Provide Housing Choices

For Newtowners

(The Bee has received for publication the following open letter to the Newtown Planning and Zoning Commission.)

Dear Planning and Zoning Commission Members:

Thank you for the opportunity to speak at the Public Hearing of June 7, 2001 regarding Ginsburg Development Corporation’s proposed Active Adult Community at Route 6. As some of you may know, I have resided in this community since 1957. I purchased my first home here in 1965 and have lived in that home for more than 30 years now. I raised my children in this town, they attended the public schools here an my son is buried in Newtown Cemetery. I am deeply committed to this town and, as well as being involved in local commerce, I have served in a volunteer capacity with numerous boards, commissions and other civic organizations, including the Chamber of Commerce, the Library Board and as Senior Warden of my church.

The reason that I state all this is not simply to announce my own credentials, but in the hopes that you, as commission members and representatives of this town, will recognize that I am a long-time resident of this community with a deep-seated commitment to the community’s well being. It is very important to me personally that I am able to maintain that connection with Newtown so that I might be able to continue to contribute and give back to the community that I love very dearly. However, I am also at a point in my life where it is very important to me that I, as an individual and a citizen, be able to make the individual lifestyle choices that reflect my needs and desires as a person. The home that I purchased in 1965 and raised a family in no longer suits my needs. I am at a point in my life where I have the need to visit family and friends, some of whom are now dispersed far from Newtown and I would also like to be able to travel and I believe I’ve earned the right to do so.

Both my work and my involvement with community service in Newtown affords me the opportunity to speak with many individuals who are at a similar point in their lives and who share similar desires. I know the commission is concerned that they have not heard any great outcry from people wishing to speak on your proposed zoning amendments or on the proposed Ginsburg development. It is my sincere hope that you will not misread this as uniform support for the status quo or for a rolling back of the chance to provide opportunities for people like myself. With high profile issues, such as the purchase of Fairfield Hills and the building of a new 5/6 school, demanding the attention of virtually every Newtown citizen, I firmly believe that there are not many individuals who are even aware of your proposed amendments or of the proposed Ginsburg development. Furthermore, in my experience with this town, people will show up to oppose something they greatly dislike but are not as motivated to give up their evenings to come out and speak at public hearings on what they may view as a relatively minor, targeted and specific zoning amendment that they do not see immediately affecting them one way or another. Please rest assured, that there are many, many older citizens in this community who have spoken to me and expressed their shared desire to remain in this community but to do so consistent with their own lifestyle choices.

Specifically, many of us had family and friends move far from Newtown and in our golden years we desire the ability to readily and easily visit these family and friends in their far flung places while also knowing that our homes are safe, secure and being cared for. For those of us who have spent a lifetime contributing to this community and those of us who desire to do little more than be allowed to contribute to ever greater degrees as more free time becomes available to us, this does not appear to be an unreasonable request or an inappropriate consideration for a town Planning and Zoning Commission whose primary purpose is to serve all of its citizens.

All I’m really asking is that this commission does not take actions that will push me and others like me out of town even as we look forward to continuing to actively participate and contribute to this great community. As you engage in your deliberations on GDC’s application and your overall zoning amendments, please ask yourself if the public purpose is better served by drawing a hard line against any and all types of multi-family housing or whether that public purpose is best served by allowing attractive, discretely place housing opportunities for some of Newtown’s longest-term residents.

I thank you very much for your continued interest, your contributions to this community and for exercising your best judgment in service to us all.

Sincerely,

Joseph Humeston

8 Jeremiah Road, Sandy Hook                                     June 12,2001