Hotel Developer Seeks Tax Breaks From Southington

SOUTHINGTON, CT — Local officials are mulling a tax break for a potential developer of a new hotel project in town, though plans haven't yet been submitted.

Whether they ever do get submitted may hinge on whether the town approves tax breaks for the developer.

The Southington Town Council this week voted unanimously to send a tax break request regarding the possible hotel project to the Southington Enterprise & Economic Development (SEED) Committee.

That group will analyze the proposal and make a recommendation to the full council, which has the final say on any tax breaks.

If it is eventually approved, KARM Properties would receive tax abatement benefits to build a hotel at 95 John Weichsel Crossing, which is just off Queen Street near Hartford Healthcare near Interstate 84.

According to Southington Town Manager Mark J. Sciota, the benefits would be for seven years after the project is finished.

Councilman didn't comment much on the prospects of a hotel in town, but did indicate such proposals should, simply, go to the SEED committee first.

Southington Town Council Vice Chairman Paul Chaplinsky Jr. said such proposals should go before the committee first and then the council — not the council, then the committee, then the council again.

He said this tax abatement request probably stems from some of the controversy surrounding a developer's plans to build an apartment complex on West Street.

The council voted 5-2 Feb. 27 to grant tax abatements for the apartment complex, even though, generally, Southington officials grant such abatements for commercial/business projects.

Commercial and business developments are much sought after because they bring in tax revenue and don't require additional municipal services, generally.

As a result, Chaplinsky said such requests should immediatelly go to SEED to streamline the approval process and help developers.

"I don't think we need to see all of these in the future," Chaplinsky Jr. said, adding the issue with the apartment complex was it was a tax break for a residential development.

He said this instance, of a potential hotel project, is clearly a commercial endeavor and, as such, it didn't need the added layer of an early council review.

Sciota said the developers and town were, simply, trying to guage where such a project stood with the town's top governing body, adding the developers didn't even own the property yet or have any finalized plans to submit to the Southington Planning and Zoning Commission.

"They just want to know what's in front of them," Sciota said. "We just want to make sure they get the temperature of the council."

Sciota did say that any hotel development stands to be financially lucrative to the town.

"From a tax standpoint, hotels are a very large taxpayer," he said.

For the minutes of the March 27 Southington Town Council meeting, click on this link.

From March 6: 'Division Clear Regarding Controversial Southington Apartment Project'