The Middlebury Small Town Alliance reaffirms its commitment to fighting the Southford Park, LLC project that was approved by the Planning & Zoning Commission on January 4th.
A coalition will be filing an appeal in Superior Court. While we expected this atrocious result, we are surprised at the appetite town officials had for approving this project over the unmistakable objections of its citizens and the law. This decision is especially heinous given the fact that Middlebury has run a budget surplus for the last 6 years, likely approaching $4 million dollars (the most recent amount for 2022-23 is not confirmed yet, but presumed also to be a surplus). We fail to understand why “growing the grand list” is so vital given the habitual underspending of the approved budget and repeated excess revenues collected.
Combined with the amount that Middlebury residents have also spent out of their own pockets to oppose this project, our town is taxing us twice, and appointed commissioners have acted based on personal preferences and not in the town’s best interest.
In comparison, Watertown took only 3 months to vote down a similar proposal, and that P&Z decision affirmed Watertown residents did not want that kind of development. Yet in Middlebury, a project that needed 3 text amendments to add distribution facilities as an approved use in January 2023 suddenly didn’t need those amendments in August 2023. This was a town staff decision to interpret our zoning regulations differently the second time around in favor of the developer, a decision that allowed the town to “have to approve a site plan if it meets all the requirements.”
So, it pains us greatly to ask once again for support to do the right thing, but we are determined to soldier on. We have $15,000 promised to underwrite the start of the P&Z appeal, but the Conservation Commission appeal is also still in the system. Oral arguments in that case are likely this summer. We would like to raise an additional $15,000 to match our promised support, and this should carry us through the summer.
Donations by check can be mailed to Middlebury Small Town Alliance, PO Box 1073, Middlebury, CT, 06762.
Our GoFundMe will be updated to reflect a new total goal, but for transparency’s sake, it won’t start over from zero funds collected.
We started 2024 with $0 in our checking account: all remaining funds at the end of December were paid to our attorney for work on the Conservation Commission appeal brief.
Thank you for your continued support and dedication to our town. It would be appropriate to let the Board of Selectmen know how you feel about the continued stationing of uniformed police officers at P&Z meetings when resident opposition is expected, the utter lack of discussion between commission members when enormous decisions affecting the entire town’s quality of life are being made, the complete disregard for the clear message sent by the electorate during the recent election, and your feelings about the upcoming budget cycle.
Together we will continue to fight for this town!
