To the Editor:

Usually I write to the editor after a P&Z meeting complaining that they did not listen to the public and approved whatever was being requested.

I thought this time I would write prior to the October 3 meeting where a second gas station near exit 9 on Route 25 (Hawleyville Road) is seeking approval. P&Z already approved a gas station 1/4 mile north of this location, next to the Hawleyville fire house. Do we seriously need a second gas station here? This second gas station will have eight pumping stations. That means 16 pumps. There will be an exit onto Covered Bridge Road as well as Route 25. There is no traffic light at Covered Bridge because the traffic engineer has said it is not needed.

This area does not need any more development of this type. We now have a church and 200-plus apartments being constructed on Covered Bridge Road, and the large baby warehouse — uh, I mean day care — at the corner of Route 25 and Saw Mill Road.

If anybody reading this travels this area, you know how badly these roads back up normally, never mind if there is an accident on I-84. Also, there is no other exit from Covered Bridge Road. So if there is a horrible accident/explosion at the gas station, there is no way for anybody in this neighborhood to get out or emergency vehicles to get in.

We have been fighting this development in Hawleyville for five years now. P&Z has approved everything that has been requested. Are they ever going to deny an application for development? Do they know how to say “No?” I hear many people complaining about the development in Newtown and the direction it is all going. It takes more than a handful of families telling P&Z they do not want this for Newtown. This development has not lowered my taxes. In fact, they went up this year.

Believe me, I understand how difficult it can be to finish a day of work and then go to town meetings, especially when it seems nobody is listening anyway. But I think it’s important to keep trying. The future of the town depends on it. If you are concerned about the direction that the town is going and the additional traffic that this is bringing, please let P&Z know.

Thank you.

Janet McKeown

10 Hillcrest Drive, Newtown September 25, 2019