Norwich ― Nearly 100 neighbors of a proposed second business park peppered Norwich Community Development Corp. officials with questions Wednesday during a 90-minute public forum on the proposal for 384 acres of former farmland and woodlands in the city’s Occum section.

Residents objected to potential noise, traffic, light pollution, construction disruptions and wildlife displacement they say the proposed development could cause and questioned why the city needs a second business park.

“You’re pro what you’re doing,” resident Jessica Quay said. “We’re pro our homes. Do you live here? You don’t even live in this town.”

NCDC President Kevin Brown and real estate consultant Henry Resnikoff gave an overview of the project and fielded questions in the first public forum on the project. The City Council, which doubles as the zoning board in Norwich, will hold a public hearing at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 5 on a proposed master development plan for what NCDC has named Business Park North.

NCDC has an option to purchase the property that includes the former Tarryk and Doolittle farms on Canterbury Turnpike and Lawler Lane, and which borders Interstate 395, for $3.55 million. Brown described the land to residents as “the last acre” of developable industrial land in the city.

Norwich hopes to attract ancillary development associated with the budding wind turbine industry in the Northeast, especially connected with the development of State Pier in New London as a port for offshore wind infrastructure.

But currently, NCDC is seeking approval first for the proposed master plan and a new road network through the property, with a redesigned I-395 Exit 18 ramp to provide main access into the park. The road would direct business park traffic through a roundabout to the new main access road for the park.

A second roundabout would be built at the Canterbury Turnpike intersection that would be designed so that industrial park-bound trucks could not get off and enter residential Canterbury Turnpike. But firetrucks could access the new road from Canterbury Turnpike for emergencies, Resnikoff said.

Asked why the project is needed, Brown said the city’s current Stanley Israelite Business Park off West Town Street is “93% full” and generates $7 million annually in taxes to the city. He also said new tech companies would not find most of the remaining available business park space suitable for high-tech precision manufacturing.

Scotland Road resident Samuel Browning said he has suggested many times the city should “rip that ballpark out,” meaning the Thomas J. Dodd Memorial Stadium, making 50 acres of developable land available.

Brown said NCDC officials cannot control privately-owned property in the current business park that may be only partially occupied, or the city’s ownership of Dodd Stadium. But he said new tech companies would not find most of the remaining available business park space suitable for high-tech precision manufacturing.

The master plan shows areas with solar power arrays, but Brown and Resnikoff said those were placed on the conceptual plan in spots not suitable for other development, such as areas with steep slopes or ledge.

Nate Weiss, owner of the Sunny Waters Mobile Home Park, said there are “virtually no” buffer zones shown between the solar fields and neighboring properties. Resnikoff said the park would be subject to required buffer zones. But Weiss said that would make the neighbors subject to “the whims of the City Council,” as the zoning board.

Resnikoff said once the park is established, each proposed development would require site development plan approval by the city’s planning and wetlands agencies.

Resnikoff said the park master plan has received city wetlands agency approval and will be reviewed by the Commission on the City Plan Tuesday, Nov. 15, which will make a recommendation to the council-zoning board. The master plan then needs state and federal transportation and environmental approval, including from the Federal Highway Administration and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Residents remained skeptical about the proposed new access road and whether the roundabout would keep business park traffic off the local roads and whether the proposed business park would be a boon to the city tax base.

Resident Nelson French said the city has a record of offering tax breaks to companies that leave when the breaks end. Brown said developments would qualify for seven years of phased property tax breaks, with property taxes increasing by 20% per year until reaching full taxation after seven years.

c.bessette@theday.com