One of the businesses on Campion Road, a major gateway to the town, is
closing its doors.
Madden Concrete and Masonry Supply is for sale.
Owner Tom Madden said Thursday even if he reopens briefly in spring, he will likely hold an auction to sell off whatever inventory is left.
“It’s a reflection of the economy in the general New Hartford and Utica area,” Madden said. “It’s depressed. For the past six or seven years, sales have continued to drop from year to year.”
But Madden also slammed New Hartford officials for failing to keep development going so construction-oriented businesses like his could survive.
“Town government destroyed development in New Hartford with restrictions and taxes,” he said. “Inept government really took for granted that no matter what the Planning Board requirements were that New Hartford was somehow blessed to the point that development would continue no matter what.”
For a long time in 2009, Madden posted a sign outside the business denouncing local government for levying high taxes.
He said he pays about $45,000 a year in town, village and school taxes.
Town Supervisor Patrick Tyksinski said he doesn’t thing New Hartford’s planning and zoning rules had had a negative effect on development.
“These have been in there for decades and have not slowed development in New Hartford,” he said. “That’s why we are the number-one retail center in Oneida County.”
In the past few years, Madden Concrete has employed between four and 10 people, Madden said.
The future
The 2.2-acre property is on the market for $1.5 million, Madden said.
New Hartford Village Mayor Don Ryan said he is contacting developers who might be interested in the spot.
He’s hoping to attract someone who would operate something different from what’s there now.
“What we are looking for is a developer that could make a village center with small shops and townhouses,” he said.
Ryan said developers could be interested because of the property’s proximity to other retail and commercial areas, as well as its location on busy Campion Road.
He said getting the right buyer could take time, however.
“It’s not something that’s going to happen tomorrow,” he said.
Tyksinski, who took office in January, said he was working to make the town as business friendly as possible. He said he would reduce next year the town’s property taxes, which increased by 46 percent in 2010
