Tuesday night's P&Z public hearing on the Ridgefield Plan of Conservation and Development was a successful one for many of our issues. ROSA members Bob Kleinberg and Al Baker both presented the P&Z with inconsistencies between the Ridgefield Plan and the State of Connecticut Conservation and Development Policies Plan, 1998-2003.

Many of these inconsistencies were corrected in a manner which we believe will be beneficial to Ridgefield, as well as to our effort to save the Bennetts Ponds property from development. Last night's efforts, combined with our successful input to change the definition of open space to exclude golf courses, ball fields, etc. and the recommendations of Lillian Willis and the Conservation Commission will result in a much more conservation-oriented Plan. We thank all of you who attended the public meetings to express your interest and concern.

Development Plans

As mentioned in a previous message, Eureka V LLC has filed petitions for a zone change and a change in regulations with the P&Z, which represent their first step towards attempting to develop the property. Their site plan application, which has not yet been submitted, will depend upon the granting of these changes, particularly the amendment to the regulations for the CDD zone. We intend to oppose this petition, and have sent the necessary information to our attorneys, Cooper, Whitney, Cochran & Francois, a New Haven firm.

The documents submitted to the P&Z contain further details of Eureka's plans, which now include 78 single-family homes (81.5 acres), 208 age-restricted condominiums (38 acres), a 200-room hotel/conference center (10.3 acres), 350,000 sq. ft. of office space (22.6 acres), and an 18-hole golf course (180 acres). The remaining 282 acres located in Ridgefield would be open space - however, approximately 131 acres of this area is regulated wetlands, including the Bennetts Pond, and much of the remainder is extremely sloped.

On the Danbury part of the property, their map shows retail development on either side of Bennetts Farm Road at the intersection with Route 7. The area shown as retail is currently zoned by Danbury as "Light Industrial and Limited Roadside Commercial/Industrial. If you are a Danbury resident, or if you have friends or relatives in Danbury, please advise them to watch the papers for any notices regarding zoning changes in that area requested by Eureka.

The Ridgefield P&Z public hearing for the zone change/regulation amendment will be held either June 1 or June 8. It is very important that everyone attend this meeting!!!! We must have a significant show of force at this hearing, and that some of you be prepared to speak. We will share with you our strategy for opposing the proposed changes as we approach the date of the meeting. Please - do not assume that because we have a very large email membership list, it doesn't matter if you attend or not. It does matter. The P&Z will probably arrange to meet in a larger room than the one in the Annex to accomodate the anticipated crowd. So let's not disappoint them.

We will keep you updated as more information becomes available, and as soon as we know the date of the public hearing. There will be substantial coverage in the Ridgefield Press and hopefully the Danbury News Times, so please follow the stories in the local papers as well.

Thanks for your continued interest and concern.

Ellen Burns