The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
‘Almost forced to say do not enter’
Shoreline towns worry summer residents could bring in coronavirus
Reports that summer residents are returning to the shoreline during the COVID-19 pandemic has led some town leaders to release warnings they say are aimed at keeping all residents safe.
“I am requesting that everyone who comes into this community from Fairfield County or New York City self-quarantine for 14 days,” East Haven Mayor Joe Carfora said in an email Friday.
Real estate agents have reported an increase in interest in rentals in
Connecticut, as New York residents seek to ride out the coronavirus pandemic. A broker in New Haven told Hearst Connecticut Media he is seeing interest from New Yorkers in towns on Long Island Sound that were typically too far away for the summer crowd.
“Lower Fairfield County, there’s a lot of interest, that’s what I’m hearing,” Michael Barbaro of HMP Compass Northeast said recently. “And the shoreline area, Branford, Guilford, Madison. Historically, that tends to be, for people in the city, a little too far. In these times, not anymore.”
Carfora said East Haven emergency personnel are reporting that there are New York and Fairfield County residents “coming to our East Haven shoreline.”
Carfora said “some are returning to their seasonal homes while others are seeking rents in available properties. There is no doubt, and it is understandable that they are leaving identified ‘hotspots’ to avoid high risk exposure to the coronavirus.
“We are concerned that these relocations have the potential to impact the spread of the virus in our community,” Carfora said. “The Connecticut border is not closed and our governor, like others, is not ready to take that step, so travel is permissible. But that does not mean that we should not take every single precaution given the circumstances.”
“This might sound harsh, but given the situation, we are almost forced to say do not enter,” Carfora said in the email.
Carfora said he would reach out to Lamont’s staff to express his concerns.
East Haven Town Attorney Michael Luzzi said Saturday the community would continue to evaluate the situation.
“We will be speaking with the governor’s office
on this issue,” said Luzzi. “At this time, we will have no further comment.”
Clinton Town Manager Karl Kilduf said, “We know we’re a shoreline community that’s a desti
nation of choice for many people from out of state.”
Kilduf said he hopes everyone in town is respectful of everyone else, whether they live in town year-round or seasonally.
“Social distancing is a requirement of everyone in town, so year-round residents have taken to social distancing in order to keep themselves safe,” he said. “We’re asking that our outof-town visitors do the same and we’re also asking that they do give some consideration to the health of their year-round neighbors and look at a 14-day quarantine when they arrive.”
Year round, about 13,000 individuals live in Clinton, while that number swells to about 21,000 in the peak summer season.
While Madison First Selectman Peggy Lyons mentioned returning summer residents “from the New York area” in her message to residents, Kilduff was quick to stress that he was not singling out New Yorkers.
“It’s not aimed for just people from New York,” Kilduff said.
Lyons also released a statement Friday.
“Many people have reached out to me about concerns regarding the return of seasonal residents to our town from the New York area or other places,”
Lyons said in the statement.
“We recognize that many of these people have family here, or consider Madison their second home,” she said. “While we welcome people back, we strongly direct anyone coming from an area with a high degree of community spread to selfquarantine for 14 days in order to protect themselves, and protect the health and safety of their Madison friends and neighbors.
“Everyone living in our community has a civic duty to take daily preventative measures to help limit exposure for themselves and others,” she said.
Madison’s population of 18,000 year-round also grows during the summer months. As of Friday, Madison
had eight confirmed COVID-19 cases.
Charlie Shafer, who has lived year-round in Madison for more than 35 years, understands the concern.
“I think it’s legitimate,” he said. “You do have to be careful, but I also think there’s no way you can really police it. So, it’s just got to be an honor system sort of thing.
“I think most of the people who are here, at least summer residents, have some connection, so I’m sure they probably get it,” he said. “It’s tough to totally quarantine, you still have to get groceries and things, but you know I think if you play it as safe as you possibly can, I think that’s about all you can do.”
Kilduff has no concrete numbers of people currently migrating to Clinton.
“Aside from a windshield survey, we are aware that there are some people that are coming into town and opening their homes earlier,” he said.
He could not answer a question about whether the seasonal residents were coming to town in direct response to the pandemic, but believes the message is important.
“The year-round public has done their part to try and control spread of the virus, the town its part by closing schools and other public amenities, like the library, so the town is trying to do its part to bend the curve and reduce the spread
of the virus and now we’re asking the same of all the effort come from people that are coming in from the outside, looking to relocate from where they are to their summer home,” Kilduff said.
“We don’t want to preclude anyone from enjoying their summer community here, but we just want to make sure they’re doing their part to reduce the spread of the virus,” he said.
“We are obligated to keep our town safe,” Carfora said. “Our public safety personnel are exposed anyway. Exposing them to outside influences is not fair to them, their families and the taxpayers of East Haven who I am sworn to protect,” he said.