Letters

As residents of Upper Seven Ponds Road in Water Mill for the last 18 years, we have watched in dismay as traffic increased — exponentially from June to September, but also throughout the year — and speeding and aggressive driving became commonplace on what had formerly been a quiet country road in a peaceful neighborhood.

Our property is at the intersection of Upper and Lower Seven Ponds, and our fence on Upper Seven Ponds has been knocked down by a speeding driver avoiding a worse accident. I will no longer walk my dog, jog or bike ride along the road, because it is so dangerous. Getting the mail is often anxiety provoking because of all the cars racing past. From 3 to 7 p.m. it can be very difficult to get out of our driveway because of all the backed-up traffic on Upper Seven Ponds.

Adding a fire substation with parking for 40(!) cars to our residential neighborhood and the need to speed in the case of emergency on narrow country roads with no shoulder or sidewalk or place for other cars to pull over will increase the threats for neighbors exponentially. The increased noise promises to be horrendous, and the hazard to the nearby wetland from cleaning chemicals also creates significant additional environmental and neighborhood risks.

On top of the increased potential danger to residents, it seems very likely that fire trucks responding to a fire would find themselves trapped by the already terrible traffic in the neighborhood that seems to get worse every year.

If a new substation is needed for Water Mill, north of Route 27, why not go forward with the fully permitted, well-located, properly zoned and approved property on North Sea Road? Or pursue Willow Road, which has industrial zoning and easier access to Route 27 as well as Deerfield Road?

It would be dangerous, poorly considered and wrong to destroy a residential neighborhood when industrial options exist.

Lucile and Jay Herbert

Water Mill