Rosenthal Says Restrictions Remain

On Access To Newtown’s Parks

By Steve Bigham

Most of Newtown’s parks will remain restricted to residents only until further notice, First Selectman Herb Rosenthal stated this week.

Contrary to earlier reports, the town has not elected to open its parks up to out-of-towners. However, that may become the case in the coming years following a recent court ruling that opened the Greenwich town beaches to non-residents.

“None of us are changing our practices until our attorneys have a chance to consider it,” Mr Rosenthal said Wednesday. “Most towns in the area are reviewing the decision. There is no firm conclusion on what we’ll do.”

The first selectman said Treadwell Park has always been open to non-residents (at a higher rate). However, Dickinson Park will remain closed to non-residents, unless, of course, they are a guest of a Newtown resident.

The recent court ruling that opened the Greenwich beach prompted Housatonic Valley Council of Elected Officials (HVCEO) towns to discuss the issue during a meeting last week. Town leaders all agreed they would wait to assess the impact of the decision.

“The rules have not changed yet. I only told [Parks & Recreation] to be careful on the issue of anyone coming into the park to hand out petitions or to make a speech. Then they can enter the park,” Mr Rosenthal said. “It’s not worth fighting that battle because the courts have defined parks as public forums and you can’t deny people’s access to public forums.”

Mr Rosenthal’s comments are at variance this week with those made to the Associated Press by Patricia Gay, who heads HVCEO, the regional planning organization.

“We’d rather err on the side of caution and comply, rather than find out later that we should have complied,” she said. “We decided we would open our town parks for now until we can find out more. This may not be final, but we’re going to comply with the law.”

The Housatonic Valley Council includes Bethel, Bridgewater, Brookfield, Danbury, New Fairfield, New Milford, Newtown, Redding, Ridgefield, and Sherman.

The Supreme Court on Friday refused to reconsider a ruling that Greenwich’s residents-only beach policy was unconstitutional. Greenwich officials said a 20-day waiting period on Supreme Court decisions will keep the policy in place at least through September 13.

The court ruled July 26 that the First Amendment bars Greenwich from prohibiting nonresidents from entering the park, which justices defined as a public forum.