More than 150 people came out to a Planning and Zoning Public Hearing in Avon Tuesday night to discuss the future of a property on Nod Road.
The majority of who came out wore "Save Nod Road" stickers and t-shirts. The packed room indicative of the interest in what happens to property on Nod Road, but how it would impact the area depends on whom you talk to.
"Devastating for not just the people that live near it but people that love it," said Robin Baran, the co-president of Save Nod Road.
"This is the best development for Avon," said Anthony Giorgio, managing director of The Keystone Companies, LLC.
Keystone Companies, the developer, is looking to build 95 single-family homes on a portion of a golf course near the Farmington River. Giorgio says they also plan to allocate 80 percent of the total site into a permanent conservation easement.
"This is a way for Avon to gain control of a massive piece of land and to have it preserved in perpetuity and still get new residents, new people for businesses, new tax revenue," said Giorgio.
The backlash from some neighbors has been swift, and concerns range from increased traffic to environmental.
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"There is a host of biodiversity on this property of so many species that rely on these wetlands and flood plains and this river and this land and that is a great concern," said Baran.
At Tuesday night's public hearing, the developer pushed for changing the zoning of about 40 acres from agricultural to residential. But a lawyer for Save Nod Road say it should be left agricultural.
Residents for the development call it a responsible change. Those against it say the area should be left alone.
The next public hearing is set for July 9.
