Residents organize to resist

#MiddleburyCT #DistributionCenter #MiddleburySmallTownAlliance

Snow flies by a Middlebury Small Town Alliance yard sign. The Alliance is providing the signs to residents who share the Alliance’s position that the town should not allow distribution centers to be built here. (Alliance photo)

By MARJORIE NEEDHAM

Led by a group of five of their neighbors, Middlebury residents are speaking out against a developer’s proposal to build a distribution center on property that once housed the Timex world headquarters and an adjoining piece of property. They have formed an LLC, Middlebury Small Town Alliance, set up a web presence (middleburysmalltownalliance.blogspot.com) and a Facebook page, designed yard signs and hired an attorney and an engineer to help them oppose the project.

Jennifer Mahr is president of the LLC established with Don and Laura Andrews, Bob Nerney and Dana Shepard. She said they didn’t know each other before this issue arose. She met Don and Dana at a December 27 informational meeting the town held for Avalon Farms residents, and she met Bob at the January 5 Planning and Zoning meeting.

Attorney Keith Ainsworth of New Haven has filed for intervener status for the group with the Conservation Enforcement Officer, Debbie Seavey. The review of the applicant’s plan for inland wetlands will continue at the Conservation Commission’s January 31 meeting. That November 2022 plan was prepared for the applicant by SLR International Corporation.

The petition to intervene states the proceedings involve conduct which has or is reasonably likely to have the effect of unreasonably polluting, impairing or destroying the public trust in the air, water, and other natural resources of the state and enumerates the ways that could happen, challenging the results of the SLR study.

While the alliance is led by the group of five, larger groups are involved in some of the meetings. “We are trying to keep the information flowing to those who are interested,” Mahr said.

The Alliance’s stated mission is: Our mission is to protect and promote the semi-rural, small town character of Middlebury, CT. We are a group of Concerned Citizens who care about the decisions Middlebury town officials make about the future of our town.

Mahr said initially the group wants to ensure the town takes every possible step to carefully evaluate the proposed project. “I think that is what is driving us,” she said.

She said they are promoting the town’s character with the new blog and the Facebook page serving as sources of information. They are places for people to talk about what is going on and share information.

The yard signs saying “NO DISTRIBUTION FACILITIES in Middlebury” are being distributed. Asked if she felt there was no place in town where a distribution center could be built, she responded that a distribution facility is heavy industry that causes pollution, traffic, and noise. Town zoning regulations allow light industry. “The effects of a distribution facility are completely different from what the permitted uses are and would completely change the character in the zone,” she said.

Asked whether the group would focus on more than the distribution center, Mahr said it would do so “as appropriate issues catch our concerns.” She said she thinks the group is going to consider very seriously how they are going to be a positive force in the future.