The Downside Of Apartments

At Cochran House

To the Editor:

I cannot believe that a proposal to turn the Cochran House into a 160-unit apartment complex is being considered. I must say that I feel the same as your other readers that have written in on this topic. The majority of residents would like to see the scenic campus reserved for community uses. While Mr Struna boasts about revenue from a lease, I can’t help but think what negative impact this would have on the rest of the campus and the community in general. After reading the proposal, I had come up with some thoughts to consider:

1. 160 apartments equates to needing parking for 350 vehicles easily (two vehicles per household, plus guest spots). This means a ton of traffic at all hours and probably destroying the baseball fields next to the Cochran House to use for parking (maybe even an unsightly parking garage).

2. You also have to question whether or not Mr Struna has Newtown’s best interest in mind with this deal. From what I can tell, Mr Struna is not from Newtown, so I am sure he doesn’t probably care about the impact to the community by putting 160 one- and two-bedroom apartments in the middle of a community campus.

3. Also, you have to question Mr Struna’s interests when he will be paid a commission from the developer on a $27 million deal.

4. With a 99-year lease, it is scary to think of the element that could be living on the campus if they can’t rent out 160 apartments. My guess would be they keep lowering the rent, which could attract a bad element. Pair this with the additional traffic, and I think it’s safe to say that families will tend to shy away from spending time on the campus.

5. If these apartments do become a bad element property, then it will be even harder to try and attract businesses to the campus in the remaining buildings.

6. And while the revenue sounds appealing from the lease, its a drop in the bucket compared to 160 residences that will not be paying any type of real estate taxes to the town, while utilizing all the town amenities, schools, etc. 

7. Lastly, I find it interesting that the developer’s offer has to be signed off on for May 1, yet when asked by our first selectman to hold a Q&A with the town, they responded that they could not be prepared to do so for several weeks. This just sounds shady. How could you put a $27 million offer together, and not be prepared to answer questions about it? Especially when the deal has a deadline that is roughly only four weeks away. Sounds to me like they are avoiding the public.

While I am not entirely opposed to some type of residential zoning for the campus, I do believe that this proposal is a terrible idea for the campus and the community in general. I encourage all of you to speak out against this proposal to your Board of Selectmen and at town meetings.

Matt Schuster

10 Timber Lane, Newtown                                            March 29, 2011

(Editor’s note: J. Michael Struna’s “Exclusive Right to Lease Agreement” with the Town of Newtown stipulates that his commission(s) be paid by the town, not the developer.)