Sanders on ND
Here's a guest post from Cheshire resident, Al Sanders:
Cheshire has a long term plan of development for the benefit of all Cheshire residents. Certain areas of the town were designated to support the needs of different types of activity; residential, manufacturing, distribution, corporate headquarters, retail and other activities, and not only to support these, but to protect each activity from each other. The plan was carefully crafted with consideration to many factors such as environmental impacts on the water supply, location to transportation and many other carefully thought out considerations so as to meet the varying needs of each segment of our community. A long term plan prevents sprawl and protects residential areas from businesses that might want to locate within them and vice versa. Where good, firm, guaranteed zoning exists, everyone benefits and they know what they can do and where they can do it, and they don’t have to worry that the rules will change. If the zoning is changed for this large tract, it puts all other zoning on a slippery slope. Others may well be tempted to request a zone change for their properties and put Cheshire into a series of court challenges.
The Interchange Zone Change request, if approved, can cause an everlasting change to the character of Cheshire, and because of that, it should not be voted on until detailed and thorough impact studies are completed. Without impact studies, Planning and Zoning does not have enough information to protect the taxpayers of Cheshire. Because of the great impact it can have, it be would wise to have more public hearings so that the public can furnish more input, and they should also hear the concerns of our Police, Fire, Public Works, Education Department and other service departments to give the uninformed residents more time to find out what is happening. Why the citizens of Cheshire are not allowed to vote on such a significant change to their town is a mystery.
It is imperative that this 400 acre zone change not be voted on before a complete and thorough impact study is made and if there is not enough time to do it, the text change should be denied.
The zone change is to permit mixed use, retail and residential. It affects the entire 400 acre zone, whereas W/S Development will occupy approximately 100 acres for a 500,000 sq ft retail mall and 160 residential units, rental or owned - the developer will not tell us. So, for the entire 400 acres there could be over 600 residences and close to 2,000,000 sq ft of retail.
Al Sanders
49 comments:
A well written comment, clearing stating a position on the issue. The underlying issue is that zoning laws are designed to protect the Town from improper development. If the zone is changed than that means zoning has no value or capability to protect. Zoning laws could be changed by devlopers without much effort. I like the idea the P& Z should not even consider a decision until all of the impact studies have been written, presented, reviewed and verified. Any financial, environmental or other impact studies that are written by consultants hired by the proposed developer need to be fully vetted.
Bill and Sanders are right on. Hopefully the residence of this town will wake up and make their voices heard demanding that the P&Z protect this great town.
Agree. Any decisions for a change of this magnitude, without in-depth studies, is a huge risk. There is risk in any decision, the role of the P&Z Commission is to minimize that risk to the town. At the moment, the deck is heavily stacked in favor of the developer. The P&Z Commission has always done an excellent job, I cannot imagine that there are 5 members sitting on the P&Z Commission willing to gamble with the town's future without first improving the odds in their favor.
To show genuine interest, the P&Z should propose that an impact study be done first, by someone of their choosing, and that the cost of that study be split 50/50 between the town and the proposed developer.
Great comments. How do the citizens voice their opinions other than at the public hearings? They have always been started by long presentations either by the developer or other groups. The citizens had to wait until the very end. The public was basically told not to contact the P&Z members at the very first meeting. This seems a bit unfair. The developer can make presentations to other local boards, groups etc. but we can't contact our elected officials regarding one of the most significant decisions that will affect us. I would suggest to the P&Z. Reject the text change proposal. Then schedule hearings just for the citizens. One, to legally inform us of what the proposal will do. Two-?, to hear our comments, concerns and or questions? More time is needed period...
Great letter, Al. I hope you have sent a copy to the Herald and P&Z. By the way, a member of the BOE put forth a motion for the BOE to discuss the issue and no other member of the BOE would even second it so that they could have a discussion so don't hold your breath with that department. Perhaps police and fire will weigh in on the topic though.
It seems there are two genrations and two though processes that are butting heads in this issue. We have the older generation that has a belief you buy what you can afford and it i okay to say no to your kids. You cannot have evrything at the time you want it. The other side expets and in manu cases belives it is an inherited right to get whatever you want when you want it, either through credit or have someone else pay for. If one does the research in Canton there is one fact fact that stands out, since the building of the their Lifestyle Center the taxes have increased, not decreased. Secondly the develope came back in and requested another zoning change to allow stores over 50,000 sqft. If the Town refused the developer was going to pull out and leave the balance incomplete. The Town got suckere in and caved in to allow the larger stores. Traffic is a nightmare and in most case the residents are not pleased. The people that support this type of development should maybedo research and see if restaurants of their liking would be interested in locating to Cheshire. I'm sure the P&Z would accomodate a request for a piece of land that were all great dining establishments.
12:48
State laws are very clear exparte (outside of the PH process) on communications with PZC members and this is why it essential that members of the community go to the public hearings, ask questions and/or submit written communications during the public hearing process, which in this case is the present up until 5/7/07. Get your comments , pro or con, on the record because it does matter! You are encouraged to go to the planning office and submit there if you cannot make the actual hearing. Letters to the editor are not official communications to the PZC so while maybe important to the community they do not have the official record of a written communication to PZC.
These laws are designed to protect the community, the developer and the landowner. It is essentially the same as our judicial process...clients deal with lawyers and judges render decisions.
People that have come forth think they are supporting the stores. The text change is the big thing. At one presentation w/s even spoke of the canal walk and that people can walk along the river etc. This is what people believe. The canal walk is miles away and nowhere close to being completed to that location. That is what I'm talking about . Are these the facts that they're using to make their decision to support this?? If they are,the P&Z is getting the wrong impression...W/S can say what they want. They have no rules to follow. Everything is in their favor. Laws or no laws they seem to have the upper hand. Start writing to the P&Z because W/S once this is passed can do whatever it pleases. Ask the Canton people...
I can't wait for this project to get started/ It will happens and I think Cheshire will benefit from it.
anon 5:42
Thanks. There were 100-200 people at the two PH meetings. Hopefully the other 20,000+ voting citizens were at home watching and writing letters. This is my point. How do the P&Z people get to known all of their feelings? I hope they all come to the 5/7 PH meeting, if not I guess only the 200 or so will influence the P&Z. It is a lot of pressure on the P&Z. Good luck..
If you can't wait. Go to Canton to see the finished product minus the condo's...
Yes, we must protect the great character of this town...lets see, residents with nose in the air attitudes about other towns, other towns residents, their schools systems and so on. We must protect and attitude that says we are better than those around us.
Oh, of course we should not forget we dont want diminish the value and character of the Maximum Security Prison, nor many of the rundown and poorly maintained homes and neighborhoods in various parts of town. What will people think?
My goodness, someone will think they are equal to us?
Please, this town has a very high, unwarranted opinion of itself. My wife and I have lived here for over 6 years and have been utterly disappointed by the character of people in this town, the quality of services, the cleanliness and upkeep of many of our neighborhoods and the lack of retail and entertainment.
This town needs a kick in the butt, is what it needs and this development is a good start.
I have seen some run down and poorly maintained homes (any town has them). I have not seen entire neighborhoods in this condition. Name one. What will this development do to change that? As far as snobish people, I have to agree with that also. But as I said before what will this development do to rectify that situation?
The snoots don't live in the rundown neighborhoods you're describing. ( your characterization not mine) Besides you're on year six in Cheshire which means statistically you're history after year seven anyway. Take your passion for changing Cheshire elsewhere.
My point is, this town isnt all that folks claim it to be. This notion that this development is bad for town is as wrong as the one which said the new Stop and Shop would change the character of this town forever...it didnt.....fact is this town needs this development and people want it.
As for my comment about entire neighborhoods, just drive to northern Cheshire and drive around, see how many streets you drive down with run down homes.....poorly maintained landscapes etc.
You believe what ya want, this town is a decent place to live but it doesnt live up to the billing....and if I have to listen to another snobbish person in this town tell me how wonderful the schools are, or how ones child must be a swimmer or play on the Cheshire Reds baseball team, lest they be second best, I may scream.....This is not a town I care to have my children grow up in...which is why we wont be staying.....but I will fight to have that development built....that you can count on....
All you people want to do is delay the process. My guess is that most of the people in town against this project have been in both of the meetings. Overall this is very popular. There has been no outcry from anyone expect from that group. I wish there was a way to let the people vote, it wins big.
Interesting comments and to a degree they are true. Cheshire has become a yuppy town. The school system is over rated considering what it costs the tax payer.Many people will leave Conn. sepecially if the Dem. pass the graduated income tax increase. If this was put to a vote it would win because 99.5% of the people are brain dead when it comes to what is going on in town and are intimidated to speak their minds at a public hearing. Only 4 people showed up for the work shops when the budget was put together so everybody will remain brain dead in this area. Many people that called me did not have clue as to what it was all about. I almost had a feeling they were calling from California. This is not a perfect town but it is all relative so remain brain dead and we will see how it all comes out.
Everlasting change can be a good change. Imagine if a long time ago the town decided to have no industrial or retail. We would be in bad shape, change is good and we need to give it a chance.
This proposed develoment will not bring any good to the Town. The taxes will not decrease and any increases intaxes going forward will not be reduced because of this development. The taxes gained will if we are lucky pay for the increased costs of the increased services supplied by the Town for that development. The taxes gained from this development are only about 1 mil per year, not much out of a 90 mil budget.
I wish this could come to a town wide vote because I think it would be voted down. I've spoken to many people around town and the vast majority are against this. Many people don't even realize that this includes residential. If everyone knew all the aspects of this proposal it would surely be defeated.
Anon 10:32 Sorry you feel this way but no town is perfect. The town has changed over the last 40 years and maybe not for the better. I have many friends who have and still live in other so called great towns( you might be considering) and they have similiar situations. It seems that people today don't plant roots and stay in communities a long time. Maybe that's our problem? As far as this proposal, it should be debated but the problem is not enough people have the knowledge or the time to learn about the impact it will have on them or the town.
Great comments. These comments come from thoughtfull residents. If people get informed and just think about the fact this is not just about a shopping Mall but about opening the entire inter change zone to whatever.They will tell you that they can protect and control what comes in this area if the zoning is changed but this is a gray area. Just listen to the questions asked at the beginning of the last hearing and the answers given by the town attorney
This town once had many locally owned small shops,two movie theatres,ice skating rink etc. Times have changed. They are no more. Who forced this change? Supply and demand. The town is not large enough to support all of the shops that are proposed(50)and the remaining in town center. An impact study would show this. This proposal will depend mostly on a large area for its customer base. We will be not benefit greatly financially for the luxury of newness and convenience. When the novelty wears off, what will we be paying for??
We are the CAVE men in town
We act like the circus clown
Extinct we will be
If we continue to flee
From good sense all around
Show me the good sense. I can't find it in this proposal.
We have a poet Laureate
Who seems to be all wet
When you have no intelligent comment to make you have to resort to really bad rhymes. Good to know that elementary school education is still there though!
I say go for it with the north end
We have all to gain
Stop with the gloomy gus report all the time
anon 8:03 How can you make a comment like that? This is about a text change to the whole 400 acres. I said 400. Get your facts, then make your thoughts known to the P&Z. Write a letter or go to the meeting on 5/7 ... That is the only thing that will count. Good luck ....
Who in town is still supporting the residential part of the text change? W/S when asked at least two times about this has replied "NO it's not needed". So I ask why is it still in? Who will profit from all the condo's? Why aren't the cost of these never mentioned? We have been told the shops will be "HIGH END" but no guess as to the condo costs. Why?
Someone in this town wants this bad. Why is a prior P&Z member and councilman able to obtain large posters of the "PLAN" from the developer? He has used this to obtain signatures for something that could be completely different. Something has a bad odor here. What is going on?
Gloom and doom
Doom and Gloom
There is something going to bloom
Just look north
Its gonna happen
so let it happen
Cheshire will change for the better
Get with it old timer
3:44 Where do you have your head? It's maybe in the southend..
Bottom line - YOU'RE A JERK!!!!
Shops stores and maybe more
The WS people have come to spread some nice magic dust
Be sure to check out the movies and the resturants and the coffee.
Be happy when it happens or move to Sterling where they roll up the streets at 6 every night
I don't know if it's the Magic Dust or just something your smoking. This is not the yellow brick road in the Emerald City.
The poet has spoiled another good exchange of ideas. Please ignore him and keep up the discussion. Thanks....
You can try to stop it
It won't work
You can put up the roadblocks
You can look like a jerk
WS and the boys are building the north end
Move to Vermont if you want
But you will need everything they sell
Based on what I read from the alleged poet I can only surmise he was educated in our wonderful, highly rated school system. There is no hope for the next generation.
I like the plan for the north end and all that it entails. We can use the tax money and the shopping.
Who cares?
What is all the fuss?
We can have a great town and a great lifestyle center. Let the thing happen and have some fun.
we don't need no residential
we just need some growth control
No teeming masses in our classrooms
Developer, leave our kids alone
All in all, it's just another brick in the sprawl
This plan is the best thing that can happen for Cheshire. We are going to support this all the way.
An organization called Canton Cares wrote a letter to the P&Z. In it they stated the things that have happened in Canton since their development. One the town has not experienced a windfall in taxes from this development. When you pay for the costs to infrastructure (fire, police, etc.) it doesn't produce. Also as far as Cheshire is concerned we have the added cost of residential which would make this project a loss. Also Canton Cares brought out the issue of crime associated with a shopping complex. They said their police department has had to hire extra police to deal with the shoplifting, stolen cars, bad checks, etc. It also will become a teen hangout (and not just Cheshire teens). Why would Cheshire want to downgrade our town in this way. I can see if we are going to collect taxes that will greatly offset our taxes, but it doesn't. Cheshire be careful what you ask for it may come back to bite you in the ass.
There is a clear need for all the north end shoppes. When we get this done all will be happy.
Where is the need? We have all the shopping we need within a few miles. Also what about this shopping center is going to make everyone happy? Are we that shallow?
This zone change must be turned down to save the town of Cheshire from the developers.
It is our town and the planning and zoning must think of the rights of the Cheshire Citizens more than developers.
People who dont like it in cheshire should move to Queen street or Canton.
Do you really think they would build an amphitheater for the use of Cheshire residents? Ha,Ha, Ha.... If they can't make money off it, it's not going to happen. And, why does Cheshire need an amphitheater 4.1 miles from the center of town? We have a great High School auditorium and Cheshire Park has been used for 30 or more years for concerts and other activities.
The Planning and Zoning Public Hearing really doesn't seem like a real public hearing, at least not like a Senate Subcommittee hearing. No witnesses are called and the committee seldom asks a question of the principle parties. Members of the general public line get up and say they think it would be great if they could have another place to shop or where they could eat or they would like to go someplace else. Other people ask questions and for the most part answers are not given by either the commission or the developer. When are the hard questions going to be answered and will the public ever learn the answers? It is clear that there are too many questions that have to be raised and more that have to be raised and answered in a public form before an approval of this zone change can be made. Right now the developer has only offered generalities to the commission and the generalities keep changing.
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