Amazon brings jobs to area, but also big trucks

Apr. 10—Many would consider themselves lucky if Amazon Inc. decided to set up shop in their town, as the online retail giant practically guarantees jobs and increased tax revenue.

Not everyone shares those sentiments, though.

"My little neighborhood is being destroyed — our peace is gone," Denise Driscoll, 68, of East Hartford told the Journal Inquirer, complaining that huge contractor trucks with Amazon logos zip past her home day and night on Long Hill Drive in East Hartford on their way to a warehouse the company leases at 88 Long Hill St.

AMAZON LOCATIONS

LOTS OF LEASING: Since 2010, Amazon has launched a number of warehouses, sorting centers, and delivery stations in Connecticut, many of which are in leased space in various towns. Because they are leased, they don't show up on a town assessor's grand list of taxable property as being an Amazon site, and are often difficult to identify until they're up and running.

THIRD PARTIES: Amazon would not provide a complete list of Connecticut facilities it delivers to and distributes from, saying that many of those sites are operated by a third-party contractor who leases the various warehouses and sorting sites Amazon goods are shipped through. Leased facilities the company would confirm include: One warehouse each in New Haven and Windsor; a sorting center in Wallingford; seven delivery stations in Meriden, Bristol, Wallingford, Danbury, Orange, Stratford, and Trumbull; an Amazon 4-Star store in Norwalk; an Air Gateway at Bradley International Airport; and nine locations for Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary.

WINDSOR AND MANCHESTER: Amazon also plans to open a second warehouse in Windsor that is now under construction, and signed a lease in February to take over a large portion of the former J.C. Penney warehouse in Manchester.

EAST HARTFORD: The East Hartford warehouse was not on the list provided by the company, even though an Amazon sign stands at the entrance to 88 Long Hill St.

"I've been here for 30 years and I can't stand it anymore," she said. "It's constant."

Driscoll, who lives in what she describes as a small suburban neighborhood, said that while the noise is disturbing day and night, it gets worse at night.

She lives with her husband John Driscoll, 61, and their 11-year-old granddaughter, whose bedroom window faces the street.

"My house shakes — honestly it's like somebody took our houses and put them on Interstate 84," she said. "We are talking suburbia that's turned into I-84 ... It's terrible. I can't live like this. It's a nightmare."

Driscoll said the problem started about seven months ago, and she hoped it would slow down after Christmas, but that didn't happen. It actually got worse, she said, as the weather warmed up and the trucks drive faster and more frequently.

"Summer's coming and I can't open my windows," she said. "Something's got to change. I'm very sad about this."

Driscoll said she's reached out to the mayor's office, police department, and state traffic division in vain. She said that sadly, she and her husband are now actively searching for a new home.

"I love East Hartford — it's a sweet little town," she said. "It definitely has its problems like everywhere else, but I've never had a problem before this. I love being here, but I'm gonna go."

Promise of riches

Amazon spokeswoman Katelyn Richardson told the Journal Inquirer that the $1.7 trillion, multinational company based in Seattle takes this type of feedback seriously, as their goal is to be a good community neighbor.

Still, Richardson would not say if traffic patterns would be adjusted or any other changes made to ease the burden on the Driscolls, or any other suburban neighborhood surrounding the behemoth's distribution sites. She did confirm, however, that while a third-party contractor operates the East Hartford facility, the issue was brought to Amazon's attention in February.

And while Amazon may impact municipalities with noise and air pollution, there are benefits, in terms of jobs and infrastructure, she said. Amazon's growth in Connecticut not only brings a greater selection of products closer to customers here, but it also boosts the local economy as area businesses are able to sell their products to a wider audience, she said.

Besides the East Hartford facility, Amazon officials admit to having at least a dozen more warehouses and distribution centers scattered around the state.

AMAZON IN CONNECTICUT

Since 2010 when Amazon first came to Connecticut, the company claims it has invested the following:

—Created 16,000 jobs in the state.

—Invested more than $2.1 billion in infrastructure and compensation.

—Contributed $1.7 billion to the state economy.

—Created about 4,400 indirect jobs outside of the company in the fields of construction, logistics, and professional services.

—Offered a platform for 17,500 independent authors and small and medium businesses in the state to sell their products around the country through Amazon.

And the growth continues.

In February, Amazon signed a lease to take over a large chunk of the former J.C. Penney warehouse at 1339 Tolland Turnpike in Manchester, according to that town's Director of Planning and Development Gary Anderson. Amazon is expected to occupy a 350,000-square-foot section of the 1.9 million-square-foot distribution center and create several hundred new jobs in the area, he said.

Richardson added that much of the growth is accompanied by hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations to charities, such as local food banks, medical facilities, and schools.

Amazon is also a leading taxpayer in the state. Richardson said that while amounts vary by location, Amazon's fulfillment center on Kennedy Road in Windsor is the top taxpayer in that town, assessed at $102.5 million according to the 2020 grand list of taxable property.

While Richardson said she could not comment on what's in store for the future of Amazon in Connecticut, she did say the online retail giant is always exploring new locations.

"We weigh a variety of factors when deciding where to develop future sites to best serve customers, however, we have a policy of not commenting on speculation or our future roadmap," she said.

Neighborhood impact

East Hartford Mayor Marcia Leclerc said Tuesday that she was first made aware of the situation in her town several months ago when she was added onto an email chain that included South Windsor town officials, state Sen. M. Saud Anwar, D-South Windsor, and a South Windsor resident who resides in a historic home near Amazon's East Hartford facility.

Like Driscoll, that South Windsor resident claimed their home rattled multiple times a day from the heavy truck traffic.

Leclerc said that while the East Hartford warehouse building is appropriately zoned, and that trucks have always been allowed access along these neighborhood streets, she agreed to a traffic study that placed vehicle counters on the street to assess the situation.

The study was conducted on Long Hill Drive from March 4-12 and concluded there was no disproportionate or large volume of commercial traffic through that area compared to any other type of through street in town, Leclerc said.

"The count of those few days was nothing significant," Leclerc said.

Further, the town engineering department determined in response to some of the complaints that the roads could support the weight limits of large trucks, she said.

"As far as that goes, we certainly felt that we had accommodated the residents," she said of the study, adding: "They can't close a road to a business that accommodates a truck.

"While it may be an inconvenience, it's my understanding that Amazon will be transitioning to the former J.C. Penny Warehouse" in Manchester, which should alleviate the problem here, Leclerc said.

But in the meantime, "specific accommodations to shut down the road to through traffic is not an option," she said.

That's grim news for Angelica Rivera, 40, who has lived on Long Hill Drive for about eight years with her 6-year-old son who she said is too scared to sleep on his own at night as the howling trucks rattle their house.

"I love my home and I like my neighborhood, but the Amazon trucks started coming in and it's been hard," Rivera said.

Noise aside, Rivera said she also worries what the truck traffic is doing to her home's foundation and property value.

"It's not one time of day — it's all the time," she said of the truck traffic.

Gita Desai, part owner of Long Hill Discount Liquor at 974 Burnside Ave., agreed, saying she is often startled by the colossal trucks thundering down the street. And while Amazon and the town are reaping benefits, her business has suffered.

"All the trucks — back and forth — it's very noisy," she said.

She and her family have run the neighborhood package store for nearly 20 years. It's located at the intersection where trucks turn onto Long Hill Road.

Several weeks ago she said she was startled by a loud noise that came from the street. When she went to look, she saw a truck with the familiar Amazon logo parked in the road and covered in electrical power lines that it had ripped down from the utility pole.

"The wires sat on the road so the traffic was stopped because everyone was scared," she said.

She lost power at the package store for about six hours that day, she said.

"For that day, I lost my business," Desai said.

For updates on the towns of Coventry and Tolland, follow Michelle France on Twitter: @MFranceReport, Facebook: Michelle France, and Instagram: @MFranceReport.