The preliminary plans for the development, showing the Kent Green Boulevard extension as a central, tree-lined corridor for the neighborhood. The plans show three 12-unit walkup buildings and 10 four-unit stacked flats for a total of 76 units.
KENT — A pre-application presentation for a new high-density housing development in downtown Kent was well-received by the Planning and Zoning Commission at its July 10 meeting, which considered it to be potentially a major step forward in diversifying the town’s housing options.
The plans as they currently stand call for 76 total units spread over three 12-unit walkup buildings and 10 four-unit stacked flats.
The property is owned by Kent Development Housing Associates. James Millstein, head of the group, offered an overview of the proposal to P&Z, explaining that the development is intended to address a multitude of shortages in the town’s housing stock. “The town is desperately in need of more housing. Affordable housing, workforce housing and housing for people who want to downsize and stay in town,” he said.
The Commission responded positively to the proposal. Chair Wes Wyrick said that this type of density development was what P&Z had in mind when establishing the downtown housing incentive overlay zone. “With this I feel we have something we can work with.”
Commissioner Shelby Green said, “it’s something sorely needed in Kent,” and described the project as “well-conceived.”
P&Z member Sarah Chase commended the proposal’s “alliance with the aesthetic of the town.”
The pre-application meeting was intended to garner preliminary feedback from P&Z and gauge its willingness to amend the housing incentive overlay zone.
The current zoning allows for single and dual-family buildings to be built within its boundaries. Millstein said that in order to maintain the green and rural village aesthetic of the neighborhood, the project would have to mitigate its construction footprint by including up to 12 units per building.
Of the 76 proposed units, 20% are planned to be designated affordable housing available exclusively for those earning less than 80% of the Area Median Income. Another 20% of the units will be held as rentals, while the rest will be homeownership opportunities.
Millstein estimated the development could house approximately 120-150 residents.
Commissioner Darryl Cherniske said that he felt 76 units strikes a fair balance between accommodating for density housing and maintaining open space.
Jeremy Lake of Union Studio Architects and Design, the Providence-based firm handling the configuration of the proposed development, presented the specs to P&Z. He described a “walkable mixed-income neighborhood that integrates naturally into the broader village fabric of Kent.” He noted the elongation of Kent Green Boulevard so it connects to Maple Street Extension will further a sense of a unified downtown.
Lake said he’s particularly excited about designing “the spaces between the buildings – that’s where the community design aspect comes into play.”
First Selectman Marty Lindenmayer, who was also present at the meeting, lauded the preliminary designs and said the project has the capacity to “achieve something really spectacular for our town and for the region.”
Lindenmayer stated his desire to see the unoccupied building currently on the property converted to a recreational center for both residents of the new neighborhood and the broader town. This has been a point of mild contention with Millstein and the development team who say the facility would take away some of the greens space they’ve fought to preserve.
Still, Lindenmayer pushed that a recreation center, with a gym, year-round pool and other amenities, fulfills a parallel task to housing development in fortifying the town’s public offerings to support its current and future residents. “They need somewhere to live but they also need somewhere to recreate” and stay healthy, he argued.
Lindenmayer was highly supportive of the plan as a whole though, describing it as a prudent use of a unique development opportunity in Kent that “most of the towns in this area will not be able to replicate,” lacking 12 acres of developable and open land adjacent to downtown.
Having received the Commission’s input, the team behind the development will develop a petition for a further alteration to the housing incentive zone, and eventually return before P&Z with a complete application.
Emergency responders block Amenia Union Road in Sharon Saturday, Oct. 11, while responding to the vehicle crash.
SHARON — Emergency crews were called Saturday, Oct. 11, to Amenia Union Road in Sharon for a report of a vehicle into a building with entrapment.
The call went out shortly after 3 p.m. with an update at 3:20 p.m. reporting one dead on arrival, two conscious. Emergency helicopter transport was requested.
Update Oct. 13, 9:25 a.m.:
Connecticut State Police reported Charles Teti, 62, was driving his Jeep Grand Cherokee northbound on Amenia Union Road when, for an unknown reason, the vehicle crossed the southbound lane and exited the roadway where it struck a tree and home. Airbags deployed.
Teti and front seat passenger Aidan Cassidy, 63, sustained serious injuries. Teti was airlifted to Hartford Hospital and Cassidy was transported by ambulance to Sharon Hospital for treatment.
Back seat passenger Shea Cassidy-Teti, 17, sustained fatal injuries and was pronounced dead on scene. Cassidy-Teti was a senior at Kent School. He played on the football and tennis teams.
The residence that was struck is located at 35 Amenia Union Road.
The case remains under open investigation. Witnesses are asked to contact Trooper Lukas Gryniuk at Troop B 860-626-1821.
Cassidy and Teti are co-owners of 9 Academy, LLC in Lakeville.
LAKEVILLE — Rhys V. Bowen, 65, of Foxboro, Massachusetts, died unexpectedly in his sleep on Sept. 15, 2025. Rhys was born in Sharon, Connecticut, on April 9, 1960 to Anne H. Bowen and the late John G. Bowen. His brother, David, died in 1979.
Rhys grew up at The Hotchkiss School in Lakeville, where his father taught English. Attending Hotchkiss, Rhys excelled in academics and played soccer, basketball, and baseball. During these years, he also learned the challenges and joys of running, and continued to run at least 50 miles a week, until the day he died.
In 1982 after graduating summa cum laude from Harvard College, Rhys returned to Hotchkiss to teach biology, where he met his wife of 35 years, Rebecca (Becky) Snow. After two years of teaching, he worked at a research field site in Borneo, then went on to the University of California, Davis where he earned a PhD in Animal Behavior in 1995.
Rather than follow an academic tenure track, Rhys preferred the solitary focus of field ornithology, and he spent several decades researching the ecology of bird species in California and on Cape Cod and the Islands. Rhys believed passionately in supporting biodiversity through habitat preservation. His proudest achievements, therefore, came through his work for the Lakes Region Conservation Trust, in New Hampshire, where he served on committees and the Board of Trustees for twenty years, including three years as Chair.
Deeply intellectual and curious, Rhys learned Homeric Greek so he could read The Odyssey and The Iliad in their original language. An amateur Melville scholar, he would wax poetic about reading Moby-Dick for the umpteenth time.Rhys’s spirit was filled by the performing arts. Concerts by the Handel and Haydn Society and Boston Early Music Festival often brought tears to his eyes, while Boston Bluegrass Union shows delivered toe-tapping fidgetiness.
Rhys will be missed by his wife, Becky Snow, his mother, Anne Bowen, extended family, friends, and anyone who had the pleasure of knowing him.
A service will be held at The Hotchkiss School chapel on Saturday, Nov. 15, 2025 at 1 p.m..
In honor of Rhys’s memory, donations can be made to the Lakes Region Conservation Trust.
LAKEVILLE — Kelsey K. Horton, 43, a lifelong area resident, died peacefully on Saturday, Sept. 27, 2025, at Norwalk Hospital in Norwalk, Connecticut, following a courageous battle with cancer. Kelsey worked as a certified nursing assistant and administrative assistant at Noble Horizons in Salisbury, from 1999 until 2024, where she was a very respected and loved member of their nursing and administrative staff.
Born Oct. 4, 1981, in Sharon, she was the daughter of W. Craig Kellogg of Southern Pines, North Carolina, and JoAnne (Lukens) Tuncy and her husband Donald of Millerton, New York. Kelsey graduated with the class of 1999 from Webutuck High School in Amenia and from BOCES in 1999 with a certificate from the CNA program as well. She was a longtime member of the Lakeville United Methodist Church in Lakeville. On Oct. 11, 2003, in Poughkeepsie, New York, she married James Horton. Jimmy survives at home in Lakeville. Kelsey loved camping every summer at Waubeeka Family Campground in Copake, and she volunteered as a cheer coach for A.R.C. Cheerleading for many years. Kelsey also enjoyed hiking and gardening in her spare time and spending time with her loving family and many dear friends.
In addition to her husband and parents, Kelsey is survived by her two beloved children, Hunter Horton and Aryanna Horton, both of Lakeville; a step-brother, Jason Tuncy of East Hartford, Connecticut; her mother-in-law, Frances “Fran” Horton and her brother-in-law, Benjamin D. Horton III and his wife Penny of Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, and their son, Alec, and several aunts, uncles, cousins and many dear friends. She was predeceased by her father-in-law, Benjamin D. Horton, Jr. in 2017.
There are no calling hours. A Celebration of Life will take place on Saturday, Oct. 25, 2025, from 11 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at the Millerton American Legion Post # 178, Route 44, Millerton, NY 12546. A time to celebrate Kelsey and share stories and memories. Memorial contributions may be made to The Jane Lloyd Fund. Please make checks payable to Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation (please note in memo line, The Jane Lloyd Fund) and mail to: Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation, 800 N. Main Street, Sheffield, MA 01257.
To send an online condolence to the family, flowers to the service or to plant a tree in Kelsey’s memory, please visit www.conklinfuneralhome.com
Arrangements have been entrusted to the Scott D. Conklin Funeral Home, 37 Park Avenue, Millerton, NY 12546.
SHARON — On Sept. 27, Eliot Warren Brown was shot and killed at age 47 at his home in New Orleans, Louisiana, in a random act of violence by a young man in need of mental health services. Eliot was born and raised in Sharon, Connecticut, and attended Indian Mountain School and Concord Academy in Massachusetts. He graduated from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. He and his wife Brooke moved to New Orleans to answer the call for help in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and fell in love with the city.
In addition to his wife Brooke, Eliot leaves behind his parents Malcolm and Louise Brown, his sisters Lucia (Thaddeus) and Carla (Ruairi), three nephews, and extended family and friends spread far and wide.
Normally at this point one might list some interests, but in Eliot’s case, it’s easier to list what he wasn’t interested in: watching sports.
Eliot made a living as a fine craftsman and carpenter, but at heart he was an artist. He was well versed in music, painting, literature, biking, travel, Mardi Gras costumes, poker, pranks, street performance and on and on and on.Having previously hiked the entire Camino de Santiago in Spain and Portugal, he recently achieved another dream of summiting the highest stratovolcano in North America.
Eliot’s creative ability was astounding. His creations were designed to bring joy to others. He didn’t seek recognition or praise, and a large part of his work was anonymous. Pieces of art would appear in the community, encouraging people to think, connect and enjoy.
From the precociously funny and determinedly defiant boy that grew up in the Northwest corner of Connecticut, Eliot grew into a brilliant, gentle souled, boundlessly creative, ever mischievous, perpetually scraggly, and astoundingly wise and caring man who made an indelible impact on those who were lucky to have him in their lives.
In honor of Eliot, please consider making donations to organizations that work to end gun violence, support the arts, or provide mental health services. A service will be held at the Congregational Church in Salisbury on Sunday Oct. 26 at 2 p.m.
