CFE Urges Representative Policy Board to Deny Amendment for Land Use Plan

On May 5, Connecticut Fund for the Environment (CFE) submitted comments to the Representative Policy Board of the South Central Connecticut Regional Water Authority and urged them to deny the Authority’s request to amend their Land Use Plan to allow for a housing development on more than 60 acres of Class III forest land. CFE also requested that the Board deny the sale of this land for residential development.  

“CFE is concerned that the proposal to change the Authority’s  Land Use Plan in order to sell this large section of  forest land most likely for housing development may mark a big step away from the Authority’s leadership in land conservation,” said Jessica Morowitz, legal fellow for CFE. “CFE commends the Authority for its long and proud history as a land use conservation leader and partner within the greater New Haven area. For years the Authority has acted as a land steward and preserved hundreds of acres of valuable and ecologically important open space land. The Authority has been purchasing important forest lands to protect and purify our drinking water. However, the current application represents a significant departure from the Authority’s past policies of selling its Class III forestry lands as open space and we urge the Board to deny the Authority’s request.”  

The South Central Connecticut Regional Water Authority is requesting an amendment to the Land Use Plan to allow for residential development on The land in question is primarily designated under this Plan for forest management and agriculture and includes inland wetlands, vernal pools and soils identified by the U.S. Department of Agriculture as Prime Farmland Soils; only a small portion of the land is currently designated for residential development. The land use amendment that is being considered would reclassify the entire parcel of land for residential development.  The application would also allow the Authority to sell the land for development.  

This proposed sale is not the first of its kind for the Authority. In its “The Land We Need for the Water We Use” program, it proposes to sell approximately 900 acres of Class III land over the next several years in the towns of Branford, East Haven, Guilford, Killingworth, Madison, Milford, Orange, Prospect, and Woodbridge.

Attached are the full comments as submitted to the Board.

Information courtesy of CFE