Letters to the Editor - June 4, 2010

Town needs to do more to rein in overdevelopment

To the editor:

A notable pickup in residential construction in many parts of Greenwich is a welcome sign that the economy is recovering and, with it, the housing market. Not so welcome, however, is further evidence that the McMansion phenomenon is hale and hearty.

The traditional character of our neighborhoods, after having been eroded over many years by overbuilding, enjoyed only a temporary reprieve because of the recession. It is now under renewed pressure.

We are witnessing numerous teardown and clear cutting developments. The conflict between neighborhood and seller/developer is inherent. The seller wants top dollar, and is generally leaving the community.

In most cases, he, she, or the heirs will not be around to suffer the consequences. The developer is in it for the money. He wants as much as the market will bear. He, too, in most cases, will not be there to live with the results. So long as applicable laws, ordinances, and regulations are respected, the score is seller: 100, community: 0.

If so much overbuilding and neighborhood destruction can continue while in conformity with all applicable laws, ordinances and regulations, the inescapable conclusion is that these legal instruments are inadequate.

Yet it cannot be said that this inadequacy has escaped notice. Why has it persisted? The answer resides in the political influence of those with the most direct economic interests: the property owners and builders. Theirs is an immediate, strong monetary incentive. The interests of the much larger community are weak and diffuse.

Reflecting this imbalance, both the state legislature and Greenwich's RTM have been overly protective of individual property rights, tilting the balance heavily against the interests of neighborhoods and communities.

Our town's Planning and Zoning Board has taken steps to rein in overdevelopment, but it needs to do more. It should also not be too much to ask of the Town's selectmen that they exhibit some leadership on this issue. For a specific example of what has gone wrong in our regulatory framework, one need go no further than 56 Benjamin Street in Old Greenwich.

There, amid bungalows, what looks like a three-story mansion is rapidly taking form.

The FAR permits 3,881 square feet of floor area, and the plan calls for a structure of 3,880. Numerous trees have been removed, and substantial landfill was brought in to raise the level of much of the site by some three feet.

The result is that, exempt from the FAR, a basement has been created that from street level looks almost like a first floor. The resulting structure will tower over the surrounding properties. The neighborhood is the loser.

Gerald A. Pollack

Old Greenwich

Complacency no longer an option after oil spill

To the editor:

The catastrophic oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico threatens not only the Louisiana wetlands and the East Coast but the entire Atlantic Ocean and beyond -- polluting its waters, decimating both its plant life and its creatures and destroying the livelihood, health and even the lives of men and women for decades to come.

Of course, everything possible must be done to clean up the gulf, but let this be the last wake-up call any of us need to demand that all practices cease that compromise our environment. Citizen complacency is no longer an option nor is it even faintly credible to deny that the planet is seriously imperiled.

We also must continue to expose the unholy alliance between corporations and government watchdogs willing to overlook the practices of Big Oil, Big Banks, Big Pharma and other corporate behemoths that imperil the environment, the economy and human life if given the right incentives.

We must put a stop to all this now, once and for all. Our commitment, our voices, our prayers are needed as never before. This is the eleventh hour and we MUST ACT!

Anne Harris

Old Greenwich

Apology needed from Congressman Himes

To the editor:

Congressman James Himes sent me a letter dated April 15 concerning Obamacare. In his letter he writes this controversial heath care bill, "Lastly and most importantly, according to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office, it will substantially reduce our nation's deficit through a broad range of reforms..."

Recently, that same non-partisan Congressional Budget Office reported that the Obamacare bill will cost an additional $115 billion and will not lower our nation's deficit.

Of course, we haven't heard anything from Congressman Himes about the additional $115 billion or the fact that the deficit will not be reduced.

Anyone with an average high school education could have predicted that the Obama health care bill would not reduce our nation's deficit.

More government control and bureaucracy, more freebees for more people equals increased cost, not deficit reduction.

With the education that Mr. Himes has and his financial experience, he still believed that the health care bill would reduce the national deficit -- unbelievable!!

His support of this falsehood and bill is naïve and incredible, if not downright dishonest.

The Congressman has served Pelosi and Obama well indeed. He has failed to listen to a majority of his constituents who opposed the health care bill in its present form and did us a disservice.

Mr. Himes owes the people in his district a public apology for his misleading statements and his ill-advised voting record.

Carl Stahl

Riverside