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2007 Connecticut Attorney General Reports and Opinions 1 (2007)

handle is hein.sag/sagct0026 and id is 1 raw text is: CT Attorney General Attorney General's Opinion Attorney General, Richard Blumenthal February 1, 2007 Honorable Robert L. Genuario, Secretary Office of Policy and Management 450 Capitol Avenue Hartford, CT 06106 Dear Secretary Genuario: This letter responds to your request dated January 23, 2007, for an opinion as to whether the City of Hartford's proposed construction of the Pathways Interdistrict Magnet School (School) on property that was transferred from the State to the City qualifies as economic development within the meaning of deed restrictions on that property. For the reasons set forth below, we conclude that the construction of the School would not constitute an economic development purpose within the meaning of the deed restrictions, based on the facts currently available. There may be situations when a school could be considered part of an economic development project, but such circumstances do not seem to be present here, at least on the current facts. If the city has additional facts that would change this conclusion, the State should consider them. At this time, the School is designed to provide employment in construction, prepare students for significant jobs in technology and link students with potential employers, but the School does not appear to be part of an economic development project or plan as that term is commonly understood. Notably, the legislature did not include educational purposes in the permitted uses of this property, as it has done in conveying other land for educational purposes in other legislation. See, e.g., S.A. 89-54, § 2; S.A. 94-16, § 5(b); S.A. 97-20, § 19(b); S.A. 01-6, § 26(b); P.A. 05-279, §§ 9, 18; S.A. 06-10, § 12(b). This conclusion in no way mitigates or minimizes the obligation to fund and support magnet school construction pursuant to the Sheff v. O'Neill mandate. Indeed, the urgency of that objective makes cooperation and collaboration between City and State--as opposed to confrontation--all the more critical. We respect and support the vision and conviction embodied in this education project. But it is an education project, not economic development as the deed restriction requires, < Background The facts, as they have been represented to us, are limited in scope: The land on which the proposed School is to be constructed, located at the intersection of Broad Street and Farmington Avenue in Hartford, was previously owned by the State. In a series of special acts, the legislature authorized the conveyance of the property to the City. Initially, the legislature restricted the use of the property to be conveyed to the construction of a new combined fire and police department headquarters. Special Act 90-37, § (1)(b). Subsequently, the legislature expanded the permissible uses and authorized the conveyance of the property for economic development purposes, for

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