Mature Trees Come Down At Fairfield Hills

By Kendra Bobowick

Newtown Department of Public Works crews cut down several mature trees Wednesday  to make way for parking at Fairfield Hills — a move that was both expected and planned.

The trees included towering, mature pines near Newtown and Woodbury Halls.

Fairfield Hills Authority member Walter Motyka hoped to soothe residents concerned about the tree-cutting at the campus. “Development always has an impact and our job is to limit that impact.”

Mr Motyka then described the variables planners had to consider: a list of practical, environmental, and some regulatory conditions that were certainly not visible to the passerby who may have been upset to see the tree line drop Wednesday. Under Planning and Zoning requirements, a certain number of both regular and handicap parking must serve buildings intended for occupancy — in this case Newtown Hall under development by Hawley Realty. The hall will eventually house extensions of Danbury Hospital Services.

The authority did not plan parking building-by-building, however, but consolidated what would have otherwise been a greater number of lots. The Newtown Youth Academy, new 90-foot baseball field, and Bridgeport Hall, which will soon see municipal and education department offices, will share spaces serving all the facilities, for example.

“We tried to reduce the amount of blacktop,” Mr Motyka said. “We’re not making a huge blacktop at each location.” With a glance at the campus as a whole, he explained that planners had looked at parking and asked, “Where does it go to have the last impact?” As planners had done, Mr Motyka asks that residents step back and “look at the whole site.”

“There is so much green and trees. We’re using a very small portion,” he said. “You have to look at it overall.” Plans keep the building and space available for lease in a cluster, rather than spreading over wider areas of campus.

Practical matters also intervened in parking locations. “We had to consider drainage and runoff,” he said. Both the aquifer and Deep Brook were big environmental priorities. “We had to consider where existing water and sewer lines are, and where the [underground] tunnels are and utilities.”

Plans exist to place all utilities in a below-ground loop.

Both Public Works Director Fred Hurley and Mr Motyka referred to a design guideline in place for Fairfield Hills that includes a list of native trees and shrubs prepared by the land use office. Plantings will take place, although Mr Hurley agreed that mature trees are not going in. Tree work and parking plans have been approved by the Planning and Zoning department.