Planning & Zoning Commission (linked)

RECEIVED |
OCT 2 2 2024
Lori Verzillo
33 Rogers Hill Road (Formerly 11 Senkow Drive) planning 3
Waterford, CT 06385 _Towno
evelopment
ford, CT
Town of Waterford
Planning and Zoning Commission
15 Rope Ferry Road
Waterford, CT 06385
Dear Town Council Members,
| am writing to express my concerns regarding the housing development that is being
proposed at the end of Robert's Court Drive in Quaker HIll. As a resident of Waterford
and a former owner of 11 Senkow Drive, | believe it is important to voice my opposition
to this project for several reasons.
First, | would like say Waterford is a wonderful town to live in and Quaker Hill is a great
community that my children were are still a part of. My primary concern for this
development is the amount of traffic that this will add in the mornings. There are
approximately already 6 buses that come thru in the mornings for the Friendship
School, Quaker Hill Elementary School, Clark Lane Middle School, Waterford High
School, Ledyard High School and Adult Ed which may increase due to the additional
houses/units being developed. When | lived on the corner there were many times where
cars would come cutting thru or whip around Senkow onto Roberts Court to turn around.
Will there be speed bumps added to Senkow to slow down the speeding that occurs on
that street? | realize that there were not many accidents on that corner but there were
many near misses which | understand it is hypothetical but isn’t that always the case
and looking back you say if we only did this or only did that for safety. We would put our
chairs out in the middle Robets Court so that they were made to slow down so that
while our children were playing they would not have to worry about getting hit but a car
taking the corner too quickly. | realize that speeding is a town wide( State wide)
problem, but for what to add an additional 20 units? Which not only is going to create
more traffic but also cutting down 5 acres of trees that are home to many animals that
are going to be displaced and cause unknown problems within the neighborhood.
| have also heard (which | may not be correct and my apologies for that that the
property will be maintained via private contractors) but when there are snow storms at
least back in 2014-2018 | can think of numerous times that Roberts Court would not see
a plow until well after the snow has stopped (and | as well as our neighbors called).
Senkow would get plowed but Roberts Court would not as we had to shovel a path for
our cars to Senkow to get to work. While they will be able to clean up their loop is the
town going to make sure that there are enough resources so that Roberts Court is
plowed like many other locations. Now that | am on Rogers Hill Road | was shocked
with the amount of times the plow came by our house compared to how many times it
came by the Senkow Drive House.
Public Hearing
Roberts Court 8-30(g)
PL-24-14
Exhibit 15

Additionally, as you all are aware there are 40 units going up on 908 Hartford Tpk
(Brookside Commons) as well as 47 units on 109 R Clark Lane Clark Lane Community
and 284 units under construction at 969 Hartford Turnpike Waterford Heights. | have two
questions regarding these units already under construction. Are there already buyers
that have put inquiries in for these units and if so how many? And my next question is
are the elementary schools that these new construction projects that are already being
built able to take on an additional possible 25+ students (and | am assuming there will
be a lot more | am just log balling that number)? | know Quaker Hill already has a good
amount of students in each class and they see like they are pretty much out of space to
add any additional classes. | know this is a what if scenario, but | also know that in my
experience and many other twn residents | chose Waterford specifically because of the
excellent school system. Out of the 371 units that are already being construed | can’t
imagine the influx of children that are going to be registering into the public school
system. With the influx of these units not only will there be an uptick in traffic but there
will also be more damage to the roads on a daily basis which means that roads are
going to have to be maintained more and more.
These are just some of the factors that significantly affect the quality of life for current
residents and may lead to long-term negative consequences for our community.
| urge the council to reconsider this development plan and take into account the
potential implications it may have on our town. | believe it is crucial to continue to
expand our community but not at the cost of trying to get every last piece of parcel that
is somewhat wooded to develop more and more affordable housing units or really any
houses at all.
| thank you for reading this and hope that whatever decision is made is beneficial for the
town of Waterford, the community of Quaker Hill, the residents that are impacted directly
by these changes and the wildlife that currently inhabit that area.
| appreciate the time and effort that everyone has put into these plans and realize that it
would bring in more tax revenue but when is enough enough and at what cost? If there
has to be renovations completed for school to accommodate the influx of additional
students and additional resources (police officers, additional crew for plowing sanding
etc) that are going to be needed, not only for this development but also for all of the
developing units, is it really adding value and benefits to the community as a whole? |
would just ask to reconsider or at least put on hold until those other units are
constructed and see if there is a need for additional houses and units to be built. If so
perhaps it can be reassed at that point but right now it might be beneficial to step back
and see how the other units sell, perhaps there might be something that can be altered
or changed based on those units. Once the plans are in place and construction begins
in this Quaker Hill area it will be too a better plan.
Thank you for your consideration,
Lori Verzillo