I want to clarify something that was not clear in my letter. Newtown DOES have an affordable housing plan, put together with the aid of the Council of Governments (COG) in 2022 and approved by the LC that year. The strategies in that plan are to "encourage", "support", "explore", "promote" various aspects of state and local affordable housing programs. Those strategies are largely repeated in the Housing Chapter of the Plan of Conservation and Development being finalized now. Newtown needs to measure its performance against those strategies and refine them to reflect the current situation and evaluate whether we are eligible for a moratorium on 8-30(g) projects if we have met the criteria. It's a question of being more specific and more rigorous in what we as a community would like to see to address this real and serious need, rather than to be on our heels when a developer proposes a project on their terms. An independent look outside the application process would be best for that. Thank you. Peter.
I on Glover Ave. walk my two Labs every morning and evening. Drivers are constantly cutting me off at the shopping center entrance and other driveways. There is no understanding of pedestrians rights. Drives make left turns onto Queen when its forbidden. Most cars cruse right thru the crosswalks without stopping for pedestrians. The Police have not issued one citation nor even a warming for crosswalk violations. The situation is out of control and now a loved resident, Pete, and a pet, Coby have been killed. Time for a plan. The problem is not Intersections, nor traffic, the problem 98s drivers and lack of enforcement. The plan need to create a culture that drivers obey speed limits and honor pedestrians right of ways. Isn't that the job of the Police Department and The Police Commission, to protect Newtowns citizens. This is a call to action.
Its already too late, the Nimby mob have scared developers so that their only option is to use the state wide 8-30 exemption to get around the local zoning board. Thanks Nimby mob.
