Last night’s Board of Adjustment meeting was a beautiful representation of our community coming together for a good cause. The meeting did not reach a point for the public hearing portion by the end of the night, as the testimonies and questions occupied the full time. Another meeting has been scheduled for November 17th at 7:30PM at Town Hall. Of solace, we’ve been granted more time to continue raising awareness and gathering research to better equip ourselves for the next meeting. We hope the next meeting will have a great turn-out, as last night’s participation was really impressive!
Some notes of importance from the meeting last night:
Diversified Properties LLC (Nicholas Minoia, the developer) presented attendees with an animated video production of what the proposed “Brookside at Montville” development would look like, which I’ve attached a recording of to this petition and a shareable file on google drive linked here. When asked, Minoia and his team stated they were not concerned about the environmental catastrophe that would be caused by this mass-destruction of habitat and ecosystem. Their responses proved to the residents that either there is a lack of understanding as to how an ecosystem has many parts which must work together for survival, or they simply don’t care about the ecosystem, unfortunately. It was promised several times that an additional rendering to better-depict the vegetation and proximity to Main Road would be shared for residents after their questions were posed, but the additional rendering was never actually shown and none of these answers were provided. The developer shared many offensive and sarcastic comments in response to genuine questions from concerned residents. He also attempted to engage in debate with residents that asked questions, and didn’t allow them to complete their thoughts oftentimes despite them being in the form of questions. Specifically of note, he shared that whether or not he gets approval for this 55+ community this time or not, he alarmed the room “I would buy the property and wait til they could be developed for something else.” Minoia was asked if any other properties around town have been considered for this project instead, rather than having such a large environmental effect on this area specifically. Minoia shared they’re always looking at other properties and even have several others under contract around town at the moment, but that “no other properties would provide the breadth needed for this project” specifically, due to its “size and financial feasibility.” The full meeting could be listened to on the town’s website here, but understand that it is difficult to hear at times.
Diversified Properties LLC also shared that one of the historic houses on the property (the pre-revolutionary Benjamin Lawrence Tavern/the Peter Doremus House) is “too far gone” for relocation so they will likely destroy that structure, and a portion of the other structure will be “relocated” within the development property to be used as a community facility to store tennis equipment, garden equipment, pickleball equipment, and other amenities.
The developer was asked by a resident about the endangered bobcat species residing in the area, to which his almost-sarcastic response was that “Frankly, if there was a bobcat living on the property, it could still go live in the other 15 acres that aren’t being disturbed,” along with all of the other animals that will additionally suffer habitat loss and displacement. This displacement will likely increase the town’s number of accidents and road-kill due to collisions with animals, and will increase the number of wild animals venturing onto people’s properties adjacent to the proposed development. The wooded area that will remain in this proposal abuts Route 287, not Route 202, which will additionally pose risk to all 287 motorists due to animals possibly resorting there.
The concern of wetlands was also questioned. Residents were told that the developing team knows which areas are specifically labeled as wetlands/buffers, thanks to the DEP, to not build directly on-top of, but they’ll essentially build around those areas or over them with a bridge, and they don’t anticipate any complications such as water displacement to occur. There is a basin for the Crooked Brook designated at 200 feet above sea-level, which would be changed to 214 feet above sea-level with this proposal. This, once again, is not how an ecosystem works. The water will not stop at the entrance of the “luxury gated community” and turn around at the gate because it doesn’t know the code, it needs to go somewhere and it will find its way.
The expected demographics and rent costs were shared with the residents last night. The developer projects ~$3,000+/month for rent (without any mention of maintenance fees or any additional costs) for “active 55+ residents.” They expect that individuals making $150,000+ will be attracted to living there, which could mean this is intended for households of $300,000. There was no information shared regarding the low-income projections such as rental costs or their income requirements, as they didn’t come prepared with that information despite affordable housing making up 40 units out of the 266 units proposed.
The need for our volunteer EMS to accommodate the influx of 55+ year old residents with any of our 3 ambulances or for our 4 operating volunteer fire departments’ ability to provide services was also inquired. The residents were told that “parts of this are going to get a little morbid, but” most ambulance calls would be for people that have already died, as if that is something that could be confirmed right now or would be any less of a job for EMS down the line. It was also suggested that the chance of a fire in any of these units is so low that they do not believe our four operating fire departments would be of much need.
The developer’s team did not share how close the development will reside to homes on 202 vs 287, any plans for noise barriers (as Minoia stated, there is no plan), or how the current economy and incoming recession will affect their current projections in the coming-years. It was also denied that this drastic increase in population will have any additional effect on the town’s roads/road maintenance and traffic, when asked by residents. It was stated that the Brookside at Montville would maintain their roadways and handle snow removal within the gated community, but they evidently don’t expect their residents to ever venture beyond the gates, and use the local roadways. It was clarified that the sole entrance and exit will be directly on Route 202, as the River Road path will be for emergencies only. Meaning, ALL traffic will be led out onto Main Road/Route 202. There was no mention of proposed traffic mediation such as stop signs, a light, etc due to not hearing from their traffic expert last night. No questions of other topics besides that of each individual’s testimony were allowed to be posed, so traffic questions were continuously halted.
Last note, I emailed our Township Committee Board members regarding the petition and meeting yesterday, and received several responses. Most of which clarified that the Township Committee did not approve the change in land use to allow for senior housing, which is why this issue is before the Board of Adjustment now. Thankfully, our zoning board member, Victor Canning also emphasized at last night’s meeting that due to the governing body not adopting the land use ordinance, this use is not legally permitted for this zone. Therefore, this proposal is still considered a legally unacceptable use of that property. This proposal would need a supermajority (5 out of 7 members) to deem approval of the variances. However, Diversified Properties’ lawyer Steven Schepis reminded the room that this development could still be achieved if the zoning board decides to grant an ordinance excuse to the developer. Hence, it is crucial that we continue to show up for these zoning meetings.
Please join us on November 17th at 7:30 for the next meeting! Thank you all SO MUCH for this continued support!