Rosenthal Is Right

To the Editor:

I would like to commend Herb Rosenthal for taking the initiative to clear the eyesore of the derelict service station on Church Hill Road, between Queen and Main. Most Newtown residents take great pride in the historic beauty of our town. Whoever owns the property should be ashamed. If the owner does not want to sell the property, or has not received an offer to his liking, he should at least level the building and remove it and the junkyard around it. Is there a way the town can help the owner facilitate this process?

A recent letter to The Bee suggested that Herb’s effort to condemn the site constituted government interference. Please. Towns have zoning laws from which we all benefit. Members of the Newtown Historical Society, elected town officials, police, town workers and scores of unpaid town committee members work hard every day to make our town decent, safe place to raise our children. They should be appreciated a little more and criticized a little less, especially when it comes to an issue as clear as this one.

I’m certain readers of The Bee would be interested to know more about the abandoned property. Who owns the property? Has the owner ever been asked to clear the site as a public service? Is the property for sale? How much is he asking for the property? Does the site have an environmental problem? Has the ground been tested around the old gasoline holding tanks? Are those tanks empty or are they partially filled with gasoline? Can the site be convert to an alternative entrance to the shopping center? Is the Big Y interested in the property? Is the property being marketed to fast food companies? Is the town interested in the property? How long should a commercial property in the Borough of Newtown sit abandoned before the town takes action to correct the situation?

The Hawley Manor on Main Street was filled with drug paraphernalia and squatters a few years after being abandoned during a previous administration. Taxes were not being paid on the property. Herb Rosenthal was elected to improve the quality of life in Newtown and he is doing that. Let’s support that effort.

Tom Belli

Taunton Hill Road, Newtown                                      August 12, 2001