Comings, Goings and, of Course, the Bog Turtle in 2006

On Aug. 2, the selectmen invited a group of interested parties to speak to the issue of affordable housing, a concept that most people are in favor of in theory and at best ambivalent about when confronted with the prospect of, say, a condominium complex.

The Sharon Housing Trust, which seeks donated land for a parcel program, began work on its first project at Lover’s Lane and the Millerton Road late last month, but land trust president Melinda Sweet acknowledged that the process of obtaining and developing properties for use as permanently affordable housing stock was proving more difficult and more costly than anticipated.

Charlie Snyder, manager at Sharon Ridge, said that the way rents are structured there makes it difficult for the ideal scenario: A young family moves in and is able to save enough to buy a home and moves out, making way for the next family needing a leg up.

"A guy makes $40 more a week and he’s got to give us 30 percent. Our system is flawed," he stated.

Gene Lattimer and Mike Silverman from the Sharon Housing Authority said two more buildings could be added at Sharon Ridge, creating eight more units.

But between the Sharon Ridge type of approach and the nascent parcel program, the number of homes available to people in Sharon continues to shrink — and middle-class workers look elsewhere.

Lost in the shuffle is the fact that while Connecticut municipalities are required to have 10 percent of their housing stock classified as affordable, the law also allows towns some leeway — and a four-year grace period — as long as 2 percent of a town’s housing is affordable. It is not as easy as it might appear to simply label housing units as "affordable" and build them without interference.

And in case you were wondering, "affordable" in this context means a household spends no more than 30 percent of income on housing. In 2004, the median price for a home in Sharon was $277,500, which would require an income of $84,534. A potential home buyer at Sharon’s median income of $59, 476 would be short some $25,000 and change.The Town Plan

The Town Plan of Conservation and Development, written under the aegis of the Planning and Zoning Commission and presented to the public at a hearing June 23, elicited comments that highlighted the affordable housing squeeze and the tension between forces seeking to maintain open space and those looking to develop.

"Cluster housing," meaning condos, apartment buildings or multi-family dwellings, is opposed by many on aesthetic grounds: They don’t like the way it looks. And any change in zoning laws allowing smaller lots makes some people nervous.

Larry Powers of the Sharon Land Trust said he feared the prospect of cluster housing on two-acre lots.

"That’s a dangerous concept for a town our size," he said.

But the Housing Authority’s Lattimer quickly shot back: "When designed properly, for the location, it presents a reasonable approach for the development of affordable housing in a rural community."

One interpretation of the plan’s section on the town’s sewer and water system might suggest that some hope that availability of water services could be used to make or break any new development scheme, at least within the central part of the town served by the system.

But Sewer and Water commissioners quickly scotched that idea, concentrating instead on improving the existing system, beginning with repairing the Calkinstown Dam.

The system could expand, according to commission Chairman Steve Szalewicz, but at the new customer’s expense, as was done for the Sharon Playhouse.

But long-time commissioner Harry Hall cautioned that new development "with a large demand would require study...and construction. The new development (or the town) would have to pay for it.

"That cost is subject to a huge variety of potential demands, and the commission is not equipped to deal with such an enormous problem."Comings and Goings

Karen Manning took over as principal of Sharon Center School. She had been principal at Lee H. Kellogg in Falls Village, and replaced William Oros, the interim principal who in turn replaced Philip O’Reilly.

Donna DiMartino, a nurse, traveled to impoverished areas of Ethiopia under the auspices of the World Health organization and Rotary International to provide vaccinations. And Liz Hanwacker, a student at Clark University, spent her spring break in Nicaragua with an organization called Bridges to Community, helping subsistence farmers with agricultural and construction projects.

Longtime Sharon Center School teachers Carolyn DiDomenico and Kimberley Chirichella put on their final school show, "The Best of Mrs. D and Mrs. C." The hugely popular pair retired this past school year, and were noted for putting an unusual amount of boffo into their productions.

Finally, the staff at TriArts said hello to Alice Bemand of Kent, who took over as executive director of TriArts.

Up the hill, the Clock Tower said goodbye to accumulated grime and got its bell fixed besides.