A standing room only crowd of about 70 filled a room at the Residences at Otter Creek last week to hear Mr. Philip Rosenzweig, a Philadelphia developer, share his plan for a four-story apartment building at the corner of Middle Road and Route 7 in Middlebury.

After a long explanation of his love of our beautiful town and how he came to see the opportunity to build, he turned to his architect to explain what they planned to do. The drawings of the building were shown as well as the site plan of the property — a large building on 0.7 of an acre. The parking for the 32 apartments allows for 32 spaces — only one space per apartment — and would be located on another lot behind the proposed apartment building. They are asking for a variance from the standard setback requirements on Route 7, so that they can maximize the number of units in the building. We were told they believe there are no other places in our community to build this four-story complex.

Allowing this variance will set a precedent for the future, and soon we will have an even tighter corridor into our business district. The congestion and traffic danger it would add to the already very busy intersection (which is the only access road to the middle school) and to the neighbors who travel Middle Road will be significant and long lasting. This project would totally change the tenor of the neighborhood.

Citing this building on that small corner lot seems unwise and an ill-conceived solution to the housing needs in Middlebury. Surely our community can do better and not accept this slapdash solution. I value my community more than to accept this proposal.   

Lyn DuMoulin

Middlebury