My name is Victor Alvarez, I live at 204 Park St. and I am the president of Park Mead Condominium Association. Our building is adjacent to Merritt Apartments to the South of it.

This project calls for 85 incremental units. I for one am very much against 85 incremental units. I disagree with what the lawyer said a little while ago about how there are no negative impacts associated with density (I typically disagree with what lawyers say).

Real estate developers have one all-important goal…maximizing profit by maximizing the number of units they build. There comes a point when a town is deteriorated by incremental development and the increased population that goes with it. Unbridled development leads to a race to the bottom. I think we’re all familiar with suburban parts of the tri-state area in New Jersey and Long Island that have been overdeveloped.

My building has 23 units and only three people take the train every day. I know because I’m one of them. Almost every time that I get in my car I either make a right onto Mead and then make a left onto Park Street (that left turn is challenging and that’s without the 85 additional units), or I make a left onto Mead and a left onto South Ave. (that left turn is challenging and that’s without the 85 additional units). The traffic consultant hired by Mr. Karp tells us that his “conservative” estimate is that this project would add 53 automobile trips to the peak morning commute on Park Street. I think that is unacceptable. I also think a more realistic conservative estimate would be 100 additional trips.

This project that adds 85 incremental units, or for that matter, any project that increases the population of the town, will deteriorate the welfare of New Canaanites not only by,

1. Creating more traffic congestion leading to routine traffic jams and more dangerous conditions for pedestrians and cyclists, but also by

2. Putting a larger strain on the public schools. Saxe Middle School is undergoing an $18 million expansion, and South School was so overcrowded a couple of years ago that it had to undergo a controversial rezoning.

3. There will be a larger strain on infrastructure and services like the fire and police departments.

4. Our property taxes will increase. It’s a myth that these units will bring in enough in property taxes to cover their burden to the town.

5. The 38 existing units at Merritt are some of the last lower-priced housing in town, and this project replaces them with 8 units of workforce housing, a net loss of 30.

The only tangible benefit of allowing this variance to the zoning laws is to prevent Mr. Karp, Mr. Stone and the other M2 partners from carrying out their threat to build 300 to 500 units of low income housing on the site. This is one of the more persuasive pieces of information that got my condo neighbors to change their minds and support the project. This threat is at best a bully tactic. This same threat was successfully used by Mr. Karp in the town of Fairfield. If the threat works and the variance is granted M2 Partners and other real estate developers will be encouraged to use this same threat for future projects.

One of the things that makes this country great is the extent to which we follow the rule of law, but this country is deeply harmed by the cunning twists to the law for narrow, personal benefit. Over-development is impossible to undo, and it’s the planning and zoning board’s job to protect the town from over-development. A change or an exception to the existing planning and zoning laws should only be allowed if it is an improvement to the human welfare in our community. To quote Teddy Roosevelt, “If we do not have the right kind of law and the right kind of administration of the law, we cannot go forward as a nation.” The people of New Canaan should leave this town even better for our descendants than it is for us. We can’t do this if you grant this variance to Mr. Karp, Mr. Stone and their partners.