Office Building

Would Set A Bad Precedent

To the Editor:

I am writing in regards to the proposed development at the corner of The Boulevard and Church Hill Road. The office building, which is expected to be primarily for medical office use, is 35,000 square feet with 164 parking spaces and is estimated to generate approximately 1,000 cars per day. Since the State of Connecticut has determined it to be too dangerous to place a new curb cut onto Church Hill Road because of the present traffic conditions, the developers have proposed to locate the entrance for the building onto The Boulevard, a secondary residential road. The developers have even proposed a traffic light to be placed on the intersection of Church Hill Road and The Boulevard, which the state concluded would only decrease traffic flow adding to the problems that Church Hill Road currently experiences.

Now my question is: How does anyone believe that dumping all of those proposed 1,000 cars onto a secondary street each day would somehow be acceptable? Upon learning of the plan, I was outraged. Yes, The Boulevard does see its share of traffic, which has increased dramatically in the ten years that my family has lived here but I never believed that any developer would be so presumptuous. To expect that this secondary road could even handle such traffic is delusional. It is estimated that 80 percent of the traffic exiting and entering the professional building will turn left toward Church Hill Road, only adding to the congestion, with 20 percent turning up The Boulevard. Now the traffic study is an estimate and cannot truly determine exactly which route these vehicles are going take with any degree of certainty. Most of the traffic that would use the office building entrance could very well come from the north end of The Boulevard and not enter from the south off of Church Hill Road. This would enable drivers the opportunity to avoid the flagpole and lights on Church Hill Road by driving past my home through my residential neighborhood to enter the professional building lot.

The Boulevard is home to many young families with small children. I, myself, have two young boys. I feel for their safety and for the safety of the other 32 children who live in our quiet neighborhood. I am not antidevelopment, I just believe that one should use a reasonable amount of logic when making decisions that will affect the lives of the residents involved. To allow a curb cut onto The Boulevard would set precedent that no residential neighborhood, whether in the Borough or surrounding areas, would be safe from future commercial infringement. Therefore, I strongly urge the Borough Planning and Zoning Commission to deny the professional building proposal based on the fact that commercially zoned properties are not permitted curb cuts in residentially zoned areas. The commission should also consider halting further development in this area until an appropriate plan is in place to correct the traffic issues that currently plague Church Hill Road.

Jennifer Peterson

25 The Boulevard, Newtown                                           April 15, 2003