100 MORE ACRES OF
RETAIL APPROVED
RETAIL SPRAWL
THREATENS ORANGE - 20 MILLION CARS
Many people don't realize the
magnitude of the retail sprawl that is threatening our community
beyond Stew Leonard's. Stew Leonard's proposed that not only
his piece of property become retail, but that the whole
"interchange area" be changed to retail. That effects over 100
Acres. Another Mega Mall? Certainly Mega Retail Sprawl.
The town residents fought hard against a mall on Marsh Hill Road
some years ago. Mitch Goldblatt turned it down as a member of
the zoning board. Mitch Goldblatt as First Selectman was given
the chance to help keep that area free of retail sprawl, but he
campaigned hard for retail development. Jim Zeoli, Roy Cuzzacreo
and Ralph Okenquist wisely voted for an unfavorable
recommendation of the idea. But Mitch Goldblatt led the rest to
a decision that by statute would send a favorable recommendation
to the Planning and Zoning commission. Mega retail development
now seems inevitable unless we all band together and stop it
before it starts.
20 Million Cars !
Orange's own consultants have warned us about the dangers of
developing this area. Traffic volume growth of 97%1 with over
39,0001 additional vehicle trips a day is possible, clogging the
streets of Orange. Orange traffic consultants state that we
"...would require substantial investment to increase the
capacity of these roads to safely and efficiently handle such
traffic volumes"1. Even worse, these estimates were based on
Light Industrial 2 development. Retail produces nearly SIX TIMES
MORE TRAFFIC than Light Industrial. This is the type of traffic
we see in cities like New Haven. If Stew Leonard's brings in 4
million cars a year we can easily be looking at well over 20
million cars in the near future. Don't feel that you are
protected living on a quite street. Frustrated out of town
drivers will cut through and speed through once quite side
streets in order to get to their retail destinations. All the
added congestion, pollution, noise, accidents, and pedestrian
hazards, just to name a few, are going to impact home values.
With the devaluation of homes comes a higher mill rate which in
turn makes homes less attractive.
Orange is at the crossroads. We can let our misguided officials
force Retail Sprawl upon us or we can stand together and fight.
Don't stand on the sidelines on this issue. We need your help. We
will lose this battle without your support. For your future and
your children's future help us Save Our Neighborhoods.
1 Source: Orange Plan of Conservation and Development
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