Stop the UConn Golf Facility

Hello [INSERT PERSON/ORGANIZATION HERE],I hope your day is going well.I am a student at the University of Connecticut, and I wanted to reach out on behalf of UConnifers to express our concerns about a proposed golf facility being built by the UConn. We are a student environmental advocacy group, and it is our belief that UConn’s proposed golf facility poses a threat to both the Fenton River watershed and the surrounding community. If you are not already aware, the Fenton River is a Class 3 WTMA, and enjoys seasonal stocking of trout in order to take advantage of existing unused habitat. The site is an important part of our state’s many government and non-profit efforts to protect the health of our local watersheds. Unfortunately, UConn is building a golf facility uphill from the Fenton River. If built, it poses the risk of creating severe runoff pollution, which would irreparably harm the surrounding environment.UConn released details regarding their plan for building a driving range and golf facility on East Road in December of 2025. The construction of their planned Golf Facility will involve clearcutting a tree preserve called the Waxman Conifer Collection, as well as a portion of UConn-owned forest that joins with the 50 Foot Cliff wildlife preserve, which is overseen by DEEP. They plan to bulldoze the trees and flatten the land to build a driving range, as well as a facility building that will house lockers and equipment. For more information, please consult the article by the Hartford Courant on the proposal here. (https://www.courant.com/2026/04/05/a-ct-university-has-a-plan-for-an-athletic-training-center-it-could-lead-to-teeing-up-or-trouble/)East Road and the homeowners along it already suffer from severe water issues, which stem from a set of environmental conditions that are natural to the area. These issues will be further exacerbated by any alteration of the landscape. The site that UConn wants to build on, however, is home to an abundance of natural springs, and a perched water table that encompasses the entire neighborhood immediately down hill of the proposed golf facility. These conditions leave all areas downhill from the site with near-constant water problems, and forces both the local neighborhood and Mansfield municipal services to install countless drains and ditches in an attempt to stave off the process of erosion. Pavement on both sides of the road is routinely gouged out by excess water runoff every year.Specialists within the town of Mansfield, however, have determined that the proposed removal of trees and earth would send more destructive water and silt to any sight downhill. This would include the Fenton River watershed.It is our coalition’s concern that this runoff issue would similarly harm the Fenton River, which, like East Road, lays downhill from the sight of the proposed golf facility. It is our worry that this increased runoff would bring with it sediment and pollutants that may harm local fish and wildlife populations. Worse, the golf facility carries the additional threat of the pesticides, weedkillers, and fertilizers often present in such projects. If released into the Fenton River, we fear that it may lead to a mass die-off of not just the trout stocked by DEEP, but the many insects and plants the fish depend on to thrive.It is also of note that both the UConn and Mansfield communities source their drinking water from the Fenton River, or wells that connect to the watershed’s groundwater system. It is our worry that the increased rate of pollution as a result of the UConn administration’s proposal would negatively affect the health of the surrounding community.Furthermore, research has shown that increased erosion rates will cause mass infrastructure damage to the residents of the Mansfield community. If the natural springs are disrupted, local residents will face hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of repair fees for damages to wells, homes, and septic systems.My fellow students and I are well aware that UConn is a colossal institution with near-limitless resources. It is our hope that [INSERT ORGANIZATION/ PERSON HERE] can join us in our efforts to persuade UConn of the danger of their decision, and protect our waters in the process. We implore you to do anything in your power that you may be able to in order to protect the Fenton River watershed and those that call it home.If you would like to further discuss the implications of UConn’s proposal, please let me know, I’d be happy to talk further. I care deeply about the health of our surrounding lands, and would like to see them protected. Do not hesitate to contact me at this email, or by reaching out to [INSERT YOUR NUMBER HERE].Best,[YOUR NAME HERE]

“Hi folks, apologies for the lengthy post but I wanted to give everyone access to a more comprehensive summary of the water issues on East Road, and why it's a major point of our opposition to the golf facility. Much of this is taken from the speech I gave at the community meeting yesterday. If you have any questions, please let me know and I will answer them as best I can!The following is a summary of the water issues on East Road, including my family’s experiences on our property, and why I believe that they serve as a warning to us about the consequences this project could have.East Road is fairly unique in Mansfield, in that it essentially follows one long path, running downhill from Route 195 to Hanks Hill Road. The Conifer Collection, and therefore the proposed golf facility, is located at the top of the hill by Route 195. Every single house on the eastern side of the Collection is located directly downhill from it.East Road has already been visibly scarred by the effects of uncontrolled water. Both sides of the pavement have deep gouges that were carved out by stormwater. To their credit, the town has made countless attempts over the years to patch holes, add traprock, and repave the gouges – and every year, the water comes right back down and tears it all out again. The drains have been undercut by the sheer force of the current, and the stonework abutments lean at odd angles. Fresh asphalt can be seen where stormwater grates have been repeatedly replaced after caving in from more water than they can handle. Almost all of us in the neighborhood have installed swales, French drains, and other water mitigation efforts at our own expense. On the other side of the Waxman Collection runs the Nipmuc Trail to fifty-foot cliff. This trail was so badly washed out by excess water that it had to be realigned last year, and hikers have reported active water currents that still damage the path.East Road’s water issues were manageable for my parents when they bought their house in 1991, which sits across the street and down the hill from the Waxman Collection. However, it was around 2001 that this all changed. Our neighbors directly uphill from us, closer to the proposed facility site, selectively logged their property to sell the timber. We estimate that only about 25-33% of the trees were felled, with no clearcutting like is planned for the golf facility. Immediately following the tree cutting, my parents began to notice the problems. A small ditch diverted water along the driveway, but suddenly it could no longer contain everything that came cascading down the hill every time it rained. Our driveway was washed out completely, and soon after we lost the septic field, septic tanks, and our well was silted in and rendered unusable- a new one had to be drilled.My parents repaired and fortified their property at great expense, and the water became manageable again. However, my parents realized that the sudden excess water was a direct result of the selective tree clearing uphill. It was the root systems of those trees that had been absorbing the water and holding it in place. Once the roots died with the trees, that water was no longer being absorbed and flowed over the surface, with nowhere to go but downhill.Things were going well, until, in 2015, the property that had been logged uphill from us was sold. The buyer was a developer, who promptly subdivided the forest into lots, sold off the house on a smaller parcel, and drew up engineering plans to build two to three houses directly uphill from us.Knowing what had happened when only a relatively small number of trees were cleared from this land, my parents took proactive steps to ensure that we would be safe. They paid for a study by qualified soil scientists, engineers, and hydrologists to determine whether their concerns were valid. These experts found that this area, downslope from the proposed golf facility, has two unique features: the first is a very high-perched water table that hinders surface water from draining; and the second is abundant natural springs that unpredictably emerge from the surface and expel water onto the land – this was not surprising to find on a landform called Spring Hill. When these two conditions are combined, the soil here struggles to absorb excess water, and instead it cascades over the land as gravity pulls it downhill, which is why we already have significant water issues.After bringing our evidence before the Town of Mansfield, they acknowledged that our concerns were valid, and mandated an independent study of the proposed development by a neutral third party of experts. This team reached the same conclusion as ours. The developer and his engineers tried again and again to pass plans with water mitigation solutions, and not a single one could even come close to adequately addressing the problems. Eventually, the developer quit his attempts to build, and offered to sell us the land. We purchased it in order to protect our home. All told, we have conservatively estimated the cost of dealing with East Road’s water issues and fighting that development at about $310,000.Here is the relevance of this story: the parcel we fought over is just down the hill and across the road from the proposed golf facility. The rejected housing development plans would have removed trees from approximately 3.5 acres of land. As it stands now, UConn’s golf facility will require the removal of 7. That is twice the size of the development that could not design around East Road’s water issues.Right now, the only factor that is actively keeping the majority of East Road’s excess water from being sent downhill and making our water issues even worse is the root systems of the forest and Conifer Collection they plan to bulldoze, which absorb water and allow it to properly percolate into the earth. The loss of 7 acres of Waxman’s trees and a portion of the abutting forest will kill these root systems and dislodge the soil, leaving the water and silt with nowhere to go but downhill toward people’s homes amid soil that cannot absorb it.On top of this, UConn has confirmed the use of both pesticides and herbicides at this facility that will be perched above us. With constant watershed as a result of the lost root systems, these chemicals could feasibly be carried downhill directly into the neighborhood and into our drinking water. Studies have shown that individuals who live within one mile of golf facilities that use such chemicals are 126% more likely to develop Parkinson’s disease.Now, UConn will almost certainly attempt to design around these issues and downplay the water concerns. They may come up with large drainage basins, retention ponds, French drains, everything the housing developer already attempted. Let’s say they pass, build the facility, and reassure us all that they were sensitive to the unstable hydrology of the area. All it takes is a single mistake, miscalculation, or a storm that brings just enough water to break containment – and that water goes the only way it can – down. Downhill into our homes, our wells, and the fifty-foot cliff wildlife preserve that surrounds the entire golf facility.If you follow the hill down past East Road, the slope does not end until you reach the Fenton River. Many of the tributaries that feed the Fenton River wind through the fifty-foot cliff preserve, and are also located directly downslope of the proposed facility. Therefore, I also have significant concerns about the possibility of those same pesticides and herbicides being carried by already-established water currents into the Fenton River, which notably feeds the Willimantic Reservoir.In summary, even if UConn claims to build this facility with the utmost care for East Road’s unique hydrology, I believe that they are taking an unbelievably unethical gamble, with our neighborhood and the local ecosystem paying the price if it fails. It is our hope that the university will realize this location is entirely unsuitable for a golf facility, and that if they choose to build elsewhere, UConn takes responsibility for the risks that facilities like these pose to the people and environment around it.”

We are writing to express our support for the Save the East Road group that is working to preserve the land designated the Sidney Waxman Conifer Collection. Further we want to correct any statements suggesting that we have no value for the site or concern about its future.We were surprised and disappointed to learn recently that the university plans to convert this land into a golf practice range and center. We appreciate that the university has removed many of the original plants to the main campus and that various plants are available commercially and at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. While the collection is no longer considered an active scientific center, however, various scientists and commercial entities continue to take cuttings from specific trees on this land, as the university has acknowledged. As the widespread local and student support for the Save East Road group has demonstrated, the site has also been a valued and locally enjoyed resource.Neither our father nor other family members believed that the remaining trees are worthless because they were not named or that the site is defunct. Our father did name many of these plants over his career, but he was always focused more on the research than on the administrative processes. He understood, as we do, the aesthetic and historic value of these original specimens and hoped they would be cared for after his retirement. Those who knew him best understood that while he would not openly protest the site’s deterioration, it was a source of great disappointment to him that the plants and the land were not better maintained.After his death, his wife Florence Waxman tried to create support for maintaining the Conifer Collection, including donating $10,000 to the university for its continued maintenance. Unfortunately, the promise to maintain the collection was not fulfilled. At a meeting with the university, Florence and Paul Waxman raised the issue again and were told their only choices were to have their funds sit unused or to use them for the plants on the university campus.While neither option was what the family wanted, they agreed, as a default, that the funds could be used to maintain plants on the campus. Never was it suggested that the East Road site would be made over into a small private athletic club. In fact, Paul Waxman suggested that the land could be made into a beautiful arboretum that would both remain open to the public and be used as a site for various functions--meetings, ceremonies, and other events that would make use of the lovely setting.We are also surprised that the university would choose this site among others more accessible to the university to eliminate a public good and introduce an environmental hazard. The chemicals used to maintain the driving range and whatever other developments are planned will contaminate not only this land but the water and land of the entire surrounding area. Surely the university could accommodate the golf center more conveniently and with less environmental damage elsewhere.Sincerely,
Paul Waxman
Deborah Waxman