As unprecedented housing development continues around East Norwalk’s commuter train station, coupled with ongoing transportation infrastructure projects, the East Norwalk Neighborhood Association (ENNA) would like to remind your readers about our organization, and also encourage them to be informed and involved by signing up at www.eastnorwalk.org for our e-newsletters and links to our monthly meetings.
The ENNA is a 501c3 non-profit started in 2001 with a mission “to foster and preserve the residential character, natural & historic resources, and quality of life in the community, and to encourage the residents of East Norwalk to actively participate in achieving this purpose.”
Being involved is more important than ever: recent updates to Norwalk’s zoning regs creating larger scale, high-density development (changes that were widely rejected by residents but adopted anyway) are now coming to fruition as developers take advantage for greater profits, but with negative impacts and few public benefits.
The latest application, winding through the zoning process to a public hearing next month, is the “The Lofts at Mill Pond” at 1 Cemetery Street, at the top of the tranquil Mill Pond. This 77-unit, 3-1/2 story, multi-building structure is the latest in what will be many development applications for mixed-use, luxury apartment complexes. This particular project’s “public amenities” that qualified it for that extra height, reduced setbacks and double the apartments are hardly “public,” and should have been the price of entry – they’re meaningless in terms of value compared to the negative impacts of the development, and are installed at cheap, one-time costs yet will reap huge financial benefits to the developers for decades to come. And still, only 10% of the units are required to be “workforce” affordable. Little or no dent will be made in the dire demand for truly affordable and lower-income housing, instead we can expect the gentrification of East Norwalk.
ENNA hopes residents 06855 residents will learn more about this proposed development and get involved. We’ll spread the word once that public hearing date is set, and will be ready to launch a “residents tool kit” of sample emails, fliers, lawn signs, and petitions to use in urging the P&Z Commissioners to send this Mill Pond Cemetery Street plan back to the drawing board for modifications that respect our neighborhood, our environment and our quality of life.
Visit ENNA at www.eastnorwalk.org or email [email protected] and follow us on social media at facebook.com/eastnorwalk.
Diane Cece
Board – President
East Norwalk Neighborhood Association
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