Our mission is to protect and to promote the semi-rural, small town character of Middlebury, CT. We’re a volunteer group of your friends and neighbors who care about the decisions Middlebury town officials make about the future of our town.
We oppose the redevelopment of the Timex Headquarters at 555 Christian Road into a distribution facility. This use is not permitted nor appropriate in the LI-200 zone. Middlebury’s Conservation Commission approved a wetlands permit to allow the developer to fill 15,000+ SF of wetlands for this project in May, and the MSTA filed an appeal of that decision in Superior Court.
In June, CT’s General Assembly passed language in the budget bill that prevents towns with a population of 6,000-8,000 people from the “siting, construction, permitting, operation or use of a warehousing or distribution facility exceeding an area of one hundred thousand square feet if such (1) facility is located on one or more parcels of land that are less than 150 acres in total, (2) parcels contain more than five acres of wetlands in total, and (3) parcel or parcels are located not more than two miles from an elementary school."
This is only a temporary reprieve, because the developer has promised to fight this new state law. Additionally, the developer has recruited two new co-applicants for a proposed zoning text amendment to raise the allowable height in the LI-80 (and thus LI-200) zone from 35 feet to 44 feet. The Planning and Zoning public hearing for that application is September 7th at 7pm at the Shepardson Community Center.
All of the funds collected via GFM to date have been spent on the Conservation Commission fight. As the fight continues over at Planning & Zoning, our current costs are the following:
Legal fees:
$450/hr (the estimated cost for the appeal is $10-$12K)
Advertising:
Signs, mailers, other printing costs, postage, etc.
Moratorium Application:
The MSTA filed a zoning application for a one-year moratorium on distribution facilities of any size and any warehouse use larger than 100,000 SF. The costs for this application included the $760 zoning application fee and a $1400 fee for the town’s consulting planner to look at the application. The purpose of the Moratorium is to allow the Planning and Zoning Commission the necessary time to carefully consider our current zoning regulations and Plan of Conservation and Development, to engage the entire community in a conversation about the suitability of this kind of development in Middlebury, and to make the best possible decision for our town. The public hearing for this application is scheduled for Thursday, August 3rd at 7pm at the Shepardson Community Center.
Thank you to everyone who has donated so far - we couldn’t have gotten this far without your support. Please consider forwarding this link to your friends and neighbors to spread awareness for the cause. THANK YOU!!!