Private Property, Development,

And Demand

To the Editor:

This letter is in response to Margaret Spinner’s letter dated July 20th.

Her letter titled “The Eye Sore of the Beholder” prompted me to respond.

Ms Spinner refers to Treadwell Park becoming an eyesore due to the removal of trees for a housing development. She complains of the noise due to the construction. Ms Spinner should know the facts before she opens her mouth and writes a letter to the editor.

She complains of losing walking trails. Any town trails that were there still exist. The 65-acre parcel that she refers to and is being developed is, and always was, the Tilson family property. If Ms Spinner was walking on those trails she was trespassing on private property. I am sure a law abiding citizen does not trespass.

The removal of trees beside Treadwell Park pool is for a soccer/multi-purpose field that my family and I donated to the Town of Newtown. There will also be walking trails all the way around the development called Tilson Woods in which I am building 40 custom homes. My family has donated twice the amount of “open space” that the town requires. I feel that the gifts to the town and its residents are of great magnitude and nothing to complain about. The noise is a temporary inconvenience, but the finished new field and the walking trails plus homes for 40 new families will be the outcome.

My family has been in Newtown for 200 years. Newtown High School sits on my family’s land. As the oldest Tilson male, I have taken the role of ensuring that my family members benefit from the land profit. I am not overdeveloping the land, just trying to get the best use out of it while leaving behind enough of the natural landscape. There will not be any barren, treeless lots as Ms Spinner feels.

All land in Newtown is owned by someone. Taxes are paid on it, and owners should be able to use the land as they wish as long as it is legally approved. Recent upzoning is going to slow development. However, I feel this is unfair to land owners who purchased the property long ago under different regulations, and now have lost some of the land’s value. If Ms Spinner owned 65 acres of valuable property what would she do with it? Would she donate it to the town for open space or forestry without any financial gain at all? I do not think so.

Newtown is a very desirable place to live because of the great school system. It still has country flair. No huge malls, warehouse outlets, corporate or industrial parks.

When the whole project is done, Ms Spinner can take a walk around the new soccer field to see kids playing, families enjoying their new homes and neighborhood. I have been in Newtown for all of my 47 years. If she sees the change, how does she think I feel? Most people take great pride in their own homes and property and as long as there is a demand there will be development.

Chuck Tilson

85 Alberts Hill Road, Sandy Hook       August 3, 2001