Hearing Set On Watertown Hall

By Jeff White

Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) members next Thursday night will hear a request for a change of zone that would allow the Watertown Hall site to be used for the Newtown school district’s proposed fifth and sixth grade school.

The zone amendment request was on the commission’s agenda at its July 20 meeting, but was tabled until it convenes August 3.

The hearing will take up a Board of Selectmen request that the land around Watertown Hall change from a conservation/agriculture zone to a zone that would make it eligible to host a school.

Although it appears that the school currently being designed by architects Jeter, Cook, and Jepson of Hartford will not violate other zone requirements, some P&Z members might opt to hold off on the selectmen’s request until the fate of the Fairfield Hills campus is decided.

Though many feel such a P&Z response is unlikely, a decision not to grant the zone change would halt the 5/6 school project completely.

The selectmen’s request did not specify the kind of zone it wishes to have Watertown Hall changed to since schools can be constructed in several different types of zones, including residential.

P&Z commission hearings begin at 8 pm.