March 29, 2007

Dear Sir/Madam:

On the evening of March 29th I was present at the Town Hall meeting regarding the proposed new development adjacent to the home of Thomas and Alene Ritz.

The majority of the attention that night was the impact that this development could cause on the wetlands, sewers and ultimately every well and yard in the vicinity. Although admittedly these are very important issues, I was struck by the other problems this can cause.

The proposal calls for nine (9) new homes in an area that has always bee a beautiful open meadow space. Ostensibly, these nine homes may come with another heavy price to pay further down the road.

I refer to the nine families buying these new residences. We can assume that these purchasers will come with two cars and if teenagers are part of the mix add another few cars. Then there are gas powered lawn movers, possible ATV’s, motorbikes, etc. The air quality can only change and let’s not discount the people who will add lawn fertilizers, crab grass controllers, poisons to control grass eating and root destroying insects all adding further damage tot he ecology of this small area.

Let’s also not forget oil and gasoline spills on driveways and lawns that will more than likely be hosed off into the ground leaching into the very ponds and ground waters in the area discussed on the night of the 29th.

Also, my concern is the heavier traffic pattern this creates as well as the safety of the bike riders, walker and wildlife using Route 116. Are we to assume there will eventually be a traffic light at their driveway hindering the flow of the main road existing traffic pattern? What about the possibility of more accidents?

Many of us live here because we made a choice to live in this beautiful town. Having lived in Brooklyn and long Island for the last thirty years I, (C.Becker), made a choice to move back to Sullivan County because of all it had to offer for a more serene lifestyle. I have found quite a few changes, some for the good others are yet to be determined.

One of the changes I found was the new school at the end of town sitting on the hill unobtrusively until the sun goes down, then it looks to me like a lunar landing area. I see busses running up and down the hill on a daily basis, employees and visitors cars coming and going spewing exhaust all day and now this new proposed community at the other end of the town. We have the potential of fast becoming similar to a Long Island community.

I hope you think long and hard about these issues. Although I am not against growth I only question the sensibility of this rapid spurt eating up more of our near relaxed perfection of country living.

Thank you for your attention,

Sincerely,