The 10 acres the selectmen are considering selling is off Sunset Lane.
A Ridgefield-based development group proposing 21 to 24 single family homes is the selectmen’s choice to buy and build on 10 acres of town-owned Schlumberger land.
The selectmen voted Wednesday night to accept a $4 million offer on the property from Residential Investment LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Fairfield County Bank, which is based in Ridgefield.
Any sale of town property requires the approval of town voters, and the selectmen set up a series of meetings to achieve that, beginning with a public hearing in two weeks on March 19 and ending with a referendum on Tuesday, April 8.
Although there were initially four bidders, the other bidder under consideration at the end was Toll Brothers, the nationwide firm that built The Regency at Ridgefield development off Route 7. Toll Brothers had also offered $4 million, and proposed a development of up to 30 condominiums.
Residential Development’s local nature appeared to be a factor in the selectmen’s decision.
“We can have as much of the dollars local, and have money spent here,” First Selectman Rudy Marconi said.
Although the selectmen voted to accept the offer from Ridgefield Investments LLC, and the terms of the deal appear to be all worked out, they did not approve a final contract Wednesday night.
The selectmen scheduled a meeting, Friday, March 7, to discuss and approve the contract. The meeting is scheduled to start as a behind-closed-doors executive session at 11:45. Attorney Bob Jewell of Donnelly, Gustafson and McNamara, representing Residential Investments LLC, was invited to join the meeting. The board would have to go into public session to vote on the contract’s approval.
The series of three meetings was set up by the selectmen last night to present the plan to voters and gain their approval.
• Public hearing, Wednesday, March 19. The hearing is scheduled to immediately follow a town meeting that will vote on the proposed anti-blight ordinance, which will begin at 7:30 in town hall.
• Town meeting, Monday, March 31, starting at 7:30 in town hall. While voters may discuss the sale at the meeting, the vote has been sent to referendum.
• Referendum, Tuesday, April 8, from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. with all voting at Yanity Gym.