The fight to stop 288 luxury apartments from being built along a narrow and winding road in Hamden continues.
Neighbors who believe the project is too large were celebrating a small victory on Wednesday. After months of voicing their concerns about the plan, neighbors said they were more confident that they can 'Save Rocky Top'.
There are many things Tim Mack said he does not like about the plan to build nearly 300 luxury apartments along Rocky Top Road. “Excavation, drilling, blasting, rock crushing on site," are among the items Mack does not want to see. The 18-acre proposed construction site is right beyond Mack's backyard.
On Wednesday, Mack and dozens of other concerned neighbors who live around the hilly terrain in between Sherman and Shepard Avenues received some welcome news.
“It was a sigh of relief because now we're going to get a little break," said Mack.
Gary Richetelli, the developer behind Mountain View Estates, LLC, withdrew his applications from the town's Planning & Zoning board and the Inland Wetlands Commission. “We aim to strike a balance and resubmit a full set of plans addressing the neighbor's concerns to the town soon," Richetelli wrote in a statement.
Those concerns, neighbors have said, include the environmental impact, hundreds of additional cars on such a narrow road, and a massive excavation of trap rock from the top of the ridge.
Local
Since January, neighbors have been vocal at town meetings, have set up road signs, as well as a website and social media pages. The group has also raised thousands of dollars in hopes of stopping the project, or at least slowing the approval process down.
“We've made an impact on the community and so far so good," said Ronald Colaresi of Hamden. "We've saved Rocky Top.”
But those same neighbors said the fight to save the place they call home is not over, knowing now that the developer will submit revised plans in June.
“It's time to dig in and get ready for the next wave, because it's going to be bigger," said Mack.
Even though the developer's application is no longer on the agenda for the May 3 Inland Wetlands Commission meeting, many of the concerned neighbors said they will attend anyway.
"While much of the feedback at the hearings concerned density, traffic and wetlands, we have also heard from many other town residents who believe there is a need for affordable housing in Hamden, and there is a desire to live or stay in Hamden," Gary Richetelli, President of Mountain View Estates wrote in a statement.
"We aim to strike a balance and resubmit a full set of plans addressing the neighbor's concerns to the town soon. This project would create hundreds of construction jobs and pay close to a million dollars to the Town of Hamden, all while providing much needed affordable housing and meet the State of Connecticut requirements," he wrote.
