Council Up Next––

Selectmen Modify Fairfield Hills Master Plan

By Dottie Evans

Despite a late season snowstorm that coated Newtown streets with ice Monday night, the Board of Selectmen had visions of green grass, tree-lined walkways, and a park for the people as they deliberated on the Master Plan for Fairfield Hills.

In conclusion, they voted to send the Master Plan Executive Summary on to the Legislative Council with two important modifications. Both were aimed at answering repeated concerns by townspeople and the Friends of Fairfield Hills group about preserving the appearance of the campus entryway and maintaining permanent control of the buildings not slated for demolition.

In addition, while the selectmen saw a parklike scene at the northern entrance to the complex, they did not see a new town hall blocking that view.

“I don’t think we should build the new town hall across the old entranceway. Several people have suggested they are comfortable with [the entrance] as it is,” said selectman Joe Bojnowski.

Selectman Bill Brimmer said, “I like the [idea of] the new town hall, but it should be in a different place.”

First Selectman Herb Rosenthal agreed that the current one-way entrance off Wasserman Way should be closed off, making it a “pedestrian way.” If traffic-blocking barriers were placed at the entrance, it could be used as an emergency entrance only.

All three selectmen said a new town hall building would be more cost-effective and efficient than renovating an existing structure, such as Shelton Hall.

In summary, they suggested that the Master Plan should be approved with a “flip flop” in the order of recommendation for the site of the proposed new three-story, 40,000-square-foot town hall. The primary option would be the removal of Shelton House and building the new town hall in that spot. Using the northern entryway for a new town hall would be a secondary option and was not preferable, they concluded.

“An architect would be hired to look at the site and could give us recommendations,” keeping in mind those priorities, Mr Rosenthal said.

Buildings: The Leasing Option

 “In the spirit of listening” to the Friends of Fairfield Hills group and other townspeople who have expressed concern about the town selling existing buildings to outside commercial or industrial interests, First Selectman Rosenthal suggested that leasing might be a better option.

“As long as there is no real long-term advantage to selling the buildings,” leasing them might be favorable, he said, adding, “This way, the town will own the land as well as the buildings. We seemed to hear the most complaints on this issue.”

Possible problems with this option might be whether the town would have to bear extra costs in liability for cleanup and abatement of leased buildings, he said.

Mr Rosenthal had consulted with a lawyer and with consultant Richard Harrall of Harrall-Michalowski Associates, Inc who helped prepare the Master Plan regarding these issues, he said.

After debating these points, the Board of Selectmen unanimously approved the Master Plan with the two modifications, sending it on to the Legislative Council for its review.

Following passage by the council, the plan would be submitted for a public vote sometime later in the spring.

First Selectman Rosenthal also praised the Fairfield Hills Master Plan Ad Hoc Committee for its hard work in preparing the plan.

“They did a great job and went to a lot of meetings and listened to an awful lot of people,” Mr Rosenthal said.

He noted that it was to their credit that they finally produced a unified plan, considering that “most of them had different opinions when they started.”

Raising The Housing Issue

While Friends of Fairfield Hills group chairman Ruby Johnson was pleased Tuesday morning to hear the town had decided against sale of the buildings and in favor of preserving the entryway, she felt the “affordable housing issue, if there is one [contained in the plan], should be out in the open for debate.”

“Don’t go in the back door on this one,” she warned.

Mrs Johnson was referring to the possibility of Stamford Hall being converted by private investors into a residential hotel or dormitory and the duplexes being turned into retail shops with kitchens.

“I don’t believe for a moment those [uses] will be anything more than residential. And they won’t have any way to limit the amount of time you can spend in a residential hotel.

“Also, the consultant does not show the amount of parking that would be necessary for retail or medical uses, where there is a lot of in-and-out traffic.

“And we shouldn’t be giving away Bridgeport Hall. It’s a centerpiece for the town,” she added.

As for demolition of Shelton to make a new town hall building, Mrs Johnson asked members of the Legislative Council, and the voters as well, to consider the relative costs.

“You’ve got three layers of brick [to take down] and the new town hall won’t even have a basement. How do you build on a slab in this cold climate, I’d like to know. They need leadership on how to finance all of this and how to manage it.

“We still have a long way to go,” Mrs Johnson said.