East Hartford Neighbors Debate New Housing Development

0:00It's April 5th. From your city to your ears, this is Hartford News Today, powered by AI. I'm Corey with the Story. A developer in East Hartford is pushing to build 19 single-family homes on a 13-acre mix of field and woods just south of Brewer Street. The plan from Brewer Development involves quarter-acre to third-acre lots on the east side of Jefferson Lane, with most houses circling a new street, called Eastwood Circle. To make it work, they'd extend the quiet, handle-road cul-de-sac westward to link up with Jefferson Lane, creating a shortcut from Brewer Street 2, busy Mabel Street down south. That means turning a peaceful dead end into a throughway, and they're also offering 6.3 acres of mostly wetlands as open space to the town. Neighbors have fired up about it, venting on social media that it'll spite traffic, trash their safety, and kill the calm vibe in this tucked away spot. Near Pratt & Whitney, in a big-box store, folks say the area is chill because there's

1:00no direct tie to major roads, and they're calling on everyone to show at the hearing. The developer fires back that it's a win all around, more housing without straining town resources, better emergency and foot traffic flow from that, road link, and super low extra cars from just 19 homes, so no full traffic study needed, though they're prepping a summary. All eyes on the planning and zoning commissions April 8th meeting at 6.30 p.m. in town hall, with remote access too, could shape whether this. Neighborhood stay sleepy, or opens up for growth.