Highland Ridge/St. Anne’s Golf Course
There are no new reports on Aurora Rosa’s first development of 519 acres, 456 age-restricted housing units and an 18-hole golf course. The project still needs the approval of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Connecticut Department of Transportation and the Department of Environmental Protection. In addition, there are no new reports on Aurora Estates, 100 age-restricted dwellings and 125 unrestricted units planned for the southern end of the property.

Yale Farms
However, there was some related news on a similar development application in the Northwest Corner. It was recently reported the application for the proposed and highly controversial Yale Farm Club in North Canaan and Norfolk has been withdrawn after many years of discussion. The permitting procedure began in 2002 and consisted of a proposal for 780 acres designed for an 18-hole golf course and luxury homes, somewhat similar to plans for the Aurora Rosa project, although the Aurora Rosa homes were less expensive.

State Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, who had stated his opposition to the application, intended to be present at subsequent application hearings but expressed his delight at the withdrawal of the application. However, the economy seems to have been the reason the developers threw in the towel.

The developer stated: “The collapse of America’s economy doomed Yale Farm. In short, our economic model, which was dependent on membership sales, is no longer viable. Private (golf) clubs throughout the Northeast are under enormous stress, they are losing members, cutting dues, making deals to keep existing members . . . and still many will not survive.”