Week In Review: Car Crashes, Stonegate Public Hearing, Middle School Construction Project Under Review

There were a couple bang ups this week. No one was injured, and the bus continued onward to school, delivering the students a little late but otherwise fine. The driver of the vehicle was also fine but the vehicle sustained damage to the rear bumper.

Late the night before, a just after residents had gone to bed. No one in the house was hurt but the impact made a hole in the corner of the house and the family was evacuated for their safety. Occupants of the vehicle fled the scene and the incident is under investigation..

This week the Town Council heard reasons why, and eventually approved, the school board's request for $20,000 to hire an architect. Superintendent of Schools Michael Graner said he wanted to see if they could afford adding a wing to the middle school and move the sixth grade students to the middle school.

Graner said having the sixth grade located on the same grounds as seventh and eighth grades would enable the district to deliver content-specific instruction by the middle school teachers. Sixth graders are currently taught by general education teachers in Ledyard’s elementary schools.

. Graner said educational standards will be elevated by common core state standards, which are due to be implemented in the spring of 2014, and that full-day kindergarten and content-specific instruction will be necessary for the students to succeed under the new educational standards.

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of the community and sell affordable housing units in the development. Residents stood up to oppose the change, saying that living among peers and without young families is critical to their health and wellbeing.

The senior citizens said that they’d be very concerned about young children in the roads (the development doesn’t have sidewalks) and that noise, etc. would be deleterious to their health.

Attorneys representing the applicant and the residents argued before the Zoning Commission on behalf of their clients and delved into matters such as housing rights and federal law.

, the developer sued the commission and the judged ruled in the developer’s favor, saying that the need for affordable housing in Ledyard outweighs the commission’s concerns, which were related to its zoning regulations. The commission appealed the judge’s decision but the appeal was denied recently.

Attorney Tim Bates said a favorable decision for the applicant would likely violate the premise of the Fair Housing Act. Attorney Mark Branse, who represents Stonegate Village, (and the developer in the aforementioned case) said that the residents’ leases and rights under the FHA are not within the Zoning Commission’s authority. Branse said the commission should approve the application based on the strength of the application as a zone change request and disregard issues related to the housing rights and leases of the residents.

There was an election this week, too. to make a bid for the White House. The combined voter turnout for the three voting districts was 16.6 percent of the 2,426 registered Republicans. Voters cast 250 ballots, or 62 percent, for Mitt Romney. Ron Paul received the second most votes with 56 total votes.