Legislative Committee Approves Land Swap Plan

The state Senate’s Finance Bonding and Revenue Committee has approved a plan to swap 17.4 acres of state-owned land in Haddam for 87 privately-held acres in Higganum.

The committee, chaired by Sen. Eileen Daily, D-Westbrook, who backs the controversial land swap deal, voted unanimously Tuesday to send the bill to the full Senate for a public hearing and a vote. The committee’s approval of the measure, contained in a larger state land conveyance bill, included a provision that public access to portions of the 17.4 acres be delineated when it is transferred to private ownership.

The proposal, which is heatedly opposed by a grassroots group of residents and conservationists in the lower Connecticut River Valley area, would see the land, which overlooks the Connecticut River, transferred to the owners of the Riverhouse at Goodspeed Station, a banquet facility off Bridge Road.

In return, the Riverhouse partners would give the state 87 acres it owns in Higganum that abut the Cockaponset State Forest.

The Riverhouse partners want the 17.4 acres so they can build a boutique hotel to complement their banquet facility business. They also have said they would build associated retail space on the land and, possibly, a theater. The business owners, along with Daily and others in the region who support the swap, have said it would provide much-needed economic development in the Tylerville area and that the 87 acres the state would gain in return would improve access to the Cockaponset State Forest.

Opponents have argued it would despoil one of the most scenic areas along the Connecticut River and put a chilling effect on any future open space donations or sales to the state.