In an effort to redevelop Mariner’s Way, the Board of Selectmen (BOS) unanimously voted to appropriate $89,910 for a consultant to help development efforts.

Mariner’s Way is the name given to a section of town located at the Route One East connector in Old Saybrook between Saybrook Junction’s Town Center and Ferry Point’s Marina District. For nearly a decade, the town has been hoping to develop the area, but with the arrival of COVID-19, attention has been focused on other matters for the last three years.

At a BOS meeting on June 20, the BOS unanimously voted to appropriate $89,910 from the capital nonrecurring fund (3350) and transfer said funds to a new off-budget fund entitled “Mariner’s Way Consultant.” The funds will be officially approved at a town meeting on June 27, after press time.

Jennifer Donahue, the town’s director of economic development and communications, said that Camoin Associates was chosen as the consultant. Donahue said the consultant would help redevelopment efforts in several areas.

“The consultant will be performing a market analysis and an economic opportunity study as well as providing stakeholder education, input, consensus building, and buy-in for a comprehensive redevelopment effort and crafting a final report and recommendations,” Donahue said.

The consultants would also assist in attracting developers who would build the town’s desired plan in the area.

Redeveloping Mainer’s Way has been a long-time project for the town. Donahue described the area as “(a)n eclectic mix of businesses reside on this corridor with a number of vacant and blighted areas, some of which are brownfields. As this is a gateway to the town, and any potential new marine development on Ferry Road, eliminating the blight and attracting new business to the area is desirable.”

Between 2014 and 2019, the town revisited the areas multiple times. A study was done in 2014, and in 2017, an action plan was developed. In 2019 the town created a tax increment financing district in the area, which creates a mechanism to set aside funds to re-invest in the district.

“There are many stakeholders involved in a successful redevelopment project in this area, including the private owners of the properties, the owners of businesses in this area, town boards, and commissions, and, of course, town citizens,” Donahue said.

“Bringing all of these groups together to effect change will be important. In addition, the business climate has changed since the pandemic, and finding out how that has affected previous redevelopment ideas for the area will help guide the town as it moves forward in this area,” Donahue continued.