To The Editor:

The Newtown Planning and Zoning Board is again facing some big challenges. Mandated to support development of the town as well as support its welfare and property, it is now facing two proposals which might be viewed as no-win situations — the proposals to change zoning to add at least 367 new apartments along Mt Pleasant, stretching from Rt 25 West almost to the Bethel line. They are based on legislation known as 8-30g which “appears” to mandate that approximately 30% must be rented as affordable housing. But the Board HAS options to deny these requests because safety and health issues make these proposals questionable. (These proposals do not include the land immediately next to Hollandia Gifts which straddles the Bethel border, being leveled by the current owner to make it more attractive for building!)

The October 16th meeting heard several requests for re-zoning of Newtown properties to accommodate the needs of developers. We did not stay to hear them all but the two cases we did hear were enough to make us want move out of Newtown. The proposals we heard will only add to the uglification of Newtown. If we had wanted to live in a concrete corridor, we could have chosen to move to New York City!

Aside from the fact that traffic which is already a nightmare in this area would be horrendously increased, there are health and safety concerns and adding this many new homes to Newtown would burden police, ambulance corps and firefighting and would necessitate an increase in taxes without bringing any additional revenue to Newtown. Sufficient water is questionable for everyday use as well as for fire fighting in one proposed zone and also threatens water at the residential community of Liberty at Newtown which is immediately adjacent to this project. Additionally there are potential traffic hazards along this strip of Mt Pleasant which has already seen at least one accident as well as traffic safety hazards on Rt 25.

I implore P&Z to consider their options and DENY the text amendment proposals put forth by Mt Pleasant Development District. There are cogent reasons NOT to approve these changes in zoning! Thank you for considering these reasons — DO NOT BE INTIMIDATED!

Beth Holland

Newtown