To the Editor:

It behooves me to address the irrational, bordering on the insane, proposal to construct a warehouse/tractor trailer truck terminal at a site on the south side of Exit 9 off I-84.

The following topics will be discussed: noise pollution; air pollution; a pervasive increase in existing heavy traffic in town; plummeting property values; and the daycare center across the street [from the proposed site].

Please listen to the loud drone of tractor trailer engines, especially in the still of the night as they labor to make it up the eastbound incline between Exits 8 and 9. Listen as some take Exit 9, engines roaring and exhaust popping as they downshift. Dare to open your windows and enjoy during sleep time, the cool fresh air, the owls, the night hawks, deer, and coyotes. All through the night, multiply that engine noise potentially by a factor of 76! Unfortunately, that’s all you will hear.

With a slight wind from the north, we will be blanketed by a major increase in air pollution, which will affect all of Newtown — not just the west side and the day care center across the street.

Imagine these trucks in the mix of rush hour traffic, avoiding I-84, exiting at 8 and heading southbound on Route 6 toward the terminal at Exit 9.

Picture yourself a prospective home buyer, exiting off I-84 at 9 and right in front of you is an enormous warehouse and numerous trailers waiting to enter. What would you do? You might just get right back on the highway.

Home values in turn would plummet as word spreads about this potentially disastrous decision.

Please don’t sell us out. It’s the wrong type of tax revenue for our town.

For the sake of the tremendous investment in Newtown we have made through the years, come to your senses. Find another buyer. Keep it “Nicer in Newtown.”

Respectfully,

Ralph B. Savarese

Newtown