To the Editor:

As I write this at 2:30 on Friday, May 20, returning from what I hoped would be a quick trip to Hollandia Nurseries in Bethel, traffic was backed up on Hawleyville Rd to the I-84 exits.

No, the Highway was moving freely so congestion doesn’t explain the 10 minute wait to get to Route 6. Returning via 302, hoping to avoid the mess on Hawleyville Rd and Route 6, traffic on 25 was backed up in both directions at the intersection and southbound traffic was backed up to the monument. Currituck was backed up as well. Either way we went there were traffic delays.

My point: if the truck warehouse were factored into this traffic mess I can’t imagine how the delays would be compounded.

I’m thinking back to last year’s debate in Fairfield as to whether to allow a Chick-fil-A to be allowed to move ahead with their proposal to locate on the Post Rd. Sure, that type of business is acceptable according to zoning laws. But in their commissioners’ infinite wisdom they denied the proposal.

To quote one member: “It’s definitely out of scale and out of harmony to our downtown area,” zoning commissioner Kathryn Braun said.

Another member said: “People don’t want any more traffic downtown,” Secretary Meg Francis said, noting the property had been home to sit-down restaurants for 60 years and that she felt Chick-fil-A belonged directly on a highway rather than at a site near an interstate exit.

Finally, the prospect of such congestion was a source of concern for commissioner Thomas Noonan. “The chance that there’s any queuing that backs up on Post Road is unacceptable,” he said.

This, in my estimation, shows a thoughtful process; by listening to over 200 e-mails and testimonials the Fairfield zoning board came to the conclusion that this was not the best plan for the restaurant’s location and it was subsequently denied.

The same should hold here. Technically this proposal would fit the zoning laws but there are many other factors at play.

As an aside, we have friends who live directly across from the proposed site. They are mulling whether to move quickly to put their house on the market in the event that this warehouse is approved.

Would you want to be the new owner of such a house, not realizing what was lurking in your future?

Geraldine Carley

Newtown