ZBA Approves Eight More NHS Portable Classrooms

By Andrew Gorosko

The Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) has approved a zoning variance for the school system that would allow it to place a temporary portable classroom building on the A-Wing side of Newtown High School (NHS), on an existing parking lot near Berkshire Road.

The zoning variance, which was unanimously granted by the ZBA, allows the structure to be positioned in the area within the front setback line of the high school, closer to Berkshire Road than would normally be allowed by the zoning regulations. The site is in a M-5 (Industrial) zone.

The approximately 8,700-square-foot structure would contain eight portable classrooms, offices, restrooms, and closets. A nearby four-classroom portable structure now in place would remain in use.

The 12 portable classrooms would be used until an expanded high school is available for student use.

The Board of Education’s NHS expansion project encountered a stumbling block when voters at a past referendum opted against adding approximately $6 million to the $38.8 million project to cover unanticipated additional construction costs. The high school expansion project is on the verge of being submitted for another round of construction bidding.

The school system is planning for the eight-classroom portable building with M/Space, the firm that provided the four portable classrooms now in use at the high school.

To compensate for the 35 parking spaces that would be lost when the new modular classroom space is installed, 35 temporary parking spaces would be created near the school’s sports stadium.

In a letter to the ZBA, Ronald Bienkowski, the school system’s business manager, explained that the eight portable classrooms are needed “due to increasing enrollment and insufficient space.”

The place chosen for the structure is conveniently located in terms of access to public utilities, he wrote. The structure would be served by utilities including a public water supply, sanitary sewers, electricity, and telephone lines.

The “hardship” presented by the school system to the ZBA to justify a zoning variance concerned the site’s proximity and access to public utilities.

“Since our high school expansion and renovation has been delayed, we expect to use the portable [classroom] building for about two years,” Mr Bienkowski added in his letter.

 In approving the zoning variance, ZBA members decided that the eight-classroom structure would be allowed to remain in place for up to six months after a certificate of occupancy is granted to an expanded high school.

Last October, the Planning and Zoning Commission endorsed the school system’s plans to install the eight-unit portable classroom building.