playing fields.
In response to residents' concerns about using any part of the park for private development, however, Borgia revised his plans to allow for the fields originally planned for the park to be placed on the MassMutual site and Brainard Road property.
Many residents said at a public hearing in March that the park was given as a gift to the town and should remain solely for residents' use.
Others expressed enthusiasm for the proposed complex, saying the town doesn't have adequate space for all of its sports, its playing fields need substantial improvement, and Borgia's proposed project would solve those problems.
Borgia had a similar proposal to build a complex in Windsor Locks just over five years ago before the town's first selectman decided to opt out of the negotiations, citing at the time a civil suit Borgia's company was facing in regards to the building of a sports complex in Islip, New York.
