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The Town’s Best Interest

We apologize in advance: I would like to take this opportunity on behalf of my co-owners of the Bluffs [on Sperry Lane] to apologize to the taxpayers of East Haven as a result of the recent decision by the Planning & Zoning Commission. We have been forced to consider alternative plans that will result in substantial tax increases and services to the residents of East Haven.

We diligently worked with the mayor’s office to accommodate its requests, even standing down until after the election. Subsequently, on the Friday before the meeting, it appears the Mayor Joseph Maturo, Jr., decided he could no longer support the project. He called the two board members who voted in favor of the zoning change 48 hours after the vote, asking them to resign. [Maturo] was able to pull the strings on three board members in order to defeat the project. Board member Marlene Asid openly questioned the 55-and-older occupancy.

We will be resubmitting an application, but for affordable housing, which will be under state jurisdiction and not subject to petty local bias. We estimate 600 units, which will surely effect the school system, trash, public works, police, fire, and traffic far greater than the original application.

I encourage your readers to call the mayor and ask him why he chose to stick it to the taxpayers and pass on a project that would have generated more than a million in tax revenue as well as economic benefits for years to come. The Bluffs owners paid a combined total of $125,452 in East Haven taxes in 2017, in addition to wanting to invest $48 million in this project. Who do you think has the town’s best interest in mind?

Mark Dilungo

Northford