The public hearing on Eureka V LLC's petitions on the Bennetts Pond property has been continued to Tuesday, June 15, at 8:00 p.m. at Veterans Park School (8 Governors Street)

RECAP OF TUESDAY NIGHT'S MEETING

We'd like to thank all of you who came out for the first night of the Bennetts Pond property public hearing.  We had a huge, capacity crowd at Veterans Park School (nearly 400), in spite of the heat emergency which closed the schools that day.  The hearing, which began at 8:00 p.m. with the Eureka representatives giving their presentations, followed by the reading of correspondence and some comments from the public, was ended by the Chairman at 11:00 p.m. and will be continued to Tuesday, June 15 at 8:00 p.m.  A third night, if needed, is slated for Wednesday, June 23.

Turning the oppressive heat to our advantage, ROSA supplied water to the crowd throughout the proceedings, which netted us some goodwill, contributions, as well as 70 more names for our mailing list.

We believe that the first night of the hearing went fairly well for our side.  The audience listened politely to the presentations made by Eureka's representatives, and our behavior towards them was exemplary - I'm sure they were expecting much worse.

During the reading of technical correspondence, George Orlan, Chairman of the Conservation Commission read a very strong letter in opposition to the changes in regulations proposed by Eureka, which provoked a spontaneous outburst of applause from the audience.  He was followed by Rich Longo, Chairman of the Economic Development Committee, who indicated that the ECD supported the status quo on the land - CDD only.  Obviously they do not support our effort to preserve the property as open space, but neither do they support the introduction of residential development in the CDD zone.

Our attorney, Frank Cochran, then made his statements in opposition to both the zone change and change in regulations, and we feel his arguments were well received by many of the Commissioners, based upon their reactions and note-taking during his presentation.  Frank was followed by ROSA members Eric Kristoffersen and Bob Kleinberg, and Redding resident Victor DeMasi.

ROSA'S EFFORTS TO OPPOSE EUREKA'S PETITIONS

1. Frank Cochran, in addition to his oral presentation, submitted to each Commissioner and for the record a Memorandum of Law on our behalf which addresses all of the legal issues to be considered by the Commission.
   
   
2. ROSA has filed as an intervenor in this proceeding under Connecticut General Statute 22a-19, which makes us a party to this process, compels the Commission to consider environmental concerns in their decision, and to look at all "feasible and prudent alternatives" to what Eureka has proposed.
   
   
3. ROSA has submitted to the Commission an C.G.S. 8-3(b) protest petition, signed by the owners of more than 20% of the area of the lots within 500 feet of the Bennetts Pond CDD-zoned property.  The petition imposes a two-thirds majority vote requirement for approval of the change in regulations, rather than the simple majority called for in our zoning regulations.  This protest petition was prepared and circulated by ROSA members, and the identification of the eligible owners and lot area calculations were done by ROSA members Eric & Beth Kristoffersen.  Eric is a member of the Board of Directors of ROSA, and is a licensed land surveyor.
   
   
4. Many ROSA volunteers helped distribute flyers all over town on Saturday to get people out for the hearing.

PLANS FOR THE CONTINUED HEARING

The hearing will continue on this coming Tuesday night (June 15) with the "Questions from the Public" segment.  This section will go on as long as members of the public wish to speak, and then will be followed by "Questions from the Commission".  Eureka's attorney, Casey Healey of the Wilton-based firm Gregory & Adams, has reserved time for rebuttal prior to the closing of the hearing.

Please plan to attend on Tuesday night, even if you missed this week's meeting!  We don't want attendance to drop off during the progression of the hearing, which might indicate to Eureka that there is a lack of serious interest and opposition in town.  A few suggestions for Tuesday night:

1. If you are making a statement, try to look toward the Commission rather than the audience, as they are the ones we need to convince.
   
   
2. Chairman Gelfman seemed a bit annoyed by the applause during Tuesday night's session.  We suggest that applause is fine but should be brief in duration so as not to take up too much time during the evening.  Please keep in mind that we do not want to alienate the members of the Commission, as the future of the property is currently in their hands!
   
   
3. Try not to be repetitive in your comments.
   
   
4. In addition to making comments or statements, you might consider directing questions to the Eureka representatives.  This is especially true for those of you who attended on Tuesday night and heard the specifics of their presentation.
   
   
5. The Commission may again hold a work session before the hearing on Tuesday which is unrelated to the Bennetts Pond property.  Please be considerate of their efforts to hold a discussion during that half-hour period prior to the 8:00 commencement of the public hearing.

We were very pleased with the turnout on Tuesday night, and hope to see the same or better this Tuesday.

We believe that Ridgefielders who oppose this development were very well represented at the hearing.  The professional manner in which we conducted ourselves reflected well on Ridgefield as a community.  Let's keep it up!  
 

Ellen Burns,
President
Ridgefield Open Space Association