Man Removed From Tolland Meeting For 'Gun' Implication

TOLLAND, CT - The latest segment of a public hearing about proposed zoning amendments for the Tolland Village area was again heated, but a resident who implied he could be packing heat stole the show before he was escorted out of Tolland High School, the public safety chief said.

Shortly after the incident on Monday, the hearing was continued until May 23, Director of Planning and Development Heidi Samokar said.

It was about 10:20 p.m., she said and the public testimony was about done. A man then approached the commission and, from what Public Safety Supervisor John Littell could fathom, began a diatribe on how development could draw crime and therefore present a need to ...

And he then implied he might have a gun in his coat, Littell said. His story was corroborated by three residents who were at the meeting.

Littell said he tapped a state trooper in attendance on the shoulder and the trooper escorted the man out. State police said no arrests were made. No town officials would confirm his name. Littell called the gesture by the resident "inappropriate, especially for a school building."

The man was not armed, he said.

A developer - NE Real Estate - is proposing zoning amendments to the Tolland Village area. Concepts have been bantered about for more than a decade, but NE Real Estate seems serious about setting things up to at least develop the area behind Papa T's, Subway and the Electric Blue, yet include both sides of Route 195.

The proposal includes mixed-uses like a hotel, apartments, retail shops and "an adult entertainment venue." The Electric Blue, a strip joint, has been there for years, but the hotel would be a key new concept, considering the Nathan Hale Inn, about 7 miles away in Storrs, will cease being a hotel after the University of Connecticut turns it into dorm space.

Zoning officials have been asked to exempt certain conditions of town code to allow for buildings up to five stories, and a facade of up to 300 feet.

Littell said any large development could force the fire department to purchase a new ladder truck equipped with a platform. Used trucks cost $500,000, he said. The department has a 105-foot ladder truck but not one with a platform.

May 23 is the last possible date for the public hearing and after it closes, the Planning and Zoning Commission has 65 days to deliberate and make a decision - all in public session, Samokar said.