Podunk Pond remains threatened by highway salt and lawn fertilizers. The Black Spruce Bog near Michael Drive is now threatened by development. Nature does not bear the cost of development alone. Contrary to the popular opinion that development expands the tax base leading to lower tax rates, new development raises taxes for everyone. This reality is apparent in Southington, where the budget battles get more fierce every year.
More homes mean more students, police, firemen, etc.
Commercial development will not counter the growing tax problem, as the returns are small, especially when massive tax breaks are offered as lures. Simultaneously, no effort is made to save ecologically-functional wild or open spaces even though the law provides such opportunities. During the Fish hearings, the developer's hired biologist told a receptive commission that deer actually prefer plantings around homes to their native browse. I wonder how many subsequent developments were approved with that myth in mind. First, we need a rewrite of the town's Master Plan of Development.