Jeffrey Court meeting contentious, helpful

The Jeffery Court project being built on Hospital Avenue in Danbury was the subject of a neighborhood meeting over the weekend.  About 30 people turned out to talk with city council members, the Mayor and Dan Bertram of BRT about deed restrictions, blasting and notifications.

Bertram says he regrets buying the parcel of land for a variety of lands, but they are there now and going to complete their investment.

The 10 year plan of development calls for high density residential development, where appropriate, in the downtown to bring people in with money to spend to support stores and restaurants.

City officials said they would talk with the fire marshal about if they can expand the radius for blast zone notification.  There are state laws that dictate those rules, but they are looking into crafting a local law. 

Mayor Mark Boughton it's devastating what happened to that lot, and it's bad.  But it fits within the zoning regulation, which is the problem.  He says the R-3 zone is the worst in the city and they are no longer allowed.  If residents want to get rid of the zone, Boughton says he would support it, but a majority of neighbors have to agree.

Boughton says the city spent over $40,000 of taxpayer money to defend an appeal of this project because the original development was way too dense for the area.  Now if they tried to stop it--BRT could go back to the judge and say the City won't even let me build what's allowed in their rules.  Bertram of BRT says when the original proposal was rejected during a court fight, he backed into the current proposal to fit the zoning requirements of the city.

BRT is 95 percent done with the blasting, they still have to do trench blasting to put in a drainage system.  He says no reports of damage were ever brough to him or the company. 

An environmental cease and desist order was issued about the siltation fence not being put in properly.  Around Christmas there was a blow out and mud, rocks and other debris spilled out onto the sidewalk and road following big rain storms.