Middlebury Small Town Alliance

Our mission is to protect and to promote the semi-rural, small town character of Middlebury, CT. We’re a volunteer group of your friends and neighbors who care about the decisions Middlebury town officials make about the future of our town.

We oppose the redevelopment of the Timex World Headquarters into a distribution facility. 100% of the donations received after GFM takes a percentage fee will be used to fight the Southford Park project (current address is 764 Southford Rd). No one benefits personally from our collective fight against the project, and we've only asked for what we know we have to spend.

UPDATE as of 3/2/25: On January 31, 2025, Superior Court Judge John L. Cordani ruled: "The court finds that, on appeal, the plaintiffs have met their burden of establishing that the Commission's final decisions are inconsistent with applicable law. In particular, the court finds that General Statutes § 8-3m prohibits the regulatory approvals that are subject to this appeal. ORDER: Judgement enters for the plaintiffs. The appeal is sustained."

In plain English, the January 31st decision means our efforts these last two years were successful, and the Southford Park project has been halted! As a reminder, three Commission decisions/cases were consolidated into one big case: the original P&Z application, and then a modified Conservation Commission application and a modified P&Z application for changes to the original project design. All decisions connected to these three applications were overturned.

On 2/19/25 and 2/20/25, Southford Park, LLC and the Town of Middlebury both filed motions to reargue/reconsider the cases with Judge Cordani. Both motions were denied on 2/21/25, with the Judge ruling that "In its motion the defendant raises issues and asserts arguments that were not previously raised or asserted. It is inappropriate to raise issues and present arguments for the first time in a motion to re-argue. Further, the motion does not raise issues or present arguments that cause the court to believe it should re-examine or revisit its decision."

Southford Park, LLC and the Town of Middlebury have until March 12, 2025 to apply for certification with the Appellate Court. There is no automatic right to appeal, so if the Appellate Court denies certification, then these cases are over. If the Appellate Court accepts the application, then the 3 consolidated cases will proceed to a second appeal process that could take up to a year to decide.

While we wait to see what Southford Park, LLC does next, we extend a big THANK YOU for your support, encouragement, and faith. We are still fundraising to cover the legal bills associated with the Southford Park appeal, and we anticipate a second fight over the new 170K+ SF warehouse application on Straits Turnpike. Our short term need for both actions is reflected in the updated fundraising goal.

Follow the website: https://middleburysmalltownalliance.blogspot.com