Waldorf School Expansion Project Approved

By Andrew Gorosko

The Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) has approved a private school’s request to allow it to expand its facilities for students in Dodgingtown Center, in view of a growing student population.

On August 4, P&Z members unanimously approved the Housatonic Valley Waldorf School’s application for a special exception to the zoning regulations to expand its facilities located near the corner of Dodgingtown Road and Jacklin Road. The P&Z held a public hearing on the proposal on July 21.

The school received P&Z permission to convert an existing two-story house at 51 Dodgingtown Road into school classroom space. The school also received permission to raze an existing adjacent detached two-car garage on that property and replace it with a new 1,400-square-foot classroom building.

Additional vehicle parking spaces also will be required. Approximately 100 students would attend an expanded Waldorf School.

The house and garage are located next door to the school’s existing Jacklin Road classroom building for grade-school students. The school has other facilities for young children at 40 Dodgingtown Road, on the northeast corner of Dodgingtown Road and Taunton Hill Road.

The P&Z set a number of conditions on its approval.

The school must receive town Health Department approvals for the use of water well and septic waste disposal system that will serve the converted house before a building permit is issued. The school also must obtain state Department of Public Health approval to use that water well, before the town issues a certificate of occupancy.

Similarly, the school must obtain approvals for water well use and septic waste disposal for the planned classroom building that would replace the garage on the site. The school must provide the P&Z with architectural plans for the new classroom building before the school receives a building permit for the construction.

The P&Z also addressed traffic in its approval.

The driveway that leads to the house at 51 Dodgingtown Road must be closed to traffic. That driveway may only be used for access to the site by emergency vehicles. All school-related traffic must enter and exit the property at Jacklin Road.

If the school wants to modify its parking plans for the site, it must submit a formal parking plan for the property for P&Z review. Proposed parking for the property must town engineering standards.

The Waldorf School has been in Dodgingtown since 2000 and currently has about 90 students. The school plans to eventually offer instruction for students up to Grade 8.

Approximately 28 children would initially attend school classes in the converted house.

Initially, the house would contain three classrooms. After a classroom building is constructed to replace the garage, both the garage and the house would contain two classrooms each.

The Waldorf School in Dodgingtown is the only Waldorf School in the state. About one-third of the families which send children to the school live in Newtown.