It is an astounding "Welcome to Newtown!" for those halted at the stoplight where Route 25 intersects Mt Pleasant Road. Rising up and up at the corner of Sawmill Road is an example of what happens when development proposal details are taken for granted, in the form of a looming facility rapidly taking shape.

Perhaps beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but for now, it takes some squinting to see that.

For those who have been taken off guard by the project, well... It was no secret at the public hearing held last July that this developer was looking to add nearly 17,000 square feet to the freestanding historic farmhouse on that property. Perhaps 17,000 square feet is hard to envision - but the size must have been considered in context to the surrounding area when the project was proposed.

The traffic report that area roads would accommodate the project with improved safety, and would not generate a significant amount of traffic, ought to have raised eyebrows of dozens of residents. Anyone who lives in that section of town or travels through it is aware that the intersection of Saw Mill and Mt Pleasant Roads as they lead to Route 25 and the entrance ramps to I-84 is breathtakingly hazardous, without the potential of dozens more vehicles vying to get in and out of the new property.

P&Z member Roy Meadows and P&Z Chair Robert Mulholland did question this analysis at the time, to no avail, it seems. Only a lone resident spoke up, also expressing the challenges posed at this intersection.

Hopefully, closer attention has been paid to preserving the pristine nature of the brook that borders the property than appears to have been to the scope of the main building. Adding the parking lot and playground will be additional disturbances to the property.

The public had ample opportunity for input and this paper followed the process closely; to have residents startled at this late point in the game is as unfortunate as the recent low voter turnout at the town referendum. Those who profess to cherish the historic charm of our town, but take no heed of actions that weaken that thread with the past, cannot complain.

When designs are not scrutinized and looked at in the grand scheme of things; if special zoning permits and overlay zoning districts become the norm, the charming aspects of Newtown and its natural beauty will be lost.

It is too late to undo this acquiescence to a developer's desires once again allowed, but it will stand for decades as a gigantic reminder to any who profess the desire to maintain a historic town character that wishful thinking will not stop progress; public hearings exist so that the public is educated - and no one is caught by surprise.

The developers worked with the town to develop a building plan adhering to regulations; now, support for this enterprise must take as large a shape as the shadow it casts.