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Community Corner

Female Soldiers, Forgotten Heroes Locked Out

Bridgeport P&Z denies Wilton-based organization's permit application.

Home sweet home will have to wait for homeless female veterans.

The Bridgeport Planning and Zoning Commission denied Female Soldiers, Forgotten Heroes' application for an adaptive reuse of a historic home on Wednesday. The Wilton-based group hoped to use a house on 893 Clinton Ave. as transitional supportive housing for homeless female soldiers.

"It was disappointing, the P&Z commission took all of five minutes to deny the application, giving no consideration or courtesy of discussion at all to our application and more than two hours of in-depth presentation," said Wilton resident Shalini Madaras, head of FSFH.

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As of now Connecticut has no designated transitional supportive housing for homeless female veterans. FSFH has already met with the Mayor's administrative staff to pursue other options and is considering another property. This would be the third site under consideration.

Many local residents said they support the cause, but that a group home in their neighborhood could cause their own property values to decline. At one point even the Connecticut Post weighed in against the project.

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"I don't know what they were thinking," said Don Hazzard, of Wilton's American Legion Post 86. "I don't know if they thought crazed veterans or their property values would decrease. If only they had taken a step back to look at it."

In one meeting, Calvin Burwell, chairman of the Stratfield Historic District, said such a house would alter the historic neighborhood's dynamic and put too much strain on the area.

In a June 10 op-ed published in the Connecticut Post, Madaras made plain her frustration.

"Someone said the Veterans transitional home is a 'terrible use' for this property, they mention nothing more specific than this," Madaras wrote. "However, since they do not stay at meetings long enough to witness our presentation, one must wonder if they can really understand what is being proposed."

Madaras and others in FSFH are unbowed. The group met shortly after word came of Bridgeport P&Z's decision.

They want to host a fall fundraiser at the Wilton Library. The group's May gala raised $82,000. So far FSFH has a raised grand total of $250,000 toward a house.

"It was devastating," Hazzard said of the decision, "but we'll get another one."

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