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Conservation Panel To Rule In Open Space Dispute

GENNEWS

Conservation Commission members plan to inspect a piece of open space land

near Old Purdy Station Road that has generated controversy between nearby

residents and members of the Newtown Bridle Lanes Association.

At issue is how open space in the town's open space network should be used.

Commission members are expected to rule on what constitutes a valid use of

open space land.

In a letter to Conservation Commission Chairman Donald Lawrenson, Richard J.

Pacheco of 4 Old Purdy Station Road writes he is concerned that the commission

allows private groups to cut trees and brush from open space areas near his

property.

"It is the commission's responsibility (to uphold laws) so that no one and/or

private groups have the authority to be able to cut down trees and brush ...

from open space. If you allow this to happen, then any resident in this town

can cut a Christmas tree or trees that is in their way from any open or public

area that has been defined as open land or open space," Mr Pacheco writes.

Mr Pacheco asks that anyone on the Conservation Commission who is associated

with the bridle association be disqualified from voting on the issue.

When land is subdivided, developers typically donate about 10 percent of the

land to the town or to some private conservation group that maintains the land

for passive public recreation, such as hiking, nature study, horseback riding

and bird watching.

The Newtown Bridle Lanes Association maintains horseback riding trails on the

town's open space network, including the Old Purdy Station Road area.

Mr Pacheco won't allow people to cross the strip of town-owned open space land

that abuts his land. He says he has mowed the grass since he moved in three

years ago. In the past, a developer donated the land to the town as open

space.

Mr Pacheco apparently wants riders and walkers to use a nearby dried stream

bed instead of the open space but the stream bed is privately owned.

Beverly McMillian, treasurer of the bridle association, said recently the

piece of land involved in the dispute may be relatively small, but it is in an

important location. The land is an integral link for the greenway system, she

said. The association had the land surveyed but someone pulled up the stakes,

she said. If Mr Pacheco gets a favorable ruling, why even have open space, she

asked.

David McCauley, a member of the Greenways Committee and a board member of the

bridle association, said he doesn't want to ride his horse across other

people's lawns. That is why the greenways panel is trying to get all the

greenways marked.

Phyllis Zygnont, a member of the Greenways Committee and chairman of the

bridle group, said the state has informed all towns to develop greenways

plans. Not all towns have, but Newtown has a greenways committee, she said.