Master plan for Towaco Center riles residents

More than 100 attend planners meeting on retail, housing space More than 100 residents packed the municipal building on Thursday night, most to air their grievances to the planning board about a plan meant to revitalize Towaco Center. The amended plan, prepared by township planner Joseph Burgis through a $50,000 state grant, calls for an influx of residential and retail development with a coordinated architectural design near the train station on Route 202. But it has received largely the same strongly negative reaction from Towaco residents as the original master plan for the area did in 2003. Back then, residents protested a plan that was predominantly viewed as a gateway to dense building over the Towaco Valley Aquifer, the township's primary water source.  See Daily Record. A draft copy of the Master Plan under consideration is available at this link. Discuss on OurMontville.com blog.        See Towaco development gets harsh response - again.  See Towaco residents say aquifer in danger.

Comments

[annonymous]

It all comes down to Money and Greed, unfortunatley at the montville residence expense. The only reason for this "major redevelopment" is for the developers to make a fast buck and disappear to the next town with no reguard to the community or environment. The end result: more traffic, pollution, noise, crime, congestion, crowded schools, and higher taxes! Don't let them turn our town into a city.

[realist]

A little hysterical arent you? 45 units in a town with 20,000 people is going to make Montville into a city??

Face it, this area is a blight on our whole town, and nothing nice is going to happen without incentives to get the owners to improve things. How do you expect to get that ugly glass building on Waughaw Road fixed up unless you let them build some apartments. Or that ugly stuff next to the ice cream store.

Most people in Montville want to see that area get improved, and this plan will help that happen. It will raise property values everywhere, and there won't be any of the bad stuff your talking about.

Progress means change. Get used to it. Your nothing but a bunch of not-in-my-backyard crybabies.

[Plane Truth]

This is stupid looking, hodgepodge redevelopment, probably due, in part, to clueless political opportunism - trying to appear to be for preservation and development, at election time, and a township that does not give a hoot about quality of life or property values in this part of town, as long as their cronies make money.

[Carol]

Mr. Shelba was a compleat jerk!