Residents Seek Protection

For Pond Brook Road

By Steve Bigham

E. Eugene Cox has lived all 58 years of his life on Pond Brook Road. Needless to say, he’s got a special place in his heart for this dirt road on the edge of town. It winds its way through wooded areas, passes centuries-old stone walls, and makes its way along a stream stocked with brook trout.

There’s not a lot of traffic on this old road and Mr Cox is hoping to keep it from becoming over-developed. He recently filed an application with the town seeking scenic road status for the three-quarter-mile unpaved section of Pond Brook Road. Almost every property owner has signed the petition and the signatures are currently being verified in the town clerk’s office.

The application comes less than a month after a local developer proposed subdivision on a 54-acre property at 23 Pond Brook Road. Engineer Larry Edwards recently filed his application with the town’s land use department to build 14 homes on Whispering Pines Road. The property is currently owned by Vera Weeden, who has agreed to sell the land if the subdivision is approved.

Mr Cox said he and his neighbors are not necessarily opposed to the plan, but they want to make sure it gets done right. They want to make sure the character of their road is protected, not to mention wetland areas and Pond Brook itself, which flows right through the middle of 23 Pond Brook.

“Becoming a scenic road is something we have been talking about for the past couple of years. This was the impetus that caused us to say we better get off our you-know-what and do it,” Mr Cox explained.

Neighbors have also grown concerned over the town’s recent widening of certain parts of the road.

“What we would like to see happen is that all local, state, and federal regulations be followed. I own a section of the old Shepaug railroad track and I’ve been toying with the idea of giving an easement to the town. If they allow the development, it is going to block the trail through [Mrs Weeden’s] property,” Mr Cox said.

The unpaved section of Pond Brook Road runs from Lake George to the intersection with Hanover Road.

The Board of Selectmen is expected to take up the issue at its next meeting. The application must also receive approval from the Legislative Council.

The scenic road ordinance, approved by the council in 1997, was designed to give Newtown’s most rural and rustic roads protection from further alterations. Newtown has many scenic roads, however, and the council ran into problems when it told residents of some roads that their road was not worthy of scenic road status.

In response, the council revised the ordinance language in 1999 to clarify that a road is not guaranteed scenic road status simply because it meets a list of criteria –– such as having old trees, stone walls, ponds, etc.

To date, Sanford Road and Zoar Road are the town’s only designated scenic roads.