To the Editor:
The question of development on Halls Road is likely to come to a head at the continued public hearing scheduled for Thursday February 27th, 2025 at 6:30 at the Old Lyme Middle School.
The proposed guidelines for that development have been the subject of intense debate.
What began as the Halls Road Improvements committee more than 12 years ago has morphed into a proposed overlay District which allows up to 40 dwellings/acre – a quantum leap from installing sidewalks, lighting, greenery, and signage.
The Halls Road Committee has gone from uncontroversial to extreme, but now the public is catching on.
At the same time, the town of Old Lyme is paying lawyers $125,000 over 2 years to review and help rewrite the town’s entire set of Zoning rules …except Halls Road.
Why had the most contentious and crucial section of those rules, Halls Road, been excluded from consideration as part of this larger professional process, and one that will be guided by impartial questionnaires provided to all towns people?
As an alternate on the Zoning Commission, I have recused myself from voting on Halls Road, so that I can speak like any other townsperson.
The public has been told that the town’s Board of Selectmen are in favor of this redevelopment. That is not the whole truth. My wife Jude Read, a selectperson in Old Lyme, voted against the proposal long ago feeling it was too ambitious and far reaching and had lost sight of the original point of the Halls Road Improvements Committee: to make improvements.
The Halls Road Improvements Committee, by their own admission, have told the Zoning Commission that developers will be reluctant to invest if the town refuses to allow parking garages, and 60,000 sq’ buildings directly on Halls Road.
But why should we allow our town to be exploited by developers?
Many who have signed the petition against this effort at redevelopment are agreeable to responsible development.
The prudent response is for members of the Zoning Commission to include these ideas in the larger rewrite and revisions – at an intensity and scale in keeping with the rest of the town.
Sincerely,
Sloan Danenhower
Old Lyme, CT
As a former member of the Halls Road Committee i totally agree with Mr. Danenhowers assessment of the overreach of that committee. Like many before me ,out of frustration, i resigned due to the unwillingness of its chairperson to consider an honest discussion on what the scope of the plan should be.
A voice of some reason.What is the goal of this new development?Is there a great need for it or is this being done as a response to criticism from urban areas that Old Lyme does not do low income(aka affordable) housing?How will the influx of new residents affect the numbers of students in our school system and will the district’s school infrastructure need to be enlarged?And then there is the creature in the room…once this structure is built a precedent is set.Hard to fight another big development if one has been allowed before.I always felt sorry for anyone who goes by the title of “developer”.Someone who cannot look at a patch of land and see trees,water,and think of the flora and fauna that may dwell there.Instead imaging how wonderful a dollar store would be!I make no secret about being a tree hugger.That is the main idea of my living here still.I imagine that there are many more like me of one shade or another here in town.Between being flattened by a new railway or now a huge development,excuse for being paranoid,but it seems as if someone outside the borders of town has it in for us.
I ‘m pretty sure the threat comes from WITHIN our town…and that is extremely disturbing!