The Facts Speak For Themselves

To the Editor:

In his letter to The Bee last week [“Less Adverb, More Fact”], Mr Gaston asserts that we’re ignoring the facts, so let’s review them carefully:

Fact #1: I have never spoken out against “neighborhood” firehouses and have argued that the current premises occupied by Newtown Hook and Ladder (NH&L) should be upgraded. The firehouse is currently in a central neighborhood of Newtown and it could stay there. I have and will continue to speak out against its move to Sugar Street because a 2.5-story, 12,000-square-foot commercial building is not suited for this neighborhood. And the ZBA doesn’t believe it’s suitable either given their unanimous decision against the NH&L last August.

Fact #2: To build this huge building on an acre of concrete and pavement, NH&L has to destroy the current wooded area it plans to use and destroy some wetlands, which is why it has had to apply for a permit with the Inland Wetlands Commission. The only way to build this firehouse is to destroy the landscape that is there now.

Fact #3: The letter I sent to Mr Gaston and the other directors of the Borough of Newtown Land Trust (BNLT) in June included a “formal request” not to cede the land. By definition, a request asks for a response. So let me reiterate: On behalf of my family and other concerned neighbors, I’m formally requesting that Mr and Mrs Gaston and Mrs Kenyon not cede to the NH&L the land they are holding in trust to preserve the beauty of the borough. I am also asking for the simple courtesy of a reply to this second formal request.

Facts #4, 5 and 6: Mr Gaston asserts that the BNLT will be ceding only a “sliver” of land; that if they don’t cede the land it will be taken by “eminent domain” and will result in unnecessary expense of taxpayer money; and that any transfer can be accompanied by restrictive covenants. Well, the facts are that the “sliver” is all the frontage the BNLT has on Sugar Street and amounts to close to an acre (which is not my definition of a sliver); that only the town, the state, or the US government can take land by eminent domain, and none has anything to do with this project (NH&L is a private not-for-profit company and not a part of town government); that to build the firehouse on this land it has to sit as close as possible to 302 and cannot be masked from the street.

Fact #7: Mr Gaston is both a director of the BNLT and the warden of the Borough, and cannot represent the interests of the borough’s residents when they conflict with his interests as director of the BNLT. That’s why the request I made in our April call (not “a short while ago”) for the borough to hold an open debate and hearing on this project has gone unanswered.

So yes, let’s stick to the facts because they do speak for themselves.

Francois de Brantes

13 Sugar Street, Newtown                                          August 25, 2010