Traffic Alert!

As August winds down, we are accelerating our efforts to inform the public and encourage local merchants to see the major risks of permitting a big box retail store on the Rock Pile. We congratulate the local business representatives who declared themselves in favor of maintaining the present size limits on buildings in the Service Center West zone.  More and more business owners are speaking out in the Chamber of Commerce, at local forums and in the press, as in an article on the front page of the New Haven Register on August 24.

Are you getting ready to speak out too?  We need as many people as possible to attend the Public Hearings in September and October and make their voices heard.  We can give you suggestions for talking points if that would be helpful.

Another way you can make a difference is by sharing the attached flyer with any acquaintances who live on or near roads feeding into the primary North/South roads (Route 77, Long Hill Road and West Lake Avenue) and those from the south of Boston Post Road West. It was mailed to 967 addresses on those routes (as well as the roads that inter-connect them) because we want to alert those property owners about the difficulty they may have in exiting their driveways, or perhaps getting out in an emergency – especially on a Saturday when Guilford is already experiencing traffic congestion.  Letters of protest about likely increased traffic on local roads should be emailed to PZC Chairman Ray Bower at planning.zoning@ci.guilford.ct.us as soon as possible.  Such letters do make a difference.

In preparation for PZC Public Hearings, GCRD is preparing reports critiquing Costco claims that there would be:

1)     a significant increase in tax revenue, while adding nothing to municipal costs;

2)     no decrease in business for local merchants, while selling thousands of the same products;

3)     no increase in traffic over projections for Guilford Commons, while planning a store averaging $150,000,000 in annual sales (including a 12-pump gas station), and claiming that the traffic increase will be limited to Exit 57.

If you want to help debunk some myths about traffic and big boxes, go to our website www.guilfordcrd.org and scroll down to Traffic and Police as a resource for drafting your own remarks.  Your voices need to be heard if common sense is to prevail!

Guilford Retailers Fear Costco Impact

On the front page of the New Haven Register for August 24, 2010, is an article with interviews of Guilford retailers regarding the possible presence of Costco in their town. To read the article click here.

Public Input Needed

At the Planning and Zoning Commission (PZC) meeting last evening, the DDR/Costco application for a zoning amendment to lift the ban on big boxes was officially received.  Anticipating lots of public input, the following five Wednesdays for Public Hearings in the Community Center starting at 7:30 pm were scheduled as follows:  Sept. 22 & 29, October 13,  20 & 27. Please mark your calendars and plan to attend! No other business will be on the agenda and it is expected that the first meeting will be devoted to the DDR/Costco presentation.

At subsequent meetings, PZC members and then the public can ask questions of the applicants before those in favor and those against approval will be invited to speak.  It is very important that as many people as possible take this opportunity to express their opinion and that PZC members be made aware of all public concerns before they make any decision.

Although it is not legally allowable for PZC members to discuss the issues once the application has been received, it is important that your views be made known to those seven PZC members who will make the final decision, so please take the time to send an email to PZC Chairman Ray Bower at planning.zoning@ci.guilford.ct.us.  Although this is not a popularity contest, every letter submitted will be counted, including those 22 already received.  Your concerns can also be expressed in letters to editors of local media:  Sue Braden, Shoreline Times shorelinetimes@ctcentral.com and Brian Boyd, Guilford Courier news@shorepublishing.com.  Seeing your letter in print may encourage others to do likewise.

If you have not already explored the many resources in our web site, please go to www.guilfordcrd.org.  Look below the headings and scroll down the right side where you will find a treasure trove of information about the impact of big box retail stores on small towns.  Here, you can fine examples to use in your letter to explain why we do not want the PZC to lift the ban on big boxes in Guilford.  If you have suggestions we might share with others, and if you need any other ideas as to how you can help, please respond to this message.  Your support is encouraging!

Inaccurate Statements in the New Haven Register

We want you to know that inaccurate statements were made by the New Haven Register (NHR) in their August 19 editorial supporting a Costco big box store on the Rock Pile.

The Walmart store in Guilford moved into an existing non-conforming space (84,107 sq ft) in Shoreline Plaza, previously used by Bradlees department store.  Walmart was not granted an exception and any retail store could have leased that vacant, commercially zoned, and non-conforming space.  No exception was needed and no decision was made by the Planning and Zoning Commission because its use was as-of-right.  Walmart complied with existing quantitative standards for that space and did not ask for any changes at that time.  A later request to expand by adding an outdoor garden center was denied.  It is our understanding that Guilford’s Walmart is the smallest in the country.

We know that big box stores come in much larger sizes (ranging in size between 100,000  and 300,000 sq ft).  The current size restrictions for stores on the Rock Pile were approved after many hours of citizen deliberation, input from experts in several professional fields, public forums and Public Hearings.

It is disingenuous of the New Haven Register to base their support of Costco on inaccuracies.  Please share this information with anyone else who might be puzzled by the Register’s claim that Guilford is “fine for Costco.”  Thank you.

Prepared by Guilford Citizens for Responsible Development Steering Committee:

Nancy Arnold, Elisabeth Barsa, Howard Brown, Penny Colby, Harry Haskell, Tony Pinto, Robert Vavasour

Costco application received by PZC!

The Costco application to lift the ban on big boxes was received late last week. It will be formally “accepted” by the Planning and Zoning Commission (PZC) this Wednesday evening, and the date of the Public Hearing will then be announced.  That date and GCRD suggestions for testimony topics will follow later this week.  Meanwhile, it is very important that you email your letters to the PZC Chairman Ray Bower at the now corrected address:

planning.zoning@ci.guilford.ct.us

Thanks to those of you who pointed out the erroneous email address in our update last week.  Please accept our apologies for the error, and remember to make your views known to our town officials.

It’s all about communication!

The expected application from Costco has not arrived as yet, but in anticipation of that event, we urge you to share your concerns about changing the zoning regulations to allow a big box store plus a very large gas station on the Rock Pile.

Because this is not an issue to be decided by voters, but rather by seven members of the Planning and Zoning Commission (PZC), it is very important that you express any concerns to the PZC through its Chairman Ray Bower who can be reached at planning.zoning@ci.guilford.ct.us.  It is important that he hears your opinion about the DDR/Costco request to lift the ten-year-old ban on big box stores in Guilford.

You should also send copies of your letters or emails to the First Selectman’s office in Town Hall at mazzaj@ci.guilford.ct.us.

Also, letters to the editors (LTEs) of local media make a difference.  They should be sent to Shoreline Times Editor Sue Braden at sbraden@ctcentral.com and/or to Guilford Courier Editor Brian Boyd at news@shorepublishing.com.  Deadlines are noon on Wednesdays for publication the following week.

For those who missed seeing the video of the July 29 GPA forum “Opening the Door to Big Boxes?” – it is running again until Friday on GCTV Channel 18 at 12, 4 and 8 am/pm.  In future weeks, go to www.guilfordtv.org for the program schedule.

We hope that you have looked at our new web site at www.guilfordcrd.wordpress.com and that you will email us your suggestions for improvement.  It is filled with easily readable research summaries and articles about the negative effects that can be expected when a big box store comes to any small town.  Do we really want a big box store in Guilford? Please send us your thoughts and communicate with town officials because decision time is coming soon!

Forum a Success

If you were among the 200 people who filled the Guilford Room at the Community Center on July 29, you know that the panel discussion on big-box development sponsored by the Guilford Preservation Alliance was a great success. The expert panelists – business consultant Howard Brown, economic-development specialist Thomas Marano, and attorney Marjorie Shansky – responded to questions prepared by the GPA and submitted by members of the audience. The session, which lasted two hours, elicited a wide range of information and opinions, but all three panelists agreed on several key points:

• that the introduction of big-box retail would have a major and potentially disruptive impact on Guilford’s economy and quality of life;
• that the intentions expressed in the town’s Plan of Conservation and Development and related economic plans should be carefully reviewed for consistency with such a big-box retail store before any decision to amend the current zoning regulations is made;
• that the town should commission thorough, independent studies of fiscal and traffic impacts as part of the application process for Costco or any other big-box retailer.

Please plan to watch the complete video of the GPA Public Forum on GCTV; it can be seen on Channel 18 at 1, 5, & 9 am/pm for the next three weeks.

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT!    GCRD WEB SITE  https://guilfordcrd.wordpress.com

At this site, big box related articles and research summaries are available by direct links to other sites such as Big Box Evaluator and the Big Box Toolkit from which the most pertinent items have been extracted.  We welcome your feedback and suggestions at  GuilfordCRD@gmail.com

A Public Forum

The Guilford Preservation Alliance is sponsoring a public forum, “Opening the Door for Big Boxes?” on Thursday, July 29, 7:30 p.m. at the Guilford Community Center. The topic to be discussed is whether Guilford should change its zoning regulations to allow a huge retail store on the Rock Pile. Experts will discuss and answer questions about the likely effects of a big box retail store on local merchants, taxes, and traffic. All are welcome.