Lynn Drive (Preston, Connecticut) residents filed petitions in opposition to a proposed 300-space RV and luxury camping site on the southeast shore of Avery Pond.
According to a report, Blue Water Development Corp. has proposed the campground and RV park under Blue Camp CT LLC, comprising three parcels totaling around 65 acres belonging to the Mashantucket-Pequot Tribal Nations with approximately 300 camping spaces.
The number is currently being revised as part of the changes the group submitted on Tuesday. The park will also have a welcome center, three bathhouses, a swimming pool, as well as areas for tennis, squash, and bocce.
The majority of the protests focused on the proposal’s location at Avery Pond, where luxury safari tent areas, a floating dock, as well as an elevated boardwalk, canoe, and kayak spaces would be constructed. A total of 40 residents were present at the Preston Plains Middle School hearing.
Lynn Drive residents Susan and Timothy Hotchkiss, together with Jennifer Hollstein, hired lawyer Richard S. Cody and filed petitions to become intervenors in the inland wetlands application. This allows them to play a greater role in the application process.
The homeowners of Lynn Drive, which is situated along the west shore of Avery Pond, submitted written reports on Tuesday to challenge the technical findings that the Blue Water Development team filed with the application.
Cody said in the letter that the three residents are concerned about “the nature and scope of the proposed development and in particular, its potential adverse impacts upon Avery Pond.”
They submitted a letter from former professor and biologist Steven Loomis. They criticized Blue Water’s report for what Cody called “its abject thinness in the scope of its study” and for its inability to consider Avery Pond.
Our clients believe that the number of campground units is an excessive number-driven not by a careful study and a determined lack of harm to the natural resources, but instead is driven by profit,” Cody’s letter stated.
At the beginning of the hearing, project attorney Harry Heller and project technical staff presented several changes that were based on the concerns of the town’s technical experts.
Heller stated that instead of paving, the developers would instead use crushed stone for access roads and most parking spaces, thus reducing the size of the stormwater retention ponds. In the end, the changes cut down activities around the wetlands by 1.6 acres.
Any activity that occurs along the peninsula that runs along the southeast corner of Avery Pond would be eliminated, fewer trees would be cut down for the boardwalk, and the footings would be installed with a long-reach excavator.
Only park-owned rented RVs would be permitted at the east side of the park, which would reduce the size of the units. One tent site would be accessible by golf carts only. There would also be seven fewer safari tent sites.
A public discussion will be held at the February 15 meeting of the commission.
Isn’t it interesting how Preston locals are standing up for what they believe in by challenging the proposed RV park at Avery Pond? I find it inspiring how they’re taking action to protect their environment. Organizing community events could further amplify their cause. Let’s support their efforts!