NEWINGTON - Democratic Mayoral Candidate Chris Banach and Republican hopeful Roy Zartarian squared off-with some common ground-on Transit-Oriented Development (TOD), taxes and the Town Hall renovation project, amongst other issues, at last Thursday night’s pre-election debate in the Town Hall auditorium.

       The discussion was moderated by NCTV’s Steve Parker and featured three-minute segments each for opening statements, with the same amount of time allotted for closing remarks. In between, each of the candidates were asked to voice their position on five key issues: TOD, education/taxes, economic development/redevelopment, the Town Hall renovation project and open space.

       On TOD, both candidates subscribed to the philosophy of â€�"town-oriented development,” as Zartarian began calling it when he was first endorsed to run.

       â€�"TOD is going to happen, but it’s going to happen on our terms,” Zartarian said.

       Banach reminded audience members that he voted with Republican councilors on a resolution against a controversial state House of Representatives bill that sought to establish a Transit Corridor Authority. The bill drew concerns regarding municipal autonomy and the use of eminent domain--a provision that was included in the original draft, but was later removed--while its proponents characterized the proposed Authority as an advisory entity that municipalities could enlist for guidance on TOD projects at their discretion.

       â€�"I voted for that resolution [against the bill],” Banach said. â€�"It’s critically important that we retain control over our development.”

       Both expressed opposition to any kind of high-density housing development near the town’s two Connecticut FasTrak busway stations.

       â€�"We do not need any more housing in Newington, whether it’s low income, middle income, or high income. Does not matter,” Banach said. â€�"It will not help grow our Grand List.”

       Growing the Grand List is another issue, as it pertains to the addition of outside revenue that would curb yearly property tax increases. That brought the candidates to the broader issue of economic development throughout the entirety of the town.

       Zartarian stressed a focus on helping local businesses through continued maintenance of downtown aesthetics. Bringing in businesses that make the area a destination for foot traffic that might utilize other nearby services would be an asset as well, Banach said.

       â€�"The way out of tax increases is to bring more revenue in,” he said.

       The town can do that by focusing on some key areas that carry potential to attract new businesses, Banach said. He’s looking to Alumni Road, where a Department of Transportation (DOT) gate has sat for 10 years, cutting off access to 21 acres of developable land. His proposal is to move the gate to where the Newington High School football field is located in order to prevent traffic impact on nearby residential neighborhoods while addressing the access issue.

       â€�"That is a valuable site,” he said. â€�"To make it accessible can only help the town.”

       Banach also stressed what he says is the importance of developing the newly-remediated former National Welding site, which sits near the Cedar/Fenn Road busway station.

       Both candidates expressed a desire to curb yearly tax increases, with Zartarian’s call for the next Council to â€�"chill with the mill [rate]” marking the launch of his campaign. While he said that promising a zero percent tax increase would not be realistic, he said that he would like to bring the increases below 3 percent--something the Republican slate hopes to achieve by focusing on cutting â€�"redundancies” through shared service measures.

       â€�"The taxes are the number one concern of residents around town,” Zartarian said.

       Whoever ends up on the Council this November will walk the line between addressing that and funding a school district that is continuously looking to improve while tackling growing costs. And the benefit of a strong school system is twofold in that it also keeps property values up, Banach said.

       There’s also the issue of maintaining services against increasing costs for providing them. Zartarian says that his team intends to do that through more â€�"cost effective means”.

       Banach said that in his conversations with town residents, the widespread sentiment he got was that voters do not want to lose these amenities.

       â€�"They do not want to give up services,” he said. â€�"They just want us to keep them in check.”