Why Say NO!

Pollution: You bet!

A building of this scale will add water, noise, air, traffic and light pollution.
It is in the watershed for Willimantic and UConn drinking water
2000 Trucks a day equal noise and air pollution
This is a 24/365 facility with major lights on 24/7.
The site is rugged hilly northeast CT terrain. Building will require significant excavation.
Soil is poor for a septic system and they will need a huge septic system.
Water needs of a building this size can impact water levels in residential wells.

Yes it will be dangerous.
Yes some will go through town right past our school.
Traffic report supplied was inadequate. It gives numbers for the beginning of the day and the end of day. What about the rest of the day?
What happens when the Sturbridge interchange or Mass Pike is slow going? Traffic apps will direct them through Ashford.

It will NOT significantly reduce your property taxes.
Mega Corporation will expect tax incentives to build and stay here.
Tax reduction figures presented by applicant were based on a much higher home value than is average in Ashford.
Applicant assumed there would no increase in the town budget due to their potential project. How about fire, traffic control, town planning, regulatory? Our budget WILL increase because of them and we will have MORE government

Applicant stated they would try to hire locally but they already have a construction company. The height change for potential buildings are so that robotics and large conveyers could be used, thus limiting jobs.
Warehouse jobs for whom? FedEx can’t fill openings!
Warehouse jobs are entry level, minimum wage jobs.

Changing the regs as requested will expose Ashford to projects we do not have staff, expertise or regulations for monitoring.
Our Zoning regulations must be much more robust to protect us before considering these changes.
THE regulation change opens up many doors for the applicant without sufficient restrictions.
The have no top end restriction on size of building. It could be as much as 1.5 million sf on that site.
The change would affect ALL of the parcels in the Interstate Interchange Development Zone not just the parcels on the northside owned by the applicant. It opens up parcels on the southside of I-84 as well to uses that will not be clearly defined by these vague amendments.
There is NO guarantee that the applicant will build. They may sell the land right after the amendment changes. What then? Who will build? Could it be a Federal Prison paying no taxes?
The secret around potential customers is very concerning. Obviously they know that it is in their interest for Ashford to not know who is interested in building here.
Who is going to vette this company? Ashford doesn’t have a Town Planner.
Facilities this size need public water and sewer. Without these there should not be a building this size on this site.

Destruction of 70 acres of Trees
3.5 Miilion Cubic Yards of Snow HIll will need to be moved.
65,000 gallons of waste water a day into the Fenton River Watershed (and this is a public watershed!)

Several residents at the hearing said we should take this next step but Ashford is NOT prepared.
We are opening the doors wide for other types of unwanted business because there are NO definitions or restrictions included.
We would be required by law to accept other types of mega companies because there are no restrictions in our regs. The special permit process does not allow us to exclude them if we haven't excluded them in our regs previously.