By Reginald Johnson
BRIDGEPORT
----- One of the region’s largest tracts of open space --- home to deer, turkey,
fox and thousands of hardwood trees ---- could soon be commercially developed if city zoning officials give the go-ahead.
The 347-acre
Remington Woods tract, in the northeastern corner of the city, has sat largely
untouched for decades since the Remington Arms company stopped using the forest
to test-fire guns and ammunition.
Now, a
subsidiary of the Dupont Corporation, which owns Remington, wants to develop
the site for corporate offices. The city’s zoning office in turn has offered a
tentative plan to reezone the area as commercial.
The Planning
and Zoning Commission will hold a hearing on the rezoning plan at 6 pm on Tuesday. A decision on the proposal will likely be made after the hearing.
A number of
preservationists are expected to speak out against the plan, saying the loss of
such a large amount of green space would be an environmental disaster.
Lela Florel,
of the group Preserve Remington Woods said that the rezoning plan would lead to
the destruction of “20,000 existing
trees, the eco system, thousands of birds and other wildlife (all wildlife populations are plummeting with
extinctions raging).”
Florel went
on, “It would destroy all the life
services the forest community provides to the people. Like cleaning some of the
dirtiest air in the country, cooling rapidly heating air, stabilizing local
climate, sequestering carbon etc. These things are real and effect the physical
and mental health of people all in a time when reforestation has finally become
a national priority because of the climate catastrophe.”
Florel’s
group has collected 1,087 signatures mostly from Connecticut residents but from
some around the world who want to save Remington Woods.
“Almost all
the people on the street we’ve talked to in Bridgeport and beyond are
overwhelmingly for preserving the Woods,” she said.
Also expected
to lobby for protecting Remington Woods is the group Bridgeport Generation Now.
“We want all 422 acres zoned as green space,” wrote the group on its website.
The 422-acre
figure is a reference to not only the Bridgeport tract but another nearly 80
acres that are just over the border line in Stratford, also owned by DuPont.
 |
| The lake at Remington Woods |
Meanwhile,
one of Bridgeport’s top elected officials is complaining that the Bridgeport
zoning office failed to tell him about pending changes in zoning for Remington
Woods, when he made a general inquiry about zoning changes throughout the city
in October.
State Sen. Dennis Bradley, D-Bridgeport, said
when he met with city officials including the director of planning, “there was
no disclosure of the zoning plans surrounding Remington Woods.”
“It is
disparaging for the city and their respective department representatives to not
disclose such a grave issue to an elected official,” complained Bradley in a
letter to the Zoning Department dated November 12.
Bradley said
it is vital that the residents of Bridgeport have a voice and “buy-in” in major
changes made to planning and zoning.
“Although I am
one to believe that development is a necessary endeavor to improve Bridgeport residents’
quality of life, I hold in higher regard transparency and an environmental
justice approach to planning and zoning for our already limited green spaces,”
he said. “I urge Zone Bridgeport and the city to reconsider their priorities
and provide the community and their voices a larger stake in these conversations
before plans are finalized,” Bradley said.
(People can participate in the zoning hearing via Zoom. For more information go to preserveremingtonwoods.com)
No comments:
Post a Comment