Date: Fri 26-Dec-1997

Publication: Bee

Author: ANDYG

Quick Words:

Fairfield-Hills-P&Z

Full Text:

P&Z Panel Proposes New Zones For Fairfiled Hills

BY ANDREW GOROSKO

A Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) subcommittee is proposing that the

state-owned Fairfield Hills property be rezoned to define what land uses would

be permitted there if the property is privately purchased.

Such a rezoned Fairfield Hills would be a moot point, though, if the state

retains ownership of the land. The state is not subject to town zoning

regulations. The state is seeking to sell or lease Fairfield Hills to a

private firm or firms to raise revenue.

Fairfield Hills' current zoning designations would allow sections of the

sprawling grounds to be subdivided into hundreds of residential building lots

if the property is owned privately. The P&Z formed the subcommittee, in part,

to help prevent such a scenario. The property is the largest expanse of

publicly-owned open space in Fairfield County.

Fairfield Hills, a former state psychiatric hospital which housed more than

3,000 patients at its height, ended operations in December 1995. Although some

future uses of the property have been established, such as land conservation

and agriculture on about 250 acres of the 650-acre parcel, the future uses of

the core campus of more than 100 buildings and an adjacent 100-plus acres

remain unclear.

P&Z subcommittee members are P&Z member Heidi Winslow, former P&Z chairman

Stephen Adams, and Elizabeth Stocker, who is the P&Z's planning aide.

In an informal report to P&Z members December 18, Ms Winslow said the

subcommittee will be recommending to the P&Z that two new zones be created at

Fairfield Hills to replace the existing zoning there.

The new zones would be called: Adaptive Re-use (AR) Zone and

Conservation/Agriculture (CA) Zone.

The 37 acres of Fairfield Hills land adjacent to Commerce Road where the state

is offering the town a low-cost, long-term lease for industrial development

would probably be designated as a M-5 Industrial zone, Ms Winslow said.

Another exception to AR and C/A zoning would exist on a strip of land lying

east of the southern end of Queen Street, she said. That property contains a

number of state-owned houses the state wants to sell to private parties as

residences.

The state is developing a proposal to create one-half acre house lots on its

land on southern Queen Street which lies within the town, and one-acre house

lots on its land on upper Queen Street which lies in the borough, she said.

Adaptive Re-use

The Adaptive Reuse zone would lie generally south of the bypass road now under

construction on the Fairfield Hills campus. It would encompass the core campus

and the adjacent 100-plus acres.

In such a zone, the construction of a new building would require the

demolition of an existing building.

"Our proposal will be broad," Ms Winslow said.

The underlying idea behind rezoning Fairfield Hills is to protect the water

quality of the Pootatuck Aquifer, she said.

The Conservation/Agriculture Zone would overlay the almost 250 acres which has

been designated for such uses by the state legislature. That land lies

generally north of the bypass road. Such land would be reserved for

agriculture, woodlands and forestry, she said. By special exception to the

zoning regulations, applicants could seek using the land for athletic fields

without bleachers, playgrounds, and hiking/biking trails, she said.

Ms Winslow also suggested allowing a golf course as a special exception use of

that land. But Mr Adams apparently disagrees with allowing golf courses.

The subcommittee also is suggesting that the approximately 120-acre site where

the high-security Garner Correctional Institution is operated by the state

Department of Correction be designated as a Conservation/Agriculture Zone.

The subcommittee has completed a draft version of its rezoning proposal, Ms

Winslow said. It will be seeking technical advice for the town engineer.

The subcommittee is expected to make a formal presentation to the P&Z in

January on its proposal to rezone Fairfield Hills.

Any rezoning of land is subject to a public hearing.

The former Fairfield Hills Task Force, an ad hoc committee that studied future

uses of Fairfield Hills in 1993 and 1994, emphasized the need to protect

existing open-space land at the campus.

Arthur Andersen Consulting is conducting a marketing study of the Fairfield

Hills campus to learn the "highest and best use" of the property. Andersen has

hired Asset Management Solutions, Inc, as a subcontractor.

Andersen will be concentrating on future uses of land south of Mile Hill Road.

Andersen is expected to present a preliminary version of its marketing study

late next spring or early next summer.