APRIL 22, 2019 VOL. 55, No. 16
westfaironline.com
An image showing streetscape improvements from the Transit-Oriented Development Study.
INSIDE PAGE
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WAGE LAWSUIT
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MARKET PREDICTION
Danbury ascendant BOOMING ON NEARLY ALL FRONTS, BUT WILL STATE MEASURES CURB ITS APPEAL? BY KEVIN ZIMMERMAN kzimmerman@westfairinc.com
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tamford may be “the place,” according to its marketing materials — but, somewhat quietly, Danbury is in the midst of a renaissance that’s making it a place of note as well. “We’re doing it all,” Mayor Mark Boughton told the Business Journal. “The big things and the small things.” The big things include new businesses — over
900 were added last year, Boughton said, “everything from storefronts to corporations. It’s the highest number we’ve ever seen and it outpaced the state.” The mayor identified a reason for the boom: its permitting process is “quick and efficient — we work as a partner with the applicant. We’re not playing ‘Gotcha!’ ” Boughton also touted the Danbury Innovation Center, a business development service that he said “has been a great incubator for people looking to start
new businesses,” and business management consultancy SCORE, with which the city has partnered to help budding entrepreneurs develop their business plans. And a recent DataHaven poll found 83 percent of residents saying they were “satisfied” with living in Danbury. Danbury also has a relatively low mill rate — 27.6 — and unemployment rate, which as of February stood at 4.1 percent, lower than Bridgeport’s 6.6 percent and Norwalk’s 4.4 percent, and close to Stamford’s 4 percent. The $261.5 million budget, despite being 1.8 percent, or $4.5 million, higher than last year’s, includes » DANBURY
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The old toll booth on the Merritt Parkway in Greenwich.
LAMONT, DEMS RELEASE SOME DETAILS OF TOLL PLAN BY KEVIN ZIMMERMAN kzimmerman@westfairinc.com GOV. NED LAMONT and the co-chairs of the Legislature’s Transportation Committee have released some — but by no means all — of the details of the Democratled plan to return electronic tolls to several of Connecticut’s highways. State Republicans vowed to continue to fight against tolls. Among the details released by Lamont, state
Sen. Carlo Leone and Rep. Roland Lemar: • Toll gantries will be placed roughly every six to seven miles on I-84, I-95, I-91 and Route 15 (Merritt Parkway). People who use a Connecticut EZ-Pass and a frequent-user discount could expect to pay roughly 25 to 30 cents per gantry, or 4.4 cents per mile; • Forty percent of the revenue from tolls will be paid by out-of-state drivers; • There will be no » TOLL PLAN
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