NORWICH – With hopes of bolstering development, the Norwich Common Council is conducting a survey of onetime industrial sites throughout the city that officials want to see put to use.

City planner Eric Scrivener addressed council members at a Joint Committees meeting held earlier this month, outlining plans to jumpstart a brownfields study that the city started in 2018. That study identified 32 former industrial and commercial sites in the city where future use is affected by environmental contamination.

The study identifies nearly 127 acres of brownfield properties that are viable for revitalization and redevelopment, the largest of which encompasses roughly 33 acres of an industrial area on Borden Ave. on the city’s north end.

While a majority of identified sites are zoned for industrial activities, the report outlines a variety of uses, including industrial, commercial, or public and community services. There’s also a significant amount of vacant land within the study area, contained especially on the northern and southern ends of Norwich.

The city’s multi-phase plan to revitalize brownfield areas drew near completion in 2018 but was never finalized by the Common Council, explained Scrivener, making the city ineligible for state-sponsored brownfield rehabilitation grants. City officials now want to continue where that study left off.