Letter to the Editor: Setting the record straight on Middletown’s affordable housing progress

Published On: August 16, 2025

Regarding Barbara VonVillas’ remarks at the most recent Council meeting and her recent Letter to the Editor:

In the ten years that the Middletown Affordable Housing Committee (AHC) has been in operation, not a single town-sponsored shovel has been put in the ground. This is because the AHC is tasked with searching for affordable housing on town-owned properties rather than privately owned ones like Rosebrook Commons.

Middle Town’s AHC is unrelated to privately held developments. When Mrs. VonVillas refuted my comments during Monday’s Town Council meeting, she was mistaken. She failed to mention that I had mentioned town-sponsored initiatives explicitly in her answer.

“A shovel in the ground,” she said of Rosebrook Com mons. The town does not support Rosebrook. On property that the town does not own, it is a private enterprise. Again, I am not mistaken: the town has no shovels in the ground because neither West House nor the AHC ever had responsibility for that project.

I’m not happy after spending five years on the AHC and having nothing to show for it. I’m also upset that no one making less than 80% of the Area Median Income (AMI) would be able to access the two affordable housing developments that have been proposed: a mix of single-family houses and condos at East Main Road and 12–15 apartments at Town Center on West Main Road.

Additionally, Mrs. VonVillas misjudged the quantity of reasonably priced units at Rosebrook Commons that would be available for purchase. Just 51 of the 144 units will be reasonably priced. The rest will consist of market-rate homes and more costly workforce housing.

The fact that East Main Road is designated for people making between 80% and 120% of the AMI truly irritates me. The goal was always to give our young adults and families first-time homebuying possibilities so they could stay in Middletown when they started their own families and entered the workforce during the first two years the AHC addressed East Main Road. Due to a shortage of reasonably priced housing, far too many of our young adults are compelled to leave the community where they were raised.

The AMI limits were outlined in the paperwork that was emailed to the AHC several meetings ago, the evening before housing consultant Frank Spinella was scheduled to deliver the early plans for East Main Road. We were hearing those figures for the first time.

At that point, we discovered that the development’s original concept had changed and that it would not be genuinely cheap, particularly for our young adults and families making between 80% and 120% of the AMI. Paul Rodrigues, the president of the town council, acknowledged that I was correct when I brought up the original East Main Road proposal we had discussed. He even said, “I kind of agree with Karen,” to the other council members.

As a resident and committee member, I oppose the dissemination of inaccurate or misleading information since it can likely mislead the public. I also object to the fact that uncorrected misinformation has become part of the public record.

In a letter to the editor that was published in multiple local publications, Councilwoman VonVillas further disseminated this false information by calling the voices and worries of the locals “noise” and “misinformation” for the second time in a few months.

The voices of the residents are not loud. Our views on what we would want to see in our community are accurate. Since they think they know what’s best for Middletown, our town council was not elected to make choices on our behalf. In order to carry out the wishes of the Middletown residents, our town council members were chosen for those positions.

Biastre, Karen

The Middletown