I could understand why Gov. Dannel Malloy did not want to unveil a master plan for his new park at Seaside in Waterford at the same time state Democrats were busy devising new taxes and floating cuts to social services during budget season.

After all, this is a park plan that was hatched on the eve of the last election, in an apparent attempt to rescue the political career of Betsy Ritter of Waterford, who was then reaching for a Senate seat. (She lost, and the governor made her a well-paid commissioner instead.)

Still, the new park draft master plan, being developed by planners and architects hired by the state, was due out at the end of April.

The state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, which is in charge of the park planning, says there is no new timetable for when the principal outline for the $341,580 park master plan will be done.

I suspect it won't be until the dust from the newest tax increase settles some more.

Meanwhile, the state Department of Administrative Services, in advance of a planned July 1 turnover of the Seaside property to DEEP, has begun a demolition project on the property, taking down a large metal utility building.

The demolition work began without a demolition permit from the town of Waterford, but the state applied for one this week, after I started asking about it. The permit for the $32,000 project cost $320.

I learned about the lack of a permit after I inquired Wednesday about the Seaside demolition at Town Hall, where no one knew it was happening.

They told me there the state had applied a few years ago for a demolition permit for some buildings at Seaside and took some down, but not the metal one being dismantled now. Those permits have expired.

There is nothing remarkable about the metal building, which almost certainly won't be missed.

And yet it is troubling to see the state, which has issued conflicting opinions whether the landmark Cass Gilbert buildings on the property should be be saved, storms in, demolition equipment swinging, without giving anyone a heads-up.

One proposal for a new park is tearing down the Seaside buildings that are on the National Register of Historic Places. The unannounced and unpermitted demolition of the metal building seems to suggest anything could happen.

The state did backtrack after I asked about the lack of a permit and applied. But in the end, no one gave a notice of the demolition to neighbors, as required by state statute, and they didn't honor a 30-day waiting period required by town ordinance.

The town also didn't have a chance to publish a new public notice about the demolition, as required.

Town building officials told me the state is specifically exempted by state law from local building permit regulations, but not from demolition permit rules.

A DAS spokesman told me, after the agency retroactively applied for a demolition permit in Waterford, that some towns require them for state buildings and some don't.

So, evidently, the prevailing wisdom in state government is to go ahead and do it and see if anyone complains. (Try that with your car registration or filing a state tax return.)

I think the plan for the establishment of a park is a good idea, even though it was born from an election stunt, trying to resolve the state's many years of neglect of the historic property.

Enlisting private enterprise to run a hotel or inn on the property, part of a public park, might be the only way to raise the money needed to save the long-abandoned historic buildings.

I know many neighbors hate the idea of an inn. But the days of having a private neighborhood Seaside park are over. They should also consider how a magnificent seaside hotel in such a significant historic setting will improve the neighborhood.

But the state also needs to make this process much more transparent and inclusive. They held "open houses" so the public could chat with park planners.

But no public hearing, with a live microphone at which people can stand up and air their thoughts, has ever been provided.

Elected representatives also are not being included.

The arrogant demolition of a major building on the property without following the law for public notice is just another example of the way this feels like it's being shoved down everyone's throats.

And there isn't even a new timetable for when the master plan is going to be revealed from on high, now that we've blown past the first deadline.

It appears a lot of public park planning is going on behind closed doors.

This is the opinion of David Collins.

d.collins@theday.com

Twitter: @DavidCollinsct