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Dog Watch plan would have been an asset

Robert Warner Lebanon

Publication: The Day

Published 03/15/2010 12:00 AM
Updated 03/15/2010 02:05 AM

A letter writer opposed the Dog Watch Café's expansion in Stonington Borough to include outdoor music ("Say no to disruptive noise in the borough," published March 9) because, "Granting the requests would irreparably harm a community focused on preserving its singular relationship to the waterfront."

I read this to mean, "exclusive relationship with the waterfront." A majority of Connecticut residents cannot afford private property on the waterfront.

I realize the Dog Watch owners withdrew their application last week, but the point I'm trying to make remains.

Although there is ample water access for boats, there is a shortage of destinations for boats. Destinations available to the boating public are increasingly becoming privatized or regulated into becoming merely anchorages.

There are very few places where one can dock, have a meal, a drink and listen to live music. The proposed changes would have improved the economy and quality of life.

The writer also states, "…it would be an affront to the heritage of the borough." The borough's heritage is commercial fishing, manufacturing and working-class homes - all of which are being squeezed out by the wealthy newcomers who seek to establish an exclusive enclave.

Some of these commercial enterprises were operating when the new residents moved in. The businesses should be allowed to continue and grow.

This is about more than just borough residents. It is about access by all of Connecticut's taxpayers to what is rightfully a resource to be shared by all. I think that it would have been possible for both interests to co-exist with a little compromise from both sides.

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