To the Editor:
Local Republicans seem to have been spreading misinformation about the Halls Road Improvements plan during their door-knocking and social media campaigns.
The most common misstatements are the following.
1. Misstatement: The Halls Road Overlay District (HROD) proposal will raise our taxes.
Fact: If HROD is passed developers will be able to get greater returns on their property with mixed use projects. With this development the town’s tax revenues will increase and reduce the share the rest of us must pay.
2. Misstatement: The Halls Road Overlay District (HROD) proposal will require property owners to implement changes.
Fact: Adopting the provisions of the HROD is purely optional. If the property owner doesn’t opt-in, the existing C30-s zoning regulations continue to apply.
3. Misstatement: The Halls Road project was developed and supported only by Democrats.
Fact: The Halls Road Master Plan has been approved and supported by the bi-partisan [Old Lyme] Board of Selectmen and Board of Finance. The request for changes to Halls Road District was supported by 80% of the respondents to a survey conducted in 2020 by Advance CT for the Old Lyme Economic Development Commission.
4. Misstatement: Old Lyme residents will have to pay a fortune for the bridge and trails project.
Fact: The design for the bridge and trails is fully funded by grants. Any future construction will only take place if grants are secured to help fund it. Additionally, funding and approval for sidewalks along Halls Road were applied for through CT DOT in 2022. We are in the DOT queue for review, approval and funding.
Halls Road is important to Old Lyme’s future — too important to use as a political football. We need to work together. The least we can do is make our choices based on real facts, not rumors and misinformation.
Sincerely,
Howard Margules,
Old Lyme.
To turn Halls Road plans into a political issue is a stretch, bottom line is that the plan is poorly developed and has not received majority support from residents let alone any developer willing to invest in this fairytale.
I would advise the elected members of our land use commissions to continue their objections of the plan.