FARMINGTON — Residents approved two articles dealing with tax increment financing districts Tuesday during a special town meeting at the Community Center.

Voters adopted a Downtown Municipal Tax Increment Financing District and development program by a vote of 18-0 after making a couple of amendments, Town Manager Richard Davis said Wednesday.

Residents agreed with John Moore’s suggestion, also by a vote of 18-0, to add a  sentence under the program’s statement of means and objectives. It reads: “It is further specifically the primary intention of this program to support brick-and-mortar projects within this district.”   

Under the TIF program, the town can take a percent of new taxable investment and apply it to a variety of municipal development projects, as described under the plan accepted in April.

The second amendment included enlarging an area in the map of the district. The map includes an area on Fairbanks Road where a senior housing project, Brookside Village, is being constructed.

It was amended to include surrounding property, including the property frontage where the old dowel mill stood and the back part where Byron Davis and William Marceau intend to build condominiums or single-family homes, he said.

Voters agreed to amend the map to include all properties under Fairview Housing LLC and Farmington Land LLC by a vote of 16-0, he said.

A second article asked voters to approve an amendment to the Franklin Printing Municipal TIF district, adopted in 1998. It extends the TIF to 30 years, the maximum allowable term, and expands the district to include an additional 3.6 acres purchased by Franklin Printing, an area on the Schoolhouse Road adjacent to Franklin Printing.

Residents approved the article 15-0, he said.

Prior to the approximately 20-minute meeting, the Board of Selectmen held a public hearing for comments and questions on the TIF districts.

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