Wetlands Complex in the 1,000 Acre Forest Where the Oyster River Begins
By Janice Holland, Old Saybrook
A bi-partisan group of concerned citizens, known as Friends in the Fight to Save the 1,000 Acre Forest, banded together out of indignation that public sentiment had not been taken into consideration by the Old Saybrook Planning Commission during deliberations on the recent application by River Sound LLC to modify the 2005 special exception for the development ironically called “The Preserve.” At public hearings in the spring of 2011, Old Saybrook residents, along with expert witnesses, raised issues of increased taxes, of roadways that could not safely accommodate increased traffic, of water and septic system concerns, of loss of precious habitat. A past and a current Selectman reminded commissioners that this development is not in keeping with the town’s own Plan of Conservation and Development and spoke out against allowing the River Sound LLC plan to move forward. Yet the Chairman of the Planning Commission, Bob McIntyre, stated that he had not heard any testimony that the development would cause any irreversible damage to the environment nor that it “could not be built.” Mark Branse, attorney for the Planning Commission, posed the key question that was in the hearts and minds of the public. It is not whether The Preserve could feasibly be built but “should The Preserve be built?”
This commission could have ruled against the developers but rather has put the onus once again on the Inland Wetlands & Watercourses Commission to do the right thing. Friends in the Fight to Save the 1,000 Acre Forest took action to ensure that Bob McIntyre not have the opportunity to vote again, as he did in 2006, in favor of The Preserve when the current modified plan next comes before the Inland Wetlands & Watercourses Commission. Friends in the Fight to Save the 1,000 Acre Forest believed that if McIntyre would not listen to public sentiment as a Planning Commissioner, then he would hear it through the ballot box. Dozens of committed citizens knocked on over 600 doors, talking to neighbors in the impacted area and distributed flyers throughout town highlighting McIntyre’s voting record on The Preserve.
In the end, public sentiment was indeed heard. Bob McIntyre was the only Republican defeated in Nov. 8 election. He lost by only 20 votes but he received 300-400 less votes than the other two Republican candidates for Planning Commission, Robert Missel and David Shearer, who along with Democrat Cathyrn Flanagan, were endorsed by Friends in the Fight to Save the 1,000 Acre Forest.
( Editor’s Note: ASaP would like to congratulate the Friends in the Fight to Save the 1,000 acre Forest in their amazing and successful campaign! Janice Holland’s article was, in part, written in response to an erroneous article published in The Day, which said the “Friends” had targeted all Republicans on the Planning Commission. To see the erroneous article go to http://www.theday.com/article/20111110/NWS01/111119995/-1/zip06&town=Old-Saybrook&template=zip06art )
