To the Editor:
There is something rotten in the Town of Old Lyme, and its root cause is a fundamental lack of leadership. I sat in bewilderment during the Zoning Commission’s public hearing on the Halls Road Overlay Development proposal as approximately 100 citizens in the hallway, and more who never made it out of the parking lot, were turned away due to the seating capacity reaching maximum. Surely, in this day and age, provisions could have been made for overflow and having the meeting at least broadcast? One phone and Facebook live, at least? Anyone could see the overwhelming public interest this has generated with yard signs, letters to news outlets, media coverage, and social media posts and commentary. But rather than accommodate citizens through technology, the focus was sending out public works to remove “Overlay? No Way!” yard signs from supposed offending locales.
The HROD proposal is like a lumbering freight train with no one on the brake. What started out over ten years ago as a committee to improve sidewalks, greenery, signage and lighting has resulted in none of the above, but rather this behemoth of zoning change that can add Old Lyme to the roles of over built shoreline towns. Just ask the speakers at the meeting who moved here because of that.
The system is strikingly broken when a town committee (HRIC), that should have the best interest of the town front and center, declined to extend the public hearing so that the citizens denied entry to the hearing would have a chance to speak at a later date. And what is more perplexing, is that the plea from Commissioner Michael Miller to do so was answered by HRIC Chairwoman Edie Twinning, through the tax payer funded HRIC lawyer, even though the actual applicant is the First Selectwoman Martha Shoemaker, who remained silent in the wings. True leadership would have not only withdrawn this divisive proposal but at least intervened as the formal applicant to remedy the disenfranchising effect of ending the public hearing.
But the freight train keeps rolling. The several former members of the HRIC who spoke of leaving the committee out of frustration, because opposing views and ideas were repeatedly dismissed, show the lack of inclusivity and representation of the town, and a likely predetermined outcome. “This is not a sidewalk project”, declared the chairwoman, although that was exactly one of the committee’s charges.
So, the HRIC, representing the town has lawyer, the board of selectman acting as the town has a lawyer, the zoning board protecting the town has a lawyer, and the actual town in the audience and shut out from the meeting are left on the train tracks. Surely, this is not government of the people, for the people, by the people, when the very town is the applicant creating such derision among its own residents.
But the zoning commission does not act on public opinion, they act on the regulations. Those in opposition are left to hope that the zoning commission will conclude the scope and size of the proposal is not in keeping with the character of Old Lyme, and that the possible sawtooth effect of overlay use with regular commercial zoning use is detrimental and inconsistent with the goal of homogenous zoning areas, or that the amount of lighting, traffic, and strain on public services will be too great. We have to hope that they will not try and re-write the applicant’s proposal for them, as the HRIC lawyer suggested on numerous points. We have to hope that they will be the brakeman on this careening freight train.
John Mesham
Old Lyme, CT
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Mesham was a Republican candidate for selectman in 2023 in Old Lyme