To the Editor:

The lawyers for the warehouse project at 10 Hawleyville Road might have said that there will be jobs at the proposed warehouse, but no one in Newtown can afford to take one.

The average salary of a warehouse worker in CT is $25,000 per year. The median price of a house in Newtown is $563,738. The average apartment rental in Newtown is $1,600. Most economists suggest paying 30% of your gross salary for housing. That would require a yearly salary of $60,000.

So those 360 people who work there (let’s assume that the owners of the proposed warehouse are such good businessmen that when they spent money to create 360 parking spots, they intended to fill them with workers) may be coming from the east.

And when traffic on I-84 gets heavy, they may get off the highway at exit 10 and drive through town, causing incredible traffic. And horrendous air pollution. All 360 of them. And then they may do the same on the way home.

Maybe there will be more than one shift. Two shifts? That would be 720 workers possibly traveling through town. Both ways.

According to the World Health Organization, asthma is the most common childhood disease, and traffic pollution makes it worse. “...traffic pollution is comprised of adverse toxins like carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, sulfur, benzene, and particulate matter.” World Health Organization.

Newtown cannot afford this warehouse. It’s horrendous for the extra traffic it will create. It is even worse for all the children whose lung health will be affected by the commuting of the 360 people the owners themselves predict will be working there.

Laura E. Lerman

Newtown