Press Release - April 22, 2013

Parcel Reverts Back to Open Space

How many times does one read about a beautiful piece of property that gets developed only to hear people comment later what a shame it could not have been saved for open space. Well here is a story where the opposite occurred.

In 2007, Edward Bushinsky passed away, having been predeceased by his wife Charlotte Corcoran Bushinsky years before. They left a home on Shelton Road with  about 3.5 acres and two ponds at one of the key entrances to Shelton at the Route 8 interchange and hard on the Trumbull border, along with their life savings.

Having no children, the Bushinsky's bequeathed their hard earned estate to their favorite charities, the Shelton Land Trust, the Valley Boys & Girls Club, and the Shelton High School for a scholarship fund. The Land Trust was to receive their 1950's vintage home as its Headquarters along with a small stipend from their estate to maintain it.

The problem was, the Land Trust could neither afford, nor desired, the obligations to keep up a 1950's vintage residential home as its H.Q. Thus an innovative agreement was worked out in the Shelton Probate Court in conjunction with the State Attorney General's office to modify the Estate's provisions within the spirit of the Bushinskys' desires, wherein the Land Trust agreed to forgo its share of the Estate in favor of the Boys & Girls Club and the Scholarship Fund, and in return the Estate would remove the house and allow the parcel to revert back to an open space pocket park.

It has been over five years in the making, but Joe Welsh, President of the Shelton Land Trust announced today that the transaction will soon be completed and the community will benefit from this new pocket park with two ponds, several plant species, and a nature trail to help mark one of the key entrance ways to our wonderful City. The old house has been removed and new landscaping installed.

Next time you are traveling on Shelton Road heading into or out of Nichols section of Trumbull, take a look to the north just west of the Huntington Road intersection and enjoy the view, or better yet, pull over and take a stroll.