Mlford's 9Th Annual Lamp Light Stroll Set For Dec. 3Rd

Each year the Downtown Milford Business Associations organizes community events. One of the most fun is the annual Lamp Light Stroll. During this popular event, people come over from many local town and enjoy a fun and well organized event in the heart of Milford. The invitation below is from the DMBA website and a link below it will navigate you to a full list and schedule of activities. 

"Please join us on Friday, December 3rd 5pm - 9pm and Saturday, December 4th, 10am - 5pm for the Eighth Annual Downtown Milford Lamplight Stroll!Visit 30 of downtown’s finest shops! Collect your passport for the stroll at any participating shop, beginning Thanksgiving weekend. During the two-day event, stroll from shop to shop and have your passport stamped. Once the passport is complete, fill out the back of the passport and leave it at any of the participating shops to be eligible to win a gift basket filled with downtown Milford surprises, treats, treasures and gift cards!"

FOR MORE INFO AND A DETAILED LIST OF EVENTS CLICK HERE

IMPORTANT INFO TO MILFORD PROPERTY OWNERS

Proposed Zoning Change : On December 21st the Planning & Zoning Board will hold a public hearing to make a text change to the regulation for fences and walls.

If your property abuts the Long Island Sound or rivers, streams, or tidal wetlands you will not be allowed to have any type of fence wall or shrubs within the area located between the mean high water mark (boundary) and the applicable wall of the principle structure. A line extension is projected as being perpendicular from the side property lines to the rear corners of the principal building. The only exception is if a fence is required by the state building code.

It should be noted this regulation, Section 4.1.7.3, was adopted in 2005 to prevent property owners abutting the Long Island Sound  from erecting fences, walls, or shrubs that would obstruct the water views by other property owners.

I do not agree with the proposed wording, of just saying you "cannot," because it does not consider situations and conditions in which some types of barriers for the protection of children, pets, wildlife, buildings, natural land resources and/or personal property would be needed. There should be wording to allow for when such situations and/or conditions are an issue. I am not a big fan of fences or walls, but they do have purpose. Also, as a note FEMA allows fences in floodways when designed to allow water to flow thru them. [i.e.: channel of rivers, streams or tidal wetlands and the adjacent land used to contain flooding]

I also disagree with the wording of the current regulation in that if a fence/wall is required by the building code you have to have it approved by the City Planner and the P&Z Board.

It should be noted the building code specifies the fence construction type and minimum height.
To me this procedure is a waste of time and money to the property owner. The City Planner and P&Z Board do not have the authority to change the building code. So, since the building code specifies the type of construction and height, the regulation wording should be changed to read that the zoning enforcement officer should review it to see if the fence/wall is located to meet the specified need and minimize obstruction to residents views, and get them approved at time of the zoning application.

Last on this subject is that privacy style fencing is prohibited. This wording should also be updated. There are times you just do not want things to be visible.

In all, the text change as proposed, should be voted down. The existing regulation and wording needs to be thought thru and options investigated by the board members themselves to achieve a regulation that can work and not just say ‘no you cannot do this’.

As always the people on the board asked to represent YOU and you voted them in to do so. Contact your representatives on this and other matters to let them know your views on zoning issues. Do not let them guess want you want or do as they or the city wants.

John Grant

The Milford Mall Discounts On Black Friday

Everyplace I go I hear how lucky we are to have the Milford Mall in our community. The mall, Milford's largest taxpayer also brings a great deal of shopping anxiety to our streets. This year in particular is a special one, and thanks to our local Alderman a new ordinance was passed making it illegal to block a busy intersection.

The Police this morning were perched at the intersection of Rt 1 and Old Gate lane. They had their summons book in hand and were more than happy to ruin the holidays for anyone who dared get caught in their dragnet. The hefty fines for an unlucky few mean that someone out there is going to get  a cheap scarf instead of a trendy Northface fleece this year. If any kids are upset they should just go down to city hall grab the mike and vent your frustrations to the towns leaders.

The Mall should not be upset either over the new regulations, because thanks to Mayor Richetelli and the aggressive lawsuit filed against the city two years ago, the Mall owners won a 20% reduction in taxes on their property. The irony of the holidays! Higher property taxes, big fines for blocking intersections, and hey who wants to be negative Staples had a 500GB HD on sale for only 50 bucks and target a 50" Plasma for $495.00 Bucks! 

You just have to love the insanity of the holidays! Ho! Ho! Ho! happy Black Friday I am off to go shopping.

2010 FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS & TREE LIGHTING




 The City of Milford’s 2010 Festival of Lights and Tree Lighting will take place on Friday, November 26th at the Gazebo on the Milford Green. Pre-lighting festivities will take place with horse and buggy rides courtesy of The Milford Bank from 5:30 – 8:00 PM. Free hot chocolate will be served courtesy of the Devon Rotary Club from 5:30 - 8:00 PM in the Milford Bank parking lot, 33 Broad Street. DJ Sheila and The Milford Concert Band will fill the air with holiday selections beginning at 5:30 PM.

Over 50,000 lights will light up the Green at approximately 6:30 PM. when the arrival of a very special jolly elf, dressed in red will be brought to us by the Milford Professional Firefighters Association. Milford Chamber officials and Mayor Richetelli will be on hand to help with the lighting. Immediately following the tree lighting, Santa will be on hand to greet children. Photos with Santa provided courtesy of Milford Photo.

The Downtown Milford Business Association will provide luminaries to a festive downtown Milford. Come dine & shop. Enjoy carolers. Retail stores will remain open until 9:00 PM.

The mission of the Milford Chamber of Commerce, as the clearinghouse for business, is to enhance business opportunity, empower its members and influence positive economic growth. For more information contact: Kathy Alagno, President & CEO at 203-878-0681 or email kalagno@milfordct.com.

Milford Forclosures Near 20% According To Trulia

The following snapshot is from Trulia, and is their assessment of the real estate market in Milford. Recently Chris Dodd met with the big mortgage lenders on the national foreclosure fiasco and it is important to note that 86% of all mortgages are "performing" or in other words listed as current. Trulias statistics as compare to that of the Senate Banking Committee hearing would indicate that 14% of all Real Estate loans are in Default. If Trulias figures are accurate that would put Milford at a 5% disadvantage compared to the national statistic. Trulia had this to say about Milford this month:

"Average price per square foot for Milford CT was $211, a decrease of 52% compared to the same period last year. The median sales price for homes in Milford CT for Aug 10 to Oct 10 was $273,000 based on 77 home sales. Compared to the same period one year ago, the median home sales price increased 5%, or $13,000, and the number of home sales decreased 39.8%. There are currently 468 resale and new homes in Milford on Trulia, including 1 open house, as well as 92 homes in the pre-foreclosure, auction, or bank-owned stages of the foreclosure process. The average listing price for homes for sale in Milford CT was $382,692 for the week ending Nov 17, which represents a decrease of 1.1%, or $4,075, compared to the prior week. Popular neighborhoods in Milford include Post Road North with average listing prices of $292,675 and $382,692."

CLICK HERE FOR MORE MILFORD CT GRAPHS FROM TRULIA

Budget Woes Give Many Educators Anxiety

In a scenario likely to be repeated across Connecticut, federal funds that cover the salaries of 30 city teachers will likely not be renewed for the 2011-12 school year, leaving educators scrambling to make up a looming deficit. Milford is only one of scores of school districts in the state that would struggle to make up for the loss of federal stimulus money, which could potentially result in massive teacher layoffs statewide for the 2011-12 school year.

Acting Superintendent R. Michael Cummings Jr. will prepare a budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1 with the assumption that little, if any, of the $1.5 million will be replaced. "I'm very pessimistic that we'll be getting any of that next year, and that means we'll have 2 percent less than we do now.''

READ FULL STORY AT CTPOST CLICK HERE

Holiday Travel Warning To Milford Ct. Residents!

Many people this holiday season are planning to get on airplanes to visit their loved ones. In our area many kids reunite with their parents who live in Florida, are returning from college or just traveling for business. Regardless of what your need to travel this year is, it is dreadfully obvious that airport security has our citizens very upset.

While every American wants to have safer airlines, not every American wants to have their spouse and children sexually assaulted at the airport. This allegation has been repeated to me over and over by many people I know right here in Milford who have said they were sexually assaulted by the TSA while getting on an Airplane at a U.S. airport.

While on the surface these initial claims seemed outrageous, the reality of the graphic detail described to me by individual friends were confirmed by the national news media. Holiday travellers should be warned that the choices at the the airport are grim. When you decide to travel, you can either subject yourself to a potentially harmful dose of radiation, and provide a graphic naked picture to a stranger of yourself, or you can opt out and subject yourself and family to an "enhanced pat down." This "enhanced pat down" would be considered a sexual assault even by the standards of our local police department, who are not permitted to grab the genitals of a child, fondle a woman nor strip a cancer survivor of her prosthetic breasts. 

The problem is costing airlines and the airline industry millions in lost revenue, and is the most aggressive and sexually invasive in the world. The type of sexual assaults being permitted in the name of terrorism is frightening. Anyone who allows themselves to think that a TSA worker is allowed to put their hands down a child's pants, (or any ones pants) to search for a bomb is a dangerous individual.

This holiday season, I would like to let any travelers out there in Milford (or coming to Milford) know that once you start the security process you cannot opt out. If you opt out you will be detained indefinitely and possibly fined up to $11,000.00 for changing your mind.

By all means, take a car and drive to your destination this holiday season.