Committee Commended and Disbanded—

Fairfield Hills Master Plan

Goes To Selectmen

By Dottie Evans

With a nearly audible sigh of relief, the Fairfield Hills Master Plan Committee handed over its Executive Summary to the Board of Selectmen Monday night. Now it will be up to the selectmen to consider changes or revisions.

Following a PowerPoint presentation by the consulting firm Harrall-Michalowski Associates, Inc and distribution of bound copies of the Executive Summary, First Selectman Herb Rosenthal officially disbanded the master plan committee.

First, he thanked them for their yearlong efforts on behalf of the town.

“You’ve met 26 times and given additional personal time so voters could attend special sessions and tours. Now your work is done and we owe you a debt of gratitude. I also want to thank the voters who came to all the meetings and participated in the process,” Mr Rosenthal said.

The committee members were Chairman Bob Geckle, Vice Chairman Richard Sturdevant, and members Alan Clavette, Kevin Cragin, Al Cramer, Mary Ann Currie, John Martocci, Moira Rodgers, Janice Roman, and Charles Wrinn.

“Just looking at that page showing all our meetings makes me tired,” joked Mr Geckle as he spoke to more than 50 people in the Cyrenius H. Booth Library’s public meeting room.

Overhead slides on a projector screen showed the “natural environment of Fairfield Hills seen alongside the built environment,” as Mr Geckle presented what could be called a summary of the summary –– his own commentary on the Master Plan. HMA consultant Richard Harrall interjected comments as well.

“You can see that many buildings have been either demolished or reduced in size,” Mr Geckle said.

“There are 54 trees lining the entrance plaza now,” and 13 trees would need to be taken down to construct a new town hall building at the northern end of the one-way entry road. The road itself would be closed off and the area converted to green space.

“We would retain the duplexes and they could be used for retail or as small shops. Stratford might be suitable for a restaurant. Stamford might have a residential function for short stays, for possible use by people attending conferences.

“Plymouth Hall could be used for Parks and Recreation, but there’s no money in the budget right now for that. If the YMCA bought it, they would use the back for a pool and aquatic area,” Mr Geckle said.

Parking relates primarily to public use buildings and playing fields. Private use proposals generate very little parking demand, according to Mr Harrall.

A prime component of the Fairfield Hills Master Plan is construction of a new town hall building rather than renovation of Shelton House, mainly for cost and efficiency reasons. The first two floors of the 40,000-square-foot building would be for town offices and public meeting spaces, and the third floor would be for use by the Board of Education and school administration offices.

 “The Alternative High School, now located in Canaan House, would need to be located elsewhere,” Mr Harrall said.

Four traffic circles would be added to the campus roadways, to facilitate movement of traffic on and off major roadways and offering opportunities for local garden clubs to oversee plantings.

After demolition of 17 buildings over the next five years, Mr Geckle said that the amount of open space at Fairfield Hills would actually exceed the current acreage, going from 112 acres of open space to 140 acres of open space, including land-banked and recreational areas.

Future sources for private funds have the potential to soften the economic impact of the town’s expenditure of $1.8 million, Mr Geckle added.

“The base plan is within the parameters of what we decided in the 2001 town vote,” he concluded.

Phase I and Phase II activities to be completed using the $1.8 million include purchase and long-term control of the site, immediate provision for seven additional playing fields, and provision for a building to accommodate town and Board of Education administrative needs over the next 15 to 20 years.

Beyond that, Mr Geckle said, he thinks the master plan has enough flexibility for Newtown residents to make further decisions down the road.

“As smart as we are, we don’t know the future needs.”