Politics & Government

Temporary Deal For Madison Beach Hotel Approved [Video]

Permanent deal will be submitted to town voters for approval; Temporary deal will allow residents to use grassy strip when not in use by Madison Beach Hotel; Temporary deal also will give residents more beach to use, along with money.

 

The Madison Board of Selectmen, in a 4-0 vote, approved a temporary reciprocal license agreement Monday morning that will Madison Beach Hotel the use of a town-owned grassy strip adjacent to the hotel. In exchange, the town will get to use a privately owned beach area adjacent to West Wharf Beach across the street from the hotel. The town also will get a license fee of $11,000.

The agreement also allows the Madison Beach Hotel to use an overflow parking area at the town's Surf Club, down the street and around the corner from the hotel. The use of that parking area is subject to blackout dates, certain restrictions, and by the hotel's valet company only. In exchange for using the parking area, Madison Beach Hotel will pay a license fee of $375 per event.

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During the meeting Monday morning, Madison resident Art Symonds thanked the board for their "bipartisan approach" to solving problems such as those posed by the Madison Beach Hotel deal. "I appreciate the good-humored way you go about your business," he said. He added that the humor is often provided by Selectman Joe MacDougald, who is fond of witticisms, and wasn't in attendance at Monday's meeting.

"In general it seems like a good deal"

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Symonds said he has lived in four other towns in Connecticut and that those towns did not handle matters as well as Madison does. He added that the hotel deal seemed complicated, but that "in general it seems like a good deal and I support it."

Several other town residents expressed concern about Madison Beach Hotel, or certain aspects of the deal.

Madison resident Walter Lippmann asked why Madison Beach Hotel did not have handicapped parking spaces available that were compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

How do we do business with someone that is in violation of the American with Disabilities Act?"

"Before we do any voting, I want to know, where is the handicapped parking," he said. "How can we do business with someone that is in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act?"

Following the meeting, Madison Building Official Vincent Garofalo met with hotel officials to make sure that appropriate signage and handicapped access would be clearly provided and displayed. At this time, the parking at the hotel is almost entirely through a valet parking service stationed at the main entrance in the back of the hotel on Parker Avenue.

Madison resident Thomas Lilburn questioned the selectmen in detail about why a copy of the draft agreement was not made available to residents to review, and how they could vote on an agreement that was not final, since it was still a draft. "As of Friday, when I called, the agreement was still in draft form. How can you act on something that is not complete?" he asked. He said it was difficult for the public to provide comments on an agreement they cannot review. Lilburn asked First Selectman Fillmore McPherson if the draft being reviewed by the Board of Selectmen was available for the public to review.

"You want the public to comment on something it cannot see"

McPherson said it was not, since it was a draft. "You want the public to comment on something it cannot see," Lilburn said.

Another resident, who declined to give her name, asked who installed the grass on the grassy strip in front of the hotel and who installed the rock garden and plantings on the border of the grassy strip. She said the rocks make it appear as though the public cannot access "what is, as of today, still our grass."

McPherson said the grass was planted by the hotel, as part of its recently completed construction work on the new hotel, since as part of that construction work, the grass in that area was destroyed and trampled. Madison Public Works Director and Town Engineer Michael Ott said that, while there was a landscaped area on the perimeter of the grassy strip next to the street, it was not impeding access to the area. "Today you cannot go to the beach that way," the woman insisted.

"Not a bad situation for the town"

Following the meeting, Madison Beach Hotel Owner Ric Duques, who attended the meeting with family members and a hotel official, assured her that the public is able to access the beach through that area.

Madison resident Chris Scranton expressed concern that Selectman Joe MacDougald was not in attendance at the meeting Monday morning. At a prior meeting, during a discussion of the reciprocal license agreement, MacDougland made several recommendations on how to improve the agreement. "It's ironic that MacDougald is not here," he said. "I read that the Beach & Recreation Commission said they were trying to make the best of a bad situation. Well, when the hotel got built, they knew that it didn't own that land, and they knew they didn't have enough parking. The boards are trying to make the best of a bad situation when it's not a bad situation for the town, but for the hotel it is."

McPherson said MacDougald was familiar with the most recent draft of the agreement, and supported it.

"That to me showed a willingness to work with the town"

Selectman Joan Walker said she could support the most recent draft of the agreement in part because it allows Madison residents access to the grassy strip when it's not in exclusive use by the hotel for hotel events. The agreement says when the hotel is not hosting a private party on the grassy strip, "the public shall have access .. for activities consistent with a public park ... "

"That to me showed a willingness to work with the town. If the public wants to use the area, the public can use it," she said. "If it's not being used by the hotel, anybody can use it."

Walker also noted that the temporary deal requires that a permanent deal, involving the grassy strip and the beach, be put before voters.

"Adds to the vitality of the town"

Selectman Al Goldberg said it was a good deal, adding that the hotel "adds to the vitality of the town."

Selectman Diane Stadterman said the deal will get the town and the hotel through the summer months "and then we can put a permanent solution before a town meeting to be vetted by the public."

The draft of the deal approved by McPherson, Walker, Goldberg and Stadterman Monday morning includes the following elements:

  • the hotel has the right to use the grassy area, and during catered events, the hotel will have the right to exclude members of the public from the grassy area
  • at all other times, the public shall have access to the grassy area for activities consistent with a public park
  • the town and its residents will have the right to use the Fish House Beach Area, along with guests of the hotel
  • the hotel will be allowed to use the overflow parking area at the Surf Club for valet parking, except on certain specified blackout dates
  • cars parked at the Surf Club will be removed by 12:00 a.m.
  • "All valets shall abide by the 10 m.p.h. speed limit inside the Surf Club Park"
  • in exchange for the grassy area license, the hotel will pay the town $11,000
  • the hotel will purchase Commercial General Liability Insurance of no less than $1 million for each occurance and $2 million for the aggregate covering bodily injury and property damage, along with other insurance

The agreement also says, "This agreement does not confer upon MBH any leasehold interest or ownership interest in the grassy area or the overflow parking area. This agreement does not confer upon the town any leasehold interest or ownership interest in the Fish House Beach Area. The right to use the properties herein is a mere privilege to act on the land of another, which does not produce an interest in the property. This agreement shall not be recorded in the Land Records."

With regard to a permanent agreement, the temporary agreement says "The town, MBH and Ventures will work diligently toward a permanent agreement that wil include a monetary payment of payments by MBH of $100,000 and that will address the interests of the parties with regard to use of the grassy area and the Greater Fish House Beach Area prior to December 31, 2012. The parties contemplate that the overflow parking area license will be addressed separately on a year to year basis and will not be a part of that permanent agreement."


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