Milford Zoners Alter Trash Plant Regulation

The Planning and Zoning Board this week approved a regulation change that bans recycling plants and trash-hauling operations in one of the city’s heavy industrial zones.

The change to the Housatonic Design District, a large swath of land along the Housatonic River north of Interstate 95, received unanimous support from the PZB, but received heavy criticism from business interests.

The change, which goes into effect July 22, bans all “trash hauling, solid waste processing, construction and demolition debris storage and processing, recycling plants and volume-reduction facilities” in the district.

The banned uses, however, are allowed if they are “accessory to a permitted principal use.”

With the change, existing transfer stations and recycling centers are grandfathered in by the old regulations and can continue operations. They are, however, considered a “non-conforming use” and cannot expand the operations.

Critics contended at a public hearing that the change would alter the character of the district, hurt the city financially and amount to illegal spot zoning and illegal taking.

But City Planner David Sulkis said a language change to the original proposal tightened the regulation and should have eliminated “99 percent” of the concerns.

“It’s going to basically protect the neighborhoods surrounding this zone from heavy traffic typically generated from the waste-hauling industry,” Sulkis said. He said the regulation would also protect the nearby Housatonic River from possible environmental damage.

Sulkis said the change passed Tuesday night with little discussion.

“We heard some forceful objections to this regulation change at the public hearing, many of which were from businesses that will not be impacted,” PZB Chairwoman Jeanne Cervin said. “When the wording was tightened up, it was clear that the power company, Iroquois Gas, Gas Equipment Engineering Corp. and, of course, the city transfer station and the sewer treatment plant, which are not subject to our regulations, will not be impacted.”

James Tinley ORIGINAL STORY CLICK HERE

Constitutional Convention Sparks Debate

Every 20 years the issue of a constitutional convention appears on the ballot here in our state. What the convention calls for is the opening of the state constitution for debate and alteration vis a vis the general public rather than the general assembly.

This years convention has put two big titans head to head in a battle of epic proportions, on one side we have the liberal pro-choice pro-gay marriage pro women's reproductive rights while on the conservative side we have the pro-life, pro-marriage, pro conservative values. These amount to two groups facing off, the churches who are in favor of the constitutional convention, and the liberal factions within Connecticut who oppose it.

Of those who oppose the constitutional convention, do so by way of reasoning that special interests will use their public authority to modify the state constitution for their own politically motivated reasons. Most people at the moment cannot even describe what the convention is or entails, but of those who do know, like Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, oppose it.

Ultimately it is up to us to decide if we wish for the general public to exercise their rights to modify the the state Constitution but thus far the opposing factions are mostly the churches and the social liberals in our state.

The first bout of this battle will take place this Sunday where several church groups have banded together to support the definition of marriage to remain between a man and a woman. The issue is currently before the supreme court and religious conservatives fear that our state judges will legislate rather than follow the rule of law of which has already been established in the state.

Opponents of a constitutional convention have posted THIS BLOG. Supporters of a Constitutional convention can be heard by clicking HERE or for a public site click HERE.

Ron Paul Supporters Arrive to Milford

The first of the pre-presidential primary supporters have arrived to Milford in force. While there have been previous Paul supporter visits during the last Milford Oyster Festival, these folks are now stepping things up and campaigning harder than before.

The Paul support group arrived at the Post Plaza Mall in Milford where they chanted and greeted local Milford Residents in a push for local support. Ron Paul dubbed "The Dark Horse" has been shocking the foundation of political establishments everywhere. His last big shocker was his "Guy Falk" day fundraiser where Paul raised an astonishing 4.2 Million Dollars in one day, and the "Ron Paul Revolution" is not over. On December 16, 2007 the Ron Paulers plan to strike again with a renewed "Boston Tea Party" The purpose of this event is to raise an "earth Shattering" Ten Million Dollars from over 100,000 donors in a single day.

The Milford Locals seen around town are part of the Fairfield and New Haven County Ron Paul Meetup Groups. They are the ones placing signs along the Milford Post Road and organizing at public events. They are also more visible than any other "in town" presidential candidate supporters.

Ron Paul opponents have dubbed these types of exuberant activists as "Paultards," whereas a "Paultard" according to www.paultard.com is a "socially-networked bot-net of mechanical turks who support presidential candidate Ron Paul." Alex Jones of infowars.com and an avid supporter of Ron Paul responded to this allegation by stating that "socially-networked bot-nets" do not donate millions of dollars, nor are they capable of mustering real people who give real money.

Alex also has gone further and purchased a prestigious "zogby poll" where Ron Paul emerged as the clear winner on the issues. Jones does concur however, that Ron Paul does continue to suffer in name recognition due to the lack of established media coverage of him.

Ron Paul According to the Jones Poll is described as follows:

"Candidate A is a 10-term US Congressman from a large Southern state who is an advocate for a smaller government and individual liberty. This candidate believes in strictly following the Constitution and has never voted to raise taxes. He has never voted in favor of the war in Iraq or the Patriot Act, and wants to bring troops home as soon as possible. As a former doctor, this candidate has delivered more than 4,000 babies. One of this candidate's goals is to return America to the gold standard, and he believes that the current monetary policy needs to be drastically overhauled because of the dollar's decline."

With these impressive results from this newest Zogby poll it is just a matter of time before his message becomes more widespread and generally accepted. A Ron Paul Victory would be the greatest challenge to Hillary Clinton and set the groundwork for a unique Libertarian reformation of Government organization and power.