Tribal Cultural Boundary Alarms Some in Town

When the Environmental Impact Statement for - a mixed income housing development proposed for Route 32 - was published, it contained a single sheet of paper that has some people in town very, very worried.

The sheet is a map of Montville with a “Proposed Traditional Cultural Boundary” noted by a dotted black line. The TCP is likely to be a topic in a public hearing that is scheduled on the environmental impact statement for June 14 at 6 p.m., in the Town Council chamber at Montville Town Hall.

The proposed TCP starts at the Montville Drive-in. It runs between the drive-in and Johnson Pond, then northwest to just west of Interstate 395. It follows the highway north until it turns east at Gallivan Road, takes a small jog, follows Fort Shantok Road, and outlines the former Fort Shantok Park. The boundary continues south along the Thames River to a point where it picks up Massapeag Road, which it follows back to the drive-in.

According to Chuck Bunnell, chief of staff of the Mohegan Tribe, the Traditional Cultural Property boundary is nothing new.

It came up in this context, Bunnell said, because The Villages was seeking funding from Housing and Urban Development.

Town Planner Marcia Vlaun echoed Bunnell.

The HUD application instigated a “government to government review,” Vlaun said. The tribe is a separate government, and as such, is asked to comment on cultural and historical elements on the site in question.

“There are significant properties” on the site being developed as the Villages, Bunnell said. Chief Uncas had a fort there, and there are other culturally significant features in a number of places on the site.  Also, the mixed-income development is planned for property adjacent to the Mohegan Tribe’s elder housing property.

The developers, he said, have agreed to work their building in a way that ensures that these culturally significant areas aren’t disturbed.

BUT THE VILLAGES REVIEW brought the proposed Traditional Cultural Property Boundary into the light.

Daniel T. Forrest, the deputy state historic preservation officer, explained the the process surrounding the proposed TCP.

The Office of Housing and Urban Development, he said, in conjunction with the state historic preservation office, makes a finding about whether the TCP is eligible for listing on the National Historic Register.

That finding involves consulting with the state historic preservation office, the town, the owners of the property, the applicant and the tribe, Forrest said.

TCPs are more complex than many other historic and cultural determinations, Forrest said, because the historic and cultural significance can be spread over a large area.

Right now, the public comment is open, and those comments will be part of the determination. Once the public comment period has closed, Forrest said, his office and HUD will produce their written opinions on whether the TCP is eligible for listing.

At that point, the National Historic Register could consider the proposed TCP for listing, Forrest said.

Even if it is listed, he said, there is no assumption that any federal activity should be assumed to have a negative effect on sites of cultural or historic significance for the tribe.

''ULTIMATELY," FORREST SAID, "if there is a TCP out there,  it is another type of resource that a federal agency would have to consider."

It does not necessarily mean no development, nor does it necessarily mean that the tribe is able to control development, he said. In addition, he said, "we've had no indication that the tribe has any intention" of swaying development.

This is a point Bunnell makes, also.

“We’re not anti-development,” Bunnell said. “We paid for the gas line and the sewer line that runs up 32.

“But the Mohegans feel very strongly about protecting cultural properties.”

Bunnell and Forrest both said the TCP would have no effect on whether a person can sell an individual house, build a swimming pool, paint your barn pink. When private financing is involved, he said, the tribe is not brought into the process.

ACCORDING TO THE COMPACT that the tribe and the state signed in 1994, the tribe is allowed to buy, at fair market value, 700 acres and then take it into trust.

Vlaun, who said that the proposed TCP Boundary came as “a complete shock” does question the effect that it could have on development in town.

“This is a time, and this is a town where it’s difficult enough to do economic development” without adding another layer of oversight, she said recently.

The TCP area, she said, contains the most strategic undeveloped land in Montville.

“My job is to protect and be concerned about the rights of people who live in Montville,” she said.

Mayor Ron McDaniel said that he has talked to the tribe, and believes that “They are not attempting to stifle development in any way, but to delineate and protect their cultural property.”

Town Councilor Rosetta Jones who, with Vlaun, was instrumental in circulating the petition to make the public hearing happen, said at the most recent Town Council meeting that she believes that the Tribal Cultural Boundary would “not only block (The Villages) project, but it’s going to impede enormously our ability to develop.”

The Environmental Impact Statement, which is about 3 inches thick, is available in the Planning Department, and in the Town Clerk’s office.

Comments on the EIS will be accepted through June 22.

The public hearing with the Department of Economic and Community Development is scheduled for June 14 at 6 p.m.