Courant writer Erik Hesselberg also contributed to this story:
One of the businessmen now seeking to obtain and develop 17 acres of state-owned land overlooking the Connecticut River in Haddam has been saying that although the deed for the land states that it "should be retained in its natural scenic ... condition as park or open space," the landowners who sold it to the state several years ago did not have that intention.
However, that statement by Steve Rocco, one of four partners in Riverhouse Properties, was contradicted Wednesday by one of the people involved in the sale of the Haddam property to the state several years ago, Connecticut businessman Charles A. Robertson.
"It was the sellers' hope that it would be held by the state and be made available to the public as open land," Robertson said in a telephone interview, adding that it is "a terribly unique piece of property in the state of Connecticut."
The comments by Robertson are in line with those of opponents of the land swap who have said the sellers intended the state keep the land as open space. His comments also are likely to figure into the current debate over whether the state legislature should approve a "land conveyance bill." The bill includes a proposed swap of the 17 acres now owned by the state Department of Environmental Protection for 87 acres elsewhere in Haddam owned by the Riverhouse Properties partners.