No Asphalt Plant

We appreciate Colleen Gundlach’s coming out to talk to us. We need all the help we can get to save our town from a future of more heavy truck traffic, loss of property value and the polluting of our neighborhood. We are up against a ruthless, very wealthy businessman. Our town Planning and Zoning Commission has been plagued by bad luck on this simple issue, which is that no one wants an asphalt plant in their neighborhood. 

Metcalf’s claims to your reporter that asphalt is not going anywhere is true, but he does not need to produce it in a neighborhood one-third of a mile from a river on top of the aquifer that feeds all our wells. If you have an asphalt driveway, you are not required to allow an asphalt plant in your backyard, anymore than if you use plastic, you should welcome a plastic factory down your street.

 Metcalf accused us of a vendetta against him and of wasting town funds. This is ridiculous, since he is suing the town.

 On May 13, at a meeting of the P & Z, over 200 people showed up who were mostly against an asphalt plant in Canaan. The STAP (Stop the Asphalt Plant) proposal was public record for a month before that. The agenda at that public hearing was missing two letters: STAP should have been STAPEC (Stop the Asphalt Plant East Canaan). Metcalf’s attorney tried to prevent everyone in Canaan from hearing arguments because of that mistake and an alleged dislike between the chair of the P & Z Commission and Metcalf. The many arguments against the asphalt plant were strong and well received by the town. Metcalf cites unfairness because his attorney wasn’t allowed to speak for longer than the three minutes that each citizen got. The attorney wanted to cross examine the residents of Canaan during the public hearing, and he claims that Metcalf did not have enough time in 30 days to introduce opposing evidence, which is hard to believe.

 Metcalf really wants this asphalt plant in Canaan, so he will continue to take our town to court. This poses an obvious question: Is Canaan allowed to make decisions for itself or not? When a wealthy businessman wants something that isn’t in our zoning regulations, does he just need a really good lawyer who can steal our rights under the rule of law? 

Dolores Perotti, East Canaan