Letter: More High-Density Housing Means Lower Quality of Life in Fairfield

[Editor's note: The following letter was submitted by Jan Reber.]

Fairfield is at a critical juncture in its development. It has reached an infrastructure tipping point. Our roads and traffic flows were designed decades ago, and they are reaching the stage where some streets such as the Post Road in Fairfield Center, Mill Plain Road, and North Benson Road are overloaded and experience significant problems at various times of day. 

There are also dramatically increased risks to pedestrians from the steady stream of cars and trucks. (A recent study shows that Fairfield County is way above average in pedestrian fatalities.) The sounds of horns from frustrated drivers, the inability to make turns into oncoming traffic to enter parking lots and side streets, the exhaust fumes that waft over sidewalk diners, and the amount of time it takes to get across town are some of the factors that are gradually degrading the quality of our lives in Fairfield.

On Tuesday, Plan & Zoning took an important step in protecting us from more high-density development when it declined to rehear an application for Osprey Landing, a proposed dense condo development that would be located in the heart of downtown and in close proximity to the intersection of the Post Road, Mill Plain Road  and Carter Henry Drive, the most congested locale in Fairfield. 

Unfortunately, Osprey Landing is not the only dense development seeking approval. A huge apartment building is planned for Metro Center, but our town infrastructure cannot support hundreds of apartments.  (The same lawyer, John Fallon, represents Osprey Landing and Metro Center.) Looming in the future is the likelihood of high-density mixed use development at the Exide site which is not far from the Post Road-Mill Plain-Carter Henry intersection. 

The inevitable impact of intense residential development on our schools and on infrastructure such as sewers and roads mean that when developers make money selling dense housing, the rest of us will be perpetually paying for it with higher taxes, congested roads, and more strain on the quality of life that makes Fairfield a distinctive place to live.

In this election season, we need to question all candidates on their position on high density development, and we need to make sure that our elected representatives protect us before life in Fairfield is further degraded.

Signed,

Jan R. Reber