To the Editor:

Many thanks to The Bee editorial “Design District Zoning - Designed For What?” for its reminder to the community that the consolidation of land use and economic development has abandoned any hope of maintaining “village” character in the town that we all love for its friendliness and country setting.

As The Bee points out in its editorial and accompanying informative article by reporter Andrew Gorosko, a commercial design district designation opens the adjacent Exit 10 area to the possibility of “hotels and conference centers with maximum of 250 rooms,” in addition to “restaurants with drive through services,” and “additional financial institutions with or without drive-through facilities.” Not the community my wife and I sought 40 years ago when starting out, and definitely not the community that makes it – as the bumper sticker used to say – “Nicer in Newtown.”

I know we are not alone in this concern as our beautiful town is made over by those wielding small-town power and influence that is not in the best interests of most of us who live in this town. 

Mary E. Burnham

Jack Bestor

24 Walnut Tree Hill Road, Sandy Hook   August 19, 2015