Letter: High Density Residential and the Town Plan

[Editor's note: The following letter was submitted by RTM members Carol Pontrelli (R-9) and Ruth Smey (D-5)].

Our town of Fairfield is a tightly-packed community with many neighborhoods of diverse housing and residents. The residential landscape is dense; and as outside developers continue to submit proposals for more high-density residential projects, prospects for greater density intensify.  

In total there are nearly 2,000 existing condo units in Fairfield. Examples are:  Southport Woods (177 units), Mosswood Condominiums (136), Woodfield Village (134 units), Greenfield Hunt (100 units), New Hampshire Common (99 units), Dogwood Green (90 units), Strathmoor (70 units), Stone Ridge (70 Units), Sunny Ridge (69 Units), Park North (64 units), Colonial Gardens (56 units), The Meadows (50 units);  and approximately 12 additional complexes with more than 25 units.  Several of these units even lie vacant in our sluggish economy. 

Yet two more proposals for high-density residential developments are either before the Town Plan and Zoning Commission or pending: a revised application for 185 Thorpe Street for the construction of a 55-unit condo, which involves key zone changes with town-wide implications and which was vigorously opposed by Neighborhood residents; the other is the pending 197-unit apartment complex at the Metro Center site, recently opposed by our First Selectman.  

The aim of high-density, residential development by that of private enterprise, takes on a piecemeal view of the town; as it takes a narrow focus on a particular location and site plan. It is, by default, an indiscriminate planner of town growth and design. It is a de facto form of planning which is an inadequate and disordered substitute for a comprehensive and quantifiable Town Plan. 

What is our town’s go-forward plan for residential and commercial development?  Isn't it time to have an open forum with residents, taxpayers and town boards on the effects of high-density residential growth on our infrastructure, our schools, our taxes; as well as on the town character and safety and quality of life? We need a game plan and a clear and consistent assertion of where this town is headed -- before it’s too late.  

Carol Pontrelli (RTM, R-9)
Ruth Smey (RTM, D-5)