Phase 1 of Storrs Center agreement gets green light

Storrs Center conceptual rendering courtesy of Leyland Alliance.

As of today (Jan. 4), the Storrs Center project has the green light for its first phase from both the Mansfield Town Council and the Planning and Zoning Commission.

The council vote follows Monday’s vote by the PZC that approved a development agreement between the town and Leyland Alliance and Education Realty Trust Inc. (EDR) by a 5-4 vote, with assenting members saying that the plans are in line with the town’s plan of conservation and development.

PZC members Gregory Lewis, Joann Goodwin, Roswell Hall and Peter Plante voted against a resolution supporting the plan that was forwarded to the Town Council.

Voting for the resolution were PZC Chair Rudy Favretti and members Michael Beal, Katherine Holt, Barry Pociask and Bonnie Ryan.

Had the majority of the PZC rejected the agreement, the Town Council could only approve it with a two-thirds majority. With the PZC’s 5-4 vote, the Town Council merely needed a majority vote.

The agreement spells out which responsibilities lie with the town and which with the master developer Leyland Alliance and EDR, which is contracted to build 290 rental units as part of the first stages of the project.

Under pressure of the lingering economic recession, the first phase of the project has been broken down into smaller bites, known as Phase 1A and Phase 1B. Together, they comprise roughly $87.6 million of the estimated $220 million price tag for the mixed-use project.

When completed, these phases are to result in about 73,400 square feet of retail space and at least 769 additional parking spaces.

Town Manager Matthew Hart said the town, as “co-developer” of this new “downtown” adjacent to the UConn campus, will be responsible for some infrastructure, including new roads and improvements to existing roads – most notably Storrs Road (Route 195), and a parking garage.

Hart also said Leyland Alliance will retain any rights to commercial activity around the new Town Green, but the town will be free to hold events and set policy for the green’s use.

Goodwin questioned why Leyland Alliance should retain commercial rights. Leyland Alliance Vice President Howard Kaufman said this is to keep out vendors who would provide competition to the company’s commercial tenants.

Among the objections raised by members who didn’t vote in favor of the agreement is Leyland Alliance’s decision to bring in a partner, EDR, known for building student housing – instead of the market-rate apartments and other housing the town desires.

Town attorney Dennis O’Brien said the agreement includes language that requires EDR to target a broad range of tenants for market-rate apartments. Also, the special design guidelines for the project prohibit dormitory-style apartments. While EDR is also required to offer 12-month leases, there is some flexibility in the agreement. If EDR has trouble filling the apartments, it can offer shorter leases.

Posted Jan. 4, 2011, as edited by HTNP.com Editor Brenda Sullivan

Family of student killed during Spring Weekend to sue UConn

The family of Jaraf Karzoun, the University of Connecticut student killed during Spring Weekend last year, sent a letter last week to notify the university of their intent to sue.

Karzoun was allegedly punched by Edi Rapo, who is not a UConn student, on April 23, 2010 outside a pizza restaurant adjacent to the UConn campus.

Karzoun reportedly struck his head and was in critical condition after the alleged assault, and then died on May 1.

Rapo, of East Hartford, is currently facing a charge of second-degree manslaughter, as well as other charges. He is scheduled to appear in Rockville Superior Cpourt on April 23, 2011.

The Dec. 30, 2010 letter, signed by the family and their attorney Donald L. Altschuler, blames UConn for Karzoun’s death.

The family accuses the university of failing in its responsibility to protect Karzoun during Spring Weekend which, the letter states, has a “long history of fights, criminal acts, drug use, overdoses and injuries.”

Altschuler states that Rapo was involved “in at least one altercation” before the alleged fight with Karzoun. He states that police did not arrest Rapo or “escort him from campus.”

Altschuler said the fight actually began at Carriage House Apartments on Hunting Lodge Road, which is a short distance from the campus.

Altschuler also accuses the university of being well aware of the kind of dangers students face during Spring Weekend and irresponsibly, allowing Spring Weekend to continue. He claims that university leadership “supported and promoted Spring Weekend as a university-sanctioned event.”

UConn spokesman Michael Kirk responds to this last statement by noting the university is not involved with off-campus parties. “The gatherings associated with Spring Weekend are in no way sponsored, supported or condoned by the university,” he said.

He also said UConn does not comment on pending or possible litigation but did say that the university has worked “for many years to discourage these unwanted events and continues to do so now.”

Former UConn President Michael Hogan, who was university president when this death occurred, formed a Spring Weekend task force to strategize ways to tame Spring Weekend.

The Town of Mansfield also has worked for several years now, in partnership with UConn staff and students, to find ways to attract students to sanctioned campus events, keep party-crashers off campus during Spring Weekend, and to provide emergency services at the most notorious party sites, most notably on Hunting Lodge Road.

The cost of emergency personnel responding to these off-campus parties has been a hot button topic with Mansfield town leaders and residents for many years.

Posted Jan. 4, 2011 – with additional reporting by Brenda Sullivan

It's official, E.O. Smith athletes and fans are Good Sports

At the end of each athletic season, the Central Connecticut Conference (CCC), to which Edwin O. Smith High School and 31 other schools belong, honors one member of each of its four divisions with a Sportsmanship Award.

One of those four schools is then awarded with the overall CCC Sportsmanship Award for the entire conference, and the recipient at the end of the 2010 Fall Sports Season is E.O. Smith.

According to the CCC website, the Sportsmanship Award is presented at the end of each season to the CCC School “whose teams, coaches and spectators exemplify the highest degree of enthusiastic and commendable behavior at high school sports events.”

Once a season concludes, the CCC sends each member school a ballot on which the varsity coaches can rank the top three CCC schools they visited for athletic events during the season, in terms of sportsmanship exhibited there by players, coaches, spectators and staff.

CCC Executive Director John Tarnuzzer presented the Sportsmanship Award to E.O. Smith at the annual fall sports awards dinner. The award was in turn presented to the entire E.O. Smith athletic community at its own Fall Sports Awards Night on Dec. 1, 2010.

In an interview, E.O. Smith Athletic Director Steve Robichaud said that, “in a lot of people’s eyes, this is the greatest award you can win.”

On the field, E.O. Smith had an incredibly successful fall season in all sports.

Three quarters of the varsity teams competed at the state level, and the boy’s soccer team won the Central Connecticut Conference East Division while recording an undefeated regular season.

According to Robichaud, in addition to this on-field success and athletic achievement, E.O. Smith’s most impressive award this fall is not just a testament to the athletes, but to fans, parents and coaches, as well.

“Obviously we play because we want to compete, we play because we would like to be successful… but I think overall we play to do it all the right way. We know we competed very well in the fall season in all our sports, but the fact that we won the sportsmanship award along with that, that really is an example of how well we do things, and that we do it with proper perspective,” Robichaud said.

This is the first time E.O. Smith has won the overall Sportsmanship Award in the three years that Robichaud has been Athletic Director, but the school did win the CCC East divisional sportsmanship award after the fall season in 2009.

Promo video

The winning of this prestigious award is not the end of sportsmanship promotion, but only the beginning.

The Athletic Department has posted a video – http://www.caadinc.org/parentvideo.html -  professionally produced by the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference (CIAC) and the Connecticut Association of Athletic Directors (CAAD) on the E.O. Smith website entitled, “Parenting Your Student-Athlete.” While this video will attempt to further educate parents about sportsmanship, the Athletic Department is also in the process of producing a video about sportsmanship to be aired to all E.O. Smith students.

Earlier in the fall, the CCC held the inaugural leadership conference at Berlin High School. The conference brought all 32 teams in the conference together to learn about sportsmanship and encourage positive interactions with one another, both on and off the field.

The conference attempted to promote sharing the message on a student-to-student basis, with the hope that those athletes who attended would then relay the information to their friends and fellow athletes.

Robichaud commented, “The greatest demonstration to illustrate that we have [sportsmanship] is when our own kids police themselves…That’s our focal point.”

After all, there are still CCC Sportsmanship awards to be won at the end of the Winter and Spring athletic seasons. Robichaud says, “It’s a great honor; it’s a great award. We’d love to win it every season.”

- Written by Chad Vincente and Joseph Willenborg

Received and posted Jan. 3, 2011