Stratford Dog Park Architects Say They Were Cheated

A local couple working to bring a dog park to Stratford is crying foul over some recent bulldozing at Roosevelt Forest.

Matt and Carissa DeBernardo say the location of the clearing is the exact spot they had requested last June to use as a 1.5 to 2 acre fenced-in place for dogs but were denied based on conservation concerns.

“We were told (by the Roosevelt Forest Commission) the forest is too young at that spot (and might be an) American box turtle habitat,” says Matt DeBernardo.

“They told us we couldn’t do so much as minimal clearing – it was against their forestry plan with Yale,” adds Carissa.

When the proposal was being deliberated last summer, Peter Mariconda, vice chairman of the Roosevelt Forest Commission (RFC), said he and fellow members would need more information before making a decision.

At the time, Mariconda said a project that would disturb or break ground on the forest is “something completely new.” Talks about a dog park at Roosevelt Forest ended shortly after that. Proponents are still searching for a location.

It’s unclear what’s happening at the 250-acre property and, specifically, the recently cleared area. Requests for comment to both RFC Chairman Robert David and Town Conservation Officer Brian Carey were not returned Tuesday.

Commission meeting minutes from March hint at the construction of a nature center: “Bob David stated that the Nature Center is scheduled to be completed this spring.”

Matt DeBernardo, who is an alternate member on the town’s planning commission, said he called David last week.

“At first David said (he had) no clue but answered back, ‘We just wanted to improved the forest little by little,’” DeBernardo says of his conversation with the commission chairman.

DeBernardo expressed shock that a commission could apparently go ahead and level an area of the forest without input from residents or, at the very least, a vote that would be recorded in meeting minutes.

“They are ruining the integrity of the forest,” he says. “We just wanted to come in (and) put a fence around the trees. It’s outrageous. They are using the forest for their own pet projects."