To the Editor:

To confound us even more and add to the various reasons to pay attention to the over zealous proposed development near Castle Hill Road, we now have an historic town-owned piece of land that is on the chopping block for discontinuance and in essence being given to a developer.

On many levels this is the wrong move for our town. Firstly, the town owns the land and as taxpayers, we have a say in this matter. Who benefits by giving it to the developer? Well, the developer does quite frankly. The urgency to discontinue the road by the developer makes his two parcels allowed to be developed as one. One which is steep and has far less potential for construction, and the other an upland area where 117 home sites are proposed.

Who loses out? All of us do. The trail has been in use by the Bikes and Trails Committee, Aquarion Water, and area walkers and hikers for many years. There is no guarantee that once the land and road are in private hands, the trail will be preserved.

What is certain is that if the town gives away our historic land where Rochambeau and his Army passed along during the American Revolution, the area will no longer be under public control and enjoyment, but instead will be at the whim of the developer to maintain. Further, the character of the land will be forever changed.

Moreover, an archeological and environmental survey which meets the State Historic Preservation Office Standards has yet to be completed in this area. And, we already know that there are thousands of years of Native American and Colonial history along with the artifacts that are yet to be discovered in the area.

Have we not already learned from our past mistakes in our pursuit of “progress” where we have filled wetlands, plowed and paved over other historic sites and created more homes in woodland areas — forever altering the public’s enjoyment of these parcels?

The time is now to put a stop to these short-sighted decisions and not allow for the carelessness which accompanies this road discontinuance.

I stand with my peers and am urging the Board of Selectmen to not discontinue or convey this slice of history to the owner of 20-60 Castle Hill Road.

Dan Holmes

Newtown