To the Editor:

For more than 50 Borough residents attending a recent public hearing (December 13) by Inland-Wetlands Commission to consider Castle Hill Real Estate’s cluster development proposal, the evening proved informative but also frustrating.

We had come to gain facts and ask questions concerning the developer’s plan to build 117 homes on 66 acres of a pristine 136-acre property at the very center of Newtown. To some extent, and despite difficulties hearing audio testimony within that echoic chamber, we did gather the following information.

We learned from local builder George Trudell that 70 acres at the western edge of the entire 136-acre property would be left totally undeveloped to protect the Taunton Pond watershed. Charts and maps on display showed the development’s main entrance would be from the east at Johnny Cake Lane off Mount Pleasant Road.

Obviously, herein lay the Inland Wetland Commission’s challenge. How to mitigate runoff from an active 66-acre construction site over an estimated period of four to five years to completion. And after that, how to control or divert rainwater flow across densely packed, impervious surfaces like roads, driveways and roof tops without pollutants entering nearby forested wetlands, streams, and vernal pools.

More questions arose. Would the iconic forested ridgeline at the development’s east end be preserved? Would clear cutting cause existing homes set below the high ridge over King Street and across from Castle Hill Road be affected by erosion? Would a 15-inch culvert under a low-lying road crossing between two wetlands be big enough to divert water during extreme flooding events?

Finally, what about the disruption of critical wildlife habitat that will inevitably occur? Will native amphibians like wood frogs and endangered spotted salamanders be able to safely cross roadways as they migrate from the forest to the vernal pools to breed in spring?

When the meeting finally concluded, we departed with more questions than answers. For lack of time, only two of us were allowed to speak. Recognizing this problem, the commission decided to hold a follow-up public hearing on the Castle Hill Real Estate project at 7:30 pm on Wednesday, January 10, 2024, in the Municipal Center Council Chambers. The public will again be invited to attend, but their comments will be allowed at the beginning rather than the end of the session.

If you have concerns, please attend.

Dottie Evans

Newtown