But all the studying cannot minimize the huge amount of development this project entails. The housing will add between 50 and 100 kids to the already crowded Ridgebury school. The developers own a well on the far side of Rt 7 which could be used for drinking water within the development, but garden and golf course irrigation water would have to come from the ponds on the land. Many members of the audience expressed grave doubts that this could be done without harming the water quality. All of the traffic from the site would be routed to Rt 7.
Golf courses are heavy users of pesticides and fertilizers, which degrade water quality.
There was great interest in the track record of Roseland Properties and the participants in the LLC which owns the land. Roseland has done no major projects in Connecticut, but they have developments along the Hudson River in New York. The property links a state park to a Ridgefield park, but at the present time the developers do not plan to preserve any land as open space to be deeded to the town. A number of residents spoke, some at length, about their concerns for the development project. Mike Mandelbaum read a letter from his wife, noted environmental activist Debbie Mandelbaum, which described her efforts to get Sue Manning, Abe Morelli or the State interested in buying the land.