CONSERVE SHERMAN
Last Updated on May 2, 2007 * NEW NEWS*
“Conserve
Sherman” is an action-oriented local nonprofit organization founded in
2005 and based in Sherman, Connecticut.
Our mission
is to promote policies and programs that foster the preservation of the
town’s rural character
and natural
resources for future generations to benefit from and enjoy. Open space does not require
services, schools, police, or road
maintenance— “open space pays more in taxes than it
uses”.
From 1995 to
2006, Sherman was the fastest growing town in Fairfield County, with an
unsustainable 97% population increase.
Conserve
focused groups in town, including Naromi
Land Trust, Land Acquisition Fund, and the
Conservation
Commission. No efforts are
duplicated and a needed niche is filled.
Conserve
legal, and
environmental experts “on-call” to bring the another set of facts
before the Town Commissions
other than
those hired by the developers.
Conserve
those
concerned about land-use and planning issues. Sherman is a
beautiful town, but the town itself needs
to
take more responsibility for its future.
Most of the viewsheds and vistas that exist
today are there because
of
conservation-minded large landowners and the generous donors that make up Naromi Land Trust.
Much
of the private undeveloped land is not permanently protected for future
generations.
Owners
deserve to be compensated for their land, but we want to present other options
for them that make
financial
sense than selling out to developers.
Our long term goals are to:
Conserve
Protect
watersheds and water resources
Promote
responsible and planned growth
Preserve the
rural characteristics of
Who is
Conserve
core
group of approximately 12 people meeting frequently both in person and online
to
fulfill different roles.
~NEW~
--The
application to develop a 55-acre property as the “Northern View
Estates” subdivision has been withdrawn. Almost immediately afterwards, the
property was purchased by a neighboring landowner who plans to protect it from
development.
--The
proposed “Farview Estates” subdivision --
which would build a housing complex, including dozens of condos, in north
Sherman -- is expected to renew its application before the Wetlands and
Planning & Zoning Commissions in the weeks to come.
--For
the first time, the idea of funding the purchase of open space through a bond
issue by the town of Sherman will be put to a public vote. This measure is a vital step in the
effort to preserve Sherman’s rural character and to keep our beautiful
small town beautiful and small!
As always, check http://www.townofshermanct.org/events/townevents.htm.
·
The Town Meeting to review the budget is scheduled for Friday,
May 4, 2007 at 7:00 p.m. in the Sherman School Multipurpose Room.
·
The Referendum on the budget will be held on Saturday, May
12, 2007 from 8:00 a.m. until 8:00 p.m. at Mallory Town Hall. Absentee
ballots will be available from the Town Clerk during Town Hall hours beginning
Saturday, May 5, 2007.
·
Information about the financing of the proposed bond issue will be presented at the
May 4th Town Meeting. An additional informational meeting has been scheduled
for Friday, May 25, 2007 at 7:00 p.m. in the Sherman School Cafeteria.
·
The formal Town Meeting on the bonding projects is scheduled for
Thursday, May 31, 2007 at 7:00 p.m. in the Sherman School Cafeteria.
·
The Referendum on the
bonding projects will be held on Saturday, June 9, 2007 from 8:00 a.m.
until 8:00 p.m. at Mallory Town Hall.
·
Good article from the
1.8.07 News-Times regarding the ill-conceived state law on affordable
housing,
·
Governer Rell has set aside
7.7M$ for protecting open space and grasslands in CT in 2007, and issued an
Executive Order to “actively steer
the continued growth and development of our state to prevent sprawling
development patterns from forever
changing the character of our communities.” We hope that the new “Office for
Responsible Growth”
takes a hard look at revising the CT State Statute for Affordable Housing,
which allows developers
to exploit communities for
their own gain, under the guise of providing the bare minimum of affordable
units while
pushing inappropriately dense and
ill-designed developments past town zoning.
·
The 3rd FarView Farm 18-single family home application was turned
down by the Planning and Zoning Commission,
although the Inland Wetlands
Commission approved it in a close vote.
As a result, the developer/owner is taking
the Town of Sherman to court
to appeal the P&Z decision. We
applaud P&Z for taking the time to do a thorough
evaluation of the proposal and its
potential impact on the Town. Unfortunately,
it was reported in the Citizen News last
week that the developer/owner
is planning to submit a “Spite Proposal” of 36 condos on the
bucolic hillside, under the
guise of “Affordable
Housing”.
Residents—begin composing your thoughts now on why this high
density proposal
would adversely affect the
health and safety of Northern Sherman. Read a short page
<click here>
written by the
Town of Washington, CT about why the State’s Affordable
Housing law is being used to skirt town zoning regulations while
lining developer’s
pockets. The Housatonic
Valley Council of Elected Officials (HVCEO) has also made the revision of the
CT State Statute Chapter 126a, Section 8-30g one of their top 5
priorities in 2007 <click
here to read more>.
·
In response to the town feelings on the matter, the Board of
Selectmen put back a small figure for the Land Acquisition
Fund into the Town Budget.
The Budget was subsequently passed on it’s
4th try, and we urge members to attend budget
workshops or write letters regarding
the inclusion of the LAF Funding in next year’s budget early enough so
that full funding
can be restored into the
budget. Without a flow of money in
the LAF, no land can be preserved or purchased.
·
Saturday, July 15th
-- Town and Education Budget vote. We are unhappy that the
Town budget was not considerably
scruntinized after the 2nd
“no” vote. All that was
done was to restore the health insurance (outside of our jurisdiction but
supporting our neighbors is in all of
our best interest) and to cut IN ITS ENTIRETY, the Land Acquisition Fund.
As an INCREASE only seemed to be on the table for question #3 of
the 2nd referendum, we are confounded as to how,
with 600 for increasing the
funding, and 700 against increasing the funding, the ENTIRE thing was removed.
A reasonable reaction to this voter reaction would be to consider
the base level of funding (same as last year) to be adequate.
We urge you to write your 3 selectmen to let them know your
displeasure at the TOTAL REMOVAL OF LAF Funding
from the Town Budget and urge
them to take a hard look at other areas of spending without sacrificing our
future.
In our view, the Town Budget may be at an adequate level, but it is
MISALLOCATED
and therefore worthy of close
scrutiny at this 3rd vote.
·
The town voted to purchase
the 4.6 acre Braislin parcel in the town center for $315K. This was a generous offer
at less than market value
from it’s long-time Shermanite owners. The parcel is a lovely farm field down
in the hollow
on route 37, just before the school. Conserve Sherman members urged the
purchase of this land, as it is one of the
visual gateways to the rural town
center as well as a haven for wildlife.
As it will be purchased with Land Acquisition
Fund dollars, it is deeded for use for passive recreation and open
space forever.
- THE
SPRING FLING BENEFIT HELD ON SATURDAY MAY 20, 2006 was a huge success.
The Mauweehoo Clubhouse was a spectacular
setting for the festivities, which included items
Auctioned off live. Congratulations to the
winner of the Blackhawk Training session,
which was the high
dollar item for the evening! Thank
you to all who attended.
- 2/10/06-- The Planning &
Zoning Commission denied the Far View Farm subdivision.
- On
the radar: it is rumored that Happy Acres
Farm may be placed up for sale shortly.
This landmark Sherman farm
is truly the hallmark of our town and region. The solution that we advocate is to
use LAF funds to finance a bond
to PURCHASE THE DEVELOPMENT RIGHTS to the farm, and thereby compensate
the owner
fairly, and ensure that the land will remain in an undeveloped state
forever. This is without exposing
the
town to any of the complex issues that come with ownership (although
other area towns do own large pieces of property
and therefore
ownership is something which is still an option for other passive properties in
the future).
An added consequence of the
PDR program is that then regardless of the future owners, the land would remain
as it is.
The resultant lower market
value means that a farmer or land trust might be able to afford the purchase
price,
and would be able to continue
actively farming it.
INFORMATIONAL **** Purchase
of Development Rights mean that the owner of land is given the difference
between the market price
(development price with houses) and the undeveloped value (with current house
only).
The land would then command
a lower price on the open market because developers would not be able to
chop up the land and sell it
piecemeal. It would rather stay
together in perpetuity.****
We hope that by working
together with Sherman conservation groups, the Town of
Sherman, regional and
national conservancy groups, and farmland trusts,
we may be able to find a
solution that yields both fair market value for the lifelong
Shermanite owner/farmer and preserves
the land and working farm in perpetuity.
- January
2006- 4 acre zoning was passed for Zone A in
(see regulation here). Zone B (TT) was
excluded.
Read what zone B (TT) entails in more detail <click here>.
What has happened is a
significant step for
only part of the solution-
the entire town of
not just zone A. Four acre zoning is certainly a terrific
step toward smarter
growth for our small and
unique town. Conserve
position that while 4 acre
zoning is not a panacea for the problems we are facing,
it is a highly useful tool
in working toward the broader
goal of maintaining
- 1/10/06--
The Wetlands Commission has denied
the Far View Farm application.
According to the 1/11/06 issue of the Citizen News, this is the
first time that the Commission has denied a subdivision
application.
- Read
an article from the 1/10/06 issue of the
Neil Marcus, the lawyer for the applicant for both
The
major zoning disaster in
applications, it appears that
Read the article here
<PDF coming 1/12/06) and decide for yourself.
Mayor Boughton:
"Who sold out the neighborhoods? I'll tell you –
Neil Marcus, Ted Haddad Jr. and Jehad Sabbagh," Boughton said.
"If people want to
learn what not to do, they should attend this panel."
- Read
a recent column from the
- Read
Conserve
- Do
you own acreage?
Do you plan on holding your land for at least 10 years or
more?
Do you want to know how to
apply for a CT State Program that
significantly reduces your
taxes because the taxes are based on a
non-development value, even
if they are approved building lots?
Click here
for a link to CT Department of Agriculture webpage about PA 490.
Click here for downloadable
application form.if you have open space
Click here for downloadable
application form.if you have forestland
Click here for downloadable
application form.if you have working farmland
·
SHOP
businesses--- we have almost everything we need right here in
A bakery (American Pie), a fine restaurant (Arrivederci), a dry
cleaner, gas station
(Rizzo’s), Pizza (Chris’ Pizza), holiday spirits at
course the hardware store and IGA. Buy unique Christmas gifts at the
Historical Society/Old Store, and take a moment there to see how
PROJECTS:
We
are pleased to announce that both
current projects now have a team of experts who
have
been retained by CS and are working on our behalf and for the benefit of
all
the citizens of the Town of
meetings
to present an independent unbiased view of these proposed developments.
Click on each
link below for further information on why
these developments threaten
“
that may arise in the future, so it is
very important that we lay a baseline for how growth
should take place from this point
forward.
Far
View Farm- DENIED by Wetlands Commission and Planning &
Zoning Commission.
An
application for a 19-lot subdivision on scenic
This high
density development does not embody rural character, and would have many
irreparable
impacts on the environment and viewshed. We are building a case for a responsibly
sized
development with homesites only near the road, out of
the sightlines of the beautiful
meadow and
off of the wetlands and mature forest habitat.
See letter (click here) submitted by our expert
biologist Dr. Michael Klemens at the Wetlands
Commission
Public
Hearing on 10/24/05. This excellent
submission gave the commission the “teeth” to deny
the
application, although they have declined to do so as of yet. He called into question even
the most
basic facts that the applicant is presenting, and points out that there may be
state / federal
threatened
and endangered species on the site— and that the applicant has not looked
for them,
nor provided
any data that they do NOT exist on the site. The Bog
Turtle and the Slimy
Salamander
are two
threatened and endangered species which have a high probability of existing on
the site.
Did
you know that Sherman is
actually the epicenter of the state’s dwindling Slimy Salamander
habitat???!!!
An approved
application for a dense 14-lot subdivision in dense forest on unimproved
at this location, making it
irreplaceable habitat for a Threatened/Endangered species!!!!
A group of intervenors has appealed the decision in court under the
grounds that feasible
and prudent alternatives to this
application exist.
HOW TO GET INVOLVED AND MAKE A DIFFERENCE:
There are various ways to
assist in conserving
Volunteer
(individuals with organizational skills as well as land-use experts welcomed)
Monetary donations –
Correspondence or donations may be mailed to CS at
contribution, please make
checks payable to “HVA c/o Conserve Sherman, Inc.”.
A receipt will be mailed for your
records.
Attend Wetlands / Planning & Zoning meetings and hearings. All Shermanites
should be familiar
with the events
calendar on the town website (www.townofshermanct.org). Your support is
needed at these meetings— these
regulatory agencies can only make their decisions based
on the evidence presented to them.
Remember--
if only the developer appears, that is the only information they get.
Email local elected officials and let them
know that you support the acquisition of town-owned
dedicated open space. You should specifically request that
your letter be read aloud at the next
meeting if you are unable to
attend in person- be sure to include your name and address.
Please note that at the last
meeting, the P&Z Chairman refused to read some of the emails
because they were ‘too
confusing’ so it would be best if you came to the meeting and read
your own letter aloud, so that it
is part of the public record. Click on any of the blue links
here to send
an email.
First
selectman - Andrea
O’Connor
Inland
Wetlands and Watercourse Commission
Email the local papers with your
thoughts. Include your name,
address and
phone number for their
verification processes.
News-Times
(
Citizen-News
(New Fairfield/Sherman) email Citiznnews@aol.com
Litchfield
Upcoming Events that Conserve
See
www.townofshermanct.org for list
of EVENTS.
Planning
and Zoning Meetings, Inland Wetlands Meetings, etc.
LAND USE LINKS:
* NEW NEWS* Learn about conservation easements as a way
for landowners to receive
significant
tax reductions while retaining ownership and preventing land from being developed
forever.
Click here
for details. Naormi
Land Trust holds many conservation easements in town.
Town of
Our continuing efforts and diligence are needed to ensure that its
spirit is honored.
This document should be required reading for all residents, and is not
yet available online.
Stop by the P&Z
office ( 355-3127) to request a copy.
protected land. Email.
Housatonic
Valley Council of Elected Officials – a
comprehensive summary of
Housatonic
Valley Association - HVA works to conserve the natural
character and
environmental health of our
communities in the
and protecting our lands and
waters for this and future generations.
HVA is having their annual silent auction
in
Click here
for more information on this worthy event!
Link to articles on
how salt runoff poisons watersheds here
and here.
<
NEW> CT DEP- Comprehensive Wildlife Survey
– click here
to view
FAQ
on ways to preserve land as open space.
Closing thoughts on why land use matters to you and your family:
Open space does not require
services, schools, police, or road maintenance—
“ open
space pays more in taxes than it uses”.
Towns with high
property values and low taxes tend to have
strong conservation
policies in place (e.g.
Read about “Conserve
News-Times – October 28, 2005. Click here to read.
Citizen News – October 27, 2005. Click here to read. (coming Saturday)
Contact the webmaster
Email us at info@conservesherman.org
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