UConn To Reclaim E.O. Smith?

[CL82]

It's always a hoot to read the comments from fans who have no vested interest in town affairs. Rarely is such ignorance so unfiltered.

It's less of hoot so hear a town NIMBY away a partnership with Pfizer that would have greatly benefited the university's research profile and created jobs for the area. Rarely is such ignorance so prevalent in a community.

 

[Mr. Hand]

It's less of hoot so hear a town NIMBY away a partnership with Pfizer that would have greatly benefited the university's research profile and created jobs for the area. Rarely is such ignorance so prevalent in a community.

This one may be my favorite myth.

Let me ask you this: on the day of the hearing that killed the project, in the South Campus ballroom, what was the ratio of UConn students to Mansfield residents in the opposition crowd? 20/1? 30/1?

Those must have been some really crafty residents to be able to rally the university community to such a degree!

 

[itgoeslike]

Remember that recent closed door BOT session? Someone leaked photos of the E.O.Smith Acquisition Plan. . .

 

[SubbaBub]

I love how the sentiment here is that the town is so piss poor at planning anything. Yet you guys want the university to to acquire land so they can replace a football stadium that is just over ten years old.

Seems like the university doesnt always get the plans right either.

There is a huge contigency of townies who believe that mansfield officials roll over for anything the university wants to do. And i have seen projects go forward on campus that would not meet town requirements (encroaching on wetlands setbacks for example) that the university has done anyway.

What i havent seen is any townies(including me) on this forum who really care if EO smith gets moved or not. As far as laying waste to the town, maybe you have to actually live in mansfield to be smart enough to realize that it would not be in the university's best interest.

FYI, in CT there is no such thing as a wetland setback. It's a myth used by local boards to initiate review of a project. There is no legal standing to build right up to the line. In truth, there is very little to prevent going over the line except a protracted legal battle.

 

[SubbaBub]

It's less of hoot so hear a town NIMBY away a partnership with Pfizer that would have greatly benefited the university's research profile and created jobs for the area. Rarely is such ignorance so prevalent in a community.

This was actually killed because DEP wouldn't sign off on the NEPA permit in a reasonable time frame, like another 13 years. (think Keystone pipeline, same law)

 

[tdrink]

Probably not fair for me to jump to this conclusion, but here I go:

I think you know exactly what people are saying here ( that the vocal townspeople are lunatics.... Not that we are literally advocating mass murder ). But still you are compelled to be a drama queen.

Nobody wants to bulldoze your family home. They want to negate their silly votes. They should not have moved to a ing college town if the were looking to live in a ing briar patch.

I've used this argument on fellow townspeople who were seemingly against any development and they usually counter by saying their family has owned the property longer than the university has been here.

 

[Mr. Hand]

As for E.O. Smith, the university can have the land as long as they fully fund the construction of a replacement. This is the position of most of the townspeople.

If recent history is any indicator, UConn will want something less than this.

 

[tdrink]

FYI, in CT there is no such thing as a wetland setback. It's a myth used by local boards to initiate review of a project. There is no legal standing to build right up to the line. In truth, there is very little to prevent going over the line except a protracted legal battle.

I will make sure I show this post to the building officials who reject my plans. I was denied a permit to build a portico on the front of a house once because the client had dug a pond in their backyard. I still cant figure out how a person can get a permit to add a wetland next to an existing structure then be denied any future permits to work on the house.

 

[tdrink]

This was actually killed because DEP wouldn't sign off on the NEPA permit in a reasonable time frame, like another 13 years. (think Keystone pipeline, same law)

I think the university is in a bind on developing horsebarn hill. It is prime real estate but a conservationist battle ground and an iconic area in its current pristine state.

 

[formerlurker]

I'm cool with EOS but moving them is best for everyone involved.

I was kind of a in the early 90's and wore wrestling shoes and cuffed my jeans. If anyone is close to Pres. Herbst please tell her to call me if she finds a left, 11.5 shoe like this at the groundbreaking for the new Arena at EOS.

I lost that f^cker two months into Freshman year during a drunken night on the EOS baseball field. My date was a field hockey player and she actually carried me over a few puddles on the way back to my dorm.

Haha! Sucks getting old.

 

[UCFan1513]

I live in Tolland (the town only known for being the highway exit to UConn) and I agree that the University needs to do whatever possible to continue building. I don't really want to go to school there because it's in the middle of nowhere out here, they need to do whatever possible to turn that campus into a small city.

 

[CL82]

I don't speak for every other resident. Despite what you read here, we're not a hivemind of duck*ing insects.

Nope because insects in a hive can work for the collective good. They don't oppose the next layer honeycomb.

 

[Mr. Hand]

It's not realistic to expect to change such a strongly held opinion with just a few posts on a message board, but if the reader would set aside his cognitive dissonance for one moment and consider a different perspective, you may learn something.

Mansfield residents taking the rap for standing in the way of UConn progress is like blaming the World Trade Center for standing in the way of those planes.

I challenge you to name one project the residents have successfully blocked? Everyone brings up Pfizer, but the resistance put up by the university's own community dwarfed any contribution by Mansfield town residents. Convenient to find such an easy scapegoat, though.

 

[Mr. Hand]

In the interest of full disclosure, I have been a resident of Mansfield for 20+ years and own a piece of property right in the epicenter, so to speak.

 

[SubbaBub]

I will make sure I show this post to the building officials who reject my plans. I was denied a permit to build a portico on the front of a house once because the client had dug a pond in their backyard. I still cant figure out how a person can get a permit to add a wetland next to an existing structure then be denied any future permits to work on the house.

That's what they what you to think and it's better for the environment if the setback is respected, but the law says only direct affects to "wetland soils" are subject to jurisdiction. What is means is you would win on appeal if you were in fact not building on wetland soil or discharging anything that would affect wetland soil.

In CT, the plants are irrelevant. Only under federal jurisdiction do the plants and buffers matter. DEP, cares too but they use administrative tactics to get you to comply, they don't have jurisdiction over buffers either.

 

[SubbaBub]

It's not realistic to expect to change such a strongly held opinion with just a few posts on a message board, but if the reader would set aside his cognitive dissonance for one moment and consider a different perspective, you may learn something.

Mansfield residents taking the rap for standing in the way of UConn progress is like blaming the World Trade Center for standing in the way of those planes.

I challenge you to name one project the residents have successfully blocked? Everyone brings up Pfizer, but the resistance put up by the university's own community dwarfed any contribution by Mansfield town residents. Convenient to find such an easy scapegoat, though.

That is partially true. There was resistance from some of the faculty. The Ag school primarily, but it was the public too. DEP, took that as justification to crusade against any development of the north campus.

So technically, you are correct the public really had no say, neither did the faculty, but that opposition was the direct reason for the delay.

 

[huskyharry]

It has been many years since I was a Mansfield resident, but I am an E.O. Smith, Mansfield Middle School, Northwest Elementary (now called Goodwin) and Storrs Grammar School alum. I would be sad to see EOS go, but time and progress moves on. The town did put a big pile of cash into the renovation of EOS a few years back, so it would not be just for the University to acquire the school for pennies in the dollar.