Letters to the Editor 12/12/24

Tribute to Rod Lankler

I just read Curtis Rand’s wonderful letter to the editor on the recently departed Rod Lankler and this has inspired me to throw my 2 cents in. I first met Rod a few years ago as a patient in the Sharon Hospital E.R. Without going into medical details this my great love and admiration of Rod. We played golf together, I got him to join our book club, and socialize with our wives at Rod’s place at Twin Lakes plus boat rides. I can still remember Barbara telling my wife and I that she attended St. Lawrence “to find a husband.” She did that in finding Rod. He was a great lawyer, husband, father and friend, so full of life. I was a little sad when he left the colder part of the year with Barbara just outside of Tuscan. I still miss Rod and always will.

W. Peter Reyelt, M.D.

Sharon

Vote down Wake Robin

My husband and I oppose the proposed re-development and expansion of the Wake Robin Inn by Aradev LLC. This is a project that never should have gotten off the ground.

For reasons no one has adequately explained, on May 6, 2024, the Salisbury Planning and Zoning Commission, with virtually no public hearings, approved a radical revision of our existing zoning regulations regarding hotels in Salisbury’s residential areas. Many of us first learned of the Aradev proposal in September, and then only through word of mouth. Now, to our astonishment, we have learned that the zoning change came about only after the Commission consulted with Aradev about exactly what they wanted before this vote.

I won’t rehearse the many trenchant analyses offered by both experts and Lakeville residents about the myriad ways in which the Aradev project, if approved, would adversely affect the lives and property values of all of us. One specific and indeed dangerous thing that’s been overlooked, however, is that any increase in traffic on Wells Hill Road (which Aradev concedes is inevitable) will be especially disturbing at night. Today’s cars come with intense, blinding LED headlights, which even now have an impact not only on driving, on Wells Hill Road, but inside residents’ homes, where it’s a problem shades can’t solve.

Even at this late date, the Commission continues to have an obligation to perform due diligence. They need to compare this project to something in our area it closely resembles—such as Canyon Ranch, in Lenox, MA. While their missions differ—Aradev focuses on a full hotel experience, Canyon Ranch focuses on wellness—the overwhelming similarities in amenities make the comparison apt. Both include high-end hotel rooms, spa services, a pool, a gym, and a restaurant, and landscaped grounds. Most important, both are destination sites for such crowd-drawing events as weddings.

Now, consider the differences in the two towns. According to the latest census in 2022, Lakeville has 886 residents, while Lenox has more than five times that number: 5062 residents. Meanwhile, Lakeville has 3.8 square miles of territory, compared to Lenox’s 21.7 square miles—almost six times as much. The Wake Robin Inn sits on 12 acres, Canyon ranch occupies ten times as much—120 acres. Aradev proposes a capacity of 125 people for events in their “events” barn, the much bigger Canyon Ranch has an events capacity of only 65.

Imagine the Aradev hotel and Canyon Ranch each having 300 guests on site on a given summer night. The proportion of town residents to these resort visitors would be:

Lakeville 60:40

Canyon Ranch 94:6

Over the course of the fall P&Z Zoom meetings we’ve learned from very informed residents, as well as experts in relevant fields, a plethora of specific ways this project would harm the quality of life in Lakeville and the concomitant reduction in the value of residential properties it would inexorably lead to.

The Commission has an obligation to the community to vote NO on the proposal.

Laurie Fendrich

Lakeville

Access to grief support

I read with pleasure Natalia Zuckerman’s article in a recent November issue of the Compass about Rebecca Churt and the Grievery. Finding safe spaces to express feelings of loss is much needed now. Fortunately, here in the N.W. corner, we have access to many grief support groups, both online and in person. SVNA on Salmon Kill Road, now part of Visiting Nurse & Hospice of Litchfield County, has information about groups. Wisdom House in Litchfield will start an in-person support group in January or February. I will offer one online starting in late January. United Congregational Church in Torrington will have an in-person group starting January 7. GriefShare offers both in-person and online groups. Charlotte Hungerford Hospital also has groups. Community connections and mutual support are life-giving, and information about resources needs to be spread as widely as possible.

The Rev. Dr. Eileen Epperson

Salisbury

Opposed to Wake Robin expansion

I am writing to express my opposition to the granting of a special permit for the Wake Robin Inn expansion project in Lakeville.

I believe that the immense scale of this project (even the “scaled down” version) will have an adverse effect on local traffic and pedestrians and will create major noise and light nuisances. It is clear to me from all the testimony that the expansion will adversely affect the enjoyment and value of neighboring properties. I believe commissioners need to protect us, their constituents, and the community from such development overreach.

But I wanted to point to another issue of concern to me, and that is the P&Z’s changing the zoning regulations on May 6, 2024 well in advance of the formal application by the developer ARADEV. These zoning changes enabled the vast hotel, spa, and event space proposal that ARADEV is now applying for in this special permit.

There clearly was not any meaningful public review or participation in the May change. In the P&Z memo of October 15, 2024, it is stated “at least one member of the public spoke, and her questions were satisfactorily addressed.” The public at that time was unaware that these zoning changes could result in a vast development project at the Wake Robin Inn. The commissioners did know, because, as they have acknowledged, they were involved in “pre-application” discussions with ARADEV.

In short, are we now going through a well-attended and very informative public review when much of what ARADEV wanted was previously decided in a context where there was no meaningful public review?

This issue goes to the heart of public participation in our local government processes.

John W. Sutter

Lakeville

Problem with P&Z in Salisbury

Something is wrong with the Zoning aspect of Planning and Zoning in Salisbury. At the last meeting, 2 December 2024, an application to increase the height of a non conforming structure, in the area of non conformity, was acted upon and approved by the Commission members. So, you ask, what is the problem? Well, the problem is that the Commission does not have the authority to vary its’ regulations. That is the function of the Zoning Board of Appeals.

Recently, Abby Conroy and her assistant Miles Todaro were asked to produce the ZBA records for the encroachment of a new porch into the required front setback on the old pharmacy/Chinese restaurant in Lakeville. The response was that no application was required because “the site plan was approved by the Commission based on the applicants statement that a porch had once been there”, as shown in over 60 year old photos and would be pre-existing. Now that is presidential!! If it ever was, it can be again! Once again the Commission usurps the functions of the ZBA (The specifics are the existing building was 18.5 feet from the property boundary in a zone that requires 20 feet. The porch was extended in the area of non-conformity, when only ZBA could consider such an application.

Regarding the Wake Robin application, at the same meeting on the second of December, the Commissioners have latitude in questioning applicants to insure compliance with the existing Regulations, however, requiring the applicant to define who they would allow to contract a booking (to avoid protest) does not appear in the applications. Requiring an application (under Section 213.5 of the regulations which relates to a new Hotel) is absurd as the Wake Robin has been in business as an Inn for one hundred and ten years. Putting the prospective buyer through the requirements of a Special Permit application, in order to improve on the existing use, is absurd and contrary to the Regulations. (Can you say “Law suit”?)

It should not be to difficult to require Commission adherence to and application of the regulations. However, that would require the Commission members and Land Use staff to read and understand the application of the regulations. The Connecticut General Statutes clearly define the functions of the P&Z and the ZBA.

It is interesting to observe.

Peter K. Oliver

Lakeville

An unredeeming Wake Robin plan

I was a bit late to this issue, (the amendment allowing changes to this non-conforming property was put through in May, The Lakeville Journal wrote the first story about the project in September). Now, after reading all of the information on the town website and attending two zoom meetings and talking to so many Wells Hill residents — I now understand that this proposed hotel/conference center on the Wake Robin site makes no sense. I’ve been told that it is legal, but just because it is legal (and there is some discussion about that) does not mean it is a good thing for the road or the town. Nearly every single resident of the road does not want this project to go through. Isn’t that enough? One can call the Wells Hill residents NIMBYs but the acronym does not apply in this case. There are no redeeming features of this project, it is not a hospital, a halfway house, a re-hab facility — it is an oversized luxury hotel/conference/wedding venue, with all of the noise, traffic and destruction of land that implies. I don’t see how this will benefit the residents of Salisbury. We have all known beautiful places destroyed by bad planning and this project is a prime example of that — inexplicably tone deaf ideas by greedy developers who care little for the impact of their project on the entire town. If this goes through — the only winners will be the developers.

Anne Day

Salisbury

Wake Robin ‘correction’

At the end of November, I submitted a letter to the editor with concerns about the planned expansion of the Wake Robin Inn and the impact it would have on the area. Trained as an engineer, you hope your calculations are not off by an order of magnitude, which mine were not, but they were off by a factor of 2-3x. I thought I recalled an early submission for the event space was going to be 10,000 ft sq. It looks like it will be 1/3 of that and so rather than have weekly assaults on the neighborhood of 600 cars (500 event goers and 100 staff. It will only be 200-300 instead.

This doesn’t change the questions I’ve raised. Where are the 100s of celebrants who are clamoring to be in Lakeville every week? This isn’t someone’s lifelong dream to own a bed and breakfast and so the economics be dammed. If someone proposes to build a car wash and it meets with all the regulations, we wish them luck. If someone wants to mine iron ore, we say sure, as long as you follow the regs and in these cases we know what is likely to come of these projects. We don’t question the economics because everyone needs to wash their car and there is plenty of iron ore here. This project only makes sense if there is a virtually guaranteed return to investors that can only come from filling the space with bodies weekly. The White Hart isn’t bursting at the seams, and neither is the Interlaken and that means the developers know something we don’t know that will bring in enough bodies to justify the expense. It’s no different than if someone applied to mine uranium here.

Everyone would ask where is the uranium? The Wake Robin expansion raises the same issue: where are the celebrants you hope to mine and why has no figurative Geiger counter gone off if that is what you are really doing? I’m still hoping town leadership will answer this question.

Theodore Rudd O’Neill

Lakeville