Newtown That Once Was
Newtown That Once Was
To the Editor:
Thank you Daniel Maxwell, for writing such a poignant letter (June 3) about Newtownâs changes in the last few years. I noticed the same destruction of barns and farms with dread and horror.
Unfortunately, the wooded land and old farms are disappearing quickly all over Connecticut and in most of the country as well. I guess people donât realize no one will knock down 32 houses to create a farm in the future. The farms and open space that are left are precious. The developers eye them with dollar signs and laugh all the way to the bank as they strip communities of their natural beauty. What is infuriating is that it is all disguised as âgood for the community as far as tax revenueâ and that other misnomer, progress.
Progress is hardly positive, in these circumstances, especially when there is no coherent design planned out for the long term. A development of cookie cutter homes is not that attractive compared to treed property with individuality and charm. A big box store on Route 25 spells more traffic and unsightly signs and a huge parking lot.
The people moving into Newtown do not have the same point of reference as you, and of course, they will want more âimprovementsâ so they donât have to drive to Brookfield, which is cursed with heavy traffic on Federal Road. Brookfield used to be as rural as Newtown less than 20 years ago. They wanted all those big box stores and now they have them. Can they turn back today?
Look how crowded and homogenized Fairfield is. It used to be open fields and farms too. The developers were there first and simply put, it is our turn, if we let them, to pillage Newtown.
If the town managers let the developers change each and every zoning designation, then it is really shame on us. If we start voicing our opposition to zoning changes with a clear message of less development, fewer new oversized homes, fewer condos, maybe weâll have a chance to prove less is more.
JoAnne Barnhart
Brushy Hill Road, Newtown                                        June 8, 2005