To the Editor:
I have lived in Old Lyme for 41 years, having previously lived in Lyme for 25 years. I love Old Lyme, with it’s small town charm, quaint shops on Lyme Street, and wonderful stores and restaurants on Halls Road. In fact, we regularly frequent most of them, often running into neighbors and friends.
When the Halls Road Improvements Committee (HRIC) was formed in 2015, we heard about a vision of public improvements to include sidewalks to make Halls Road more accessible and a pedestrian bridge over the Lieutenant River. Such changes linking Halls Road and Lyme Street would be a nice enhancement to our town. I wholeheartedly supported that.
The Halls Road Improvements Committee was also charged with the creation of a new village district, that we were told would come with zoning changes to promote a “small town“ feel in keeping with the historic charm of Lyme Street. We were told that any changes would not alter the character of our town. Second-story apartments were referenced in the master plan. I supported that too.
The Halls Road Improvements Committee has now morphed into the Halls Road Overlay District (HROD), recommending permanent changes that would significantly alter the character of our town. I do not support this.
While we can be optimists and hope for the best, I think it’s always important to understand the “maximum development opportunity.” If properties on Halls Road are sold to developers per the HROD proposal, how many 20,000 square foot buildings could be built? I have read that the number is 5, but I don’t know. HROD has an obligation to tell us this. If these buildings are three stories, with the top two stories being residential, how many units and how many bedrooms could be built? HROD has an obligation to tell us this. Think worst case, because worst case could become a reality for Old Lyme. While we can hope for the best, hope is not a strategy.
I do not want Halls Road to be overbuilt so that its new-normal traffic is like the busy weekends in the summer when I-95 traffic is diverted onto Halls Road.
I do not want to park in a parking garage to go shopping. Old Lyme is not New London, West Hartford or New Haven.
I do not want Zoning to make this significant zone change that has to be “big enough to attract the desired developers to Old Lyme.”
I want to preserve the character of our wonderful town of Old Lyme. I want to keep all our retailers on Halls Road.
Let’s slow things down. Let’s look at the “worst case scenarios” and understand what that means for Old Lyme. Adding significant residential properties and huge retail box stores in East Lyme hasn’t been a panacea – in fact they are facing a 9.3% mill rate hike. What would the worst case scenario mean for Old Lyme?
We don’t want to go to sleep one night and wake up to Old Lyme not being Old Lyme anymore. We must not prioritize the wants of the developers over the needs and desires of our residents. Zoning must deny this application so that we can all work together to consider other options for the future development of Halls Road that promote a “small town“ feel in keeping with the historic charm of Lyme Street, and serve the town and its residents. This was the original mission of the Halls Road Improvements Committee before things went astray.
Jane Schellens
Old Lyme, CT