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South
Lyme Property Owners Association, Inc PO Box 172 South Lyme,
CT 06376 - 0172 |
May 9, 2001
Important Update
SOUTH LYME PROERPTY OWNERS ASSOCIATION SEEK INJUNCTION COMPELLING OLD
LYME TO IMPLEMENT SEWER SYSTEM
Dear Property Owner:
The South Lyme Property Owners Association is seeking a court order that the Town of Old Lyme take steps to implement a sewer system to serve the shoreline communities of the Town. The Association, comprised of hundreds of Old Lyme property owners, filed action in the fall of 1999 seeking a ruling that the Old Lyme zoning regulations limiting the use of residential properties to only several months of the year violate the State and Federal Constitutions and state law. The suit also claims that efforts by Town officials to restrict property use have infringed on their Constitutional and private property rights. This past October, the Association won an injunction in Federal District court barring the Town of Old Lyme from issuing certain determinations that Old Lyme properties could be used only on a “seasonal” basis.
The proposed new count in the existing lawsuit seeks a court order compelling the Town of Old Lyme to take the necessary steps to implement a sewer system to prevent excessive pollution to Long Island Sound. The proposed new count is brought under the Connecticut Environmental Protection Act which allows private citizens to sue the state or its municipalities to prevent or halt unreasonable pollution to Connecticut’s natural resources. During preliminary court hearings held last Spring, the Town claimed that prevention of pollution to the Sound caused by the density of residential homes in the beach communities in the Town was the reason for the seasonal zoning regulations were adopted. A 1989 Blue Ribbon Commission report for the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection found that installing public sewers would be the most comprehensive solution to the overall pollution problem caused by density of homes along the beaches bordering the Sound. Old Lyme is one of only four shoreline towns in Connecticut that provides no sewer treatment services for properties along the Sound. The DEP has urged Old Lyme to study the potential implementation of a sewer system.
We met with The Federation of Beaches, and they endorsed our efforts. They also support our efforts to seek donations from the individual beach associations. We need your financial support. This new count will require additional funds and our resources are dwindling. We would like to see a total of $500.00 per member in total donations. If you’ve given already, we thank you, and ask that you please contribute additionally to bring your total donation up to $500.00. If you have not yet contributed, please consider a $500.00 donation.
This is the last “mass mailing” we foresee sending out. From this point, only members of the association (those who have made financial contributions) will be kept on our mailing list.
We also remind you that we have a website. You can view information on-line at www.southlyme.org.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
The South Lyme Property Owners Association
Meeting
We will hold a meeting to discuss the status of the suit.
Date: May 19,
2001
Time: 10:30 AM
Place: Lyme/
Old Lyme High School
69 Lyme Street
Old Lyme, CT
RETURN WITH PAYMENT
TO: South Lyme Property Owners
Association , Inc
PO Box 172
South
Lyme, CT 06376 - 0172
Name _________________________________________________
Old Lyme Address _______________________________________
Mailing Address _________________________________________
_________________________________________
Phone Number _________________________________________
Amount Enclosed $ ______________________________________