Ann Astarita, a member of Newtown Conservation Commission from 2012 to 2015, found the memorandum provided to the Sandy Hook Permanent Memorial Commission (SHPMC) by Land Use Director George Benson, Thursday evening, March 10, of great interest.draft plan for the memorial site, made public at the end of 2015, depicts the location of a proposed memorial, trails, benches, and affected vegetation.The Newtown Bee.Differences Of OpinionOptions And Resolve

Controversy has arisen about the selection by SHPMC of a portion of the High Meadow for placement of a permanent memorial to the Sandy Hook School tragedy of 12/14. A number of residents have expressed concern that it will disrupt the environment of the High Meadow open space, recently secured as such by the filing of a restrictive covenant governing the use of the property.

Ms Astarita is among those who believe that approval of the site for the permanent memorial will set a precedent for overriding longstanding policies surrounding use of open space. A

"Because of a lack of any other plan forthcoming, that's what we are concerned with and have to look at. Everybody, dozens of people, that I've spoken to, except one, share my concerns, and they've spoken with others. A lot of folks don't want to speak up because of the nature of the project. No one wants to cause anyone more pain. I wouldn't be speaking out if I didn't believe we could be going backward on open space here in town," Ms Astarita said.

The Land Use Agency memorandum consists of a list of design criteria the SHPMC must, at minimum, incorporate into any memorial if the High Meadow site at Fairfield Hills is approved for this use. Adhering to the criteria, Mr Benson cautions in the memorandum, does not guarantee approval of the location, and other limitations may be applied.

The first criteria notes that the Newtown Conservation Commission supports in principle the Memorial Commission's use of property at the High Meadows "providing appropriate sensitivity to the important ecological value of this area to be taken into consideration during design and development of the permanent memorial."

No buildings would be allowed. Structures would be limited, if part of a design.

The proposal could include the minimum driveway required by zoning. According to Kyle Lyddy, SHPMC chairman, "We have not received any specifics surrounding this, but know this is a concern." The commission is working with experts to assist in understanding "if there are alternatives to parking and a driveway," Mr Lyddy said in an e-mail to

Another criteria posed by the Land Use Agency is that no lighting would be allowed, a requirement that Ms Astarita said appeared to surprise members of the commission. The Police Commission has suggested that lighting would be needed at this site for security. As with other challenges, the restriction on lighting did not appear to be a deal-breaker to Mr Lyddy.

"The purpose of [the commission] going around to all of these different groups was really to take an inventory of what they were thinking was needed for a memorial. We will try and go back and implement as many of the suggestions as possible and come up with a strategic plan to make this come to life… We want to put forth a proposal that we think can get passed by the Board of Selectmen, and we will do that by taking into account the many different suggestions we continue to receive," he said.

Ms Astarita questioned whether an "eternal flame" brought up at last week's meeting by commission members might indicate that there is already a design planned for the site. Commission members appeared concerned that the "no lighting" restriction could affect that feature of the memorial.

"The commission has never discussed including an eternal flame in the memorial," said commissioner Sarah Middeleer. "The comment at the last meeting referring to the eternal flame was an allusion to the possible metaphorical significance of night lighting," she said.

The commission has not come up with a design and will be opening the design process to the public once the design selection subcommittee designates the parameters, using the Land Use Agency guidelines and input from various community groups.

Ms Astarita does not believe the guiding criteria provided to the SHPMC last Thursday would adequately address the scope of the issue.

"[The proposed memorial] is not in line with the intent of passive recreation in the [restrictive covenant] document. Passive recreation is defined in various ways," Ms Astarita said, with the emphasis on activities such as walking or running - "Nothing that would change the land," she said. There appears to be a difference of opinion in what certain legal terms mean, she said, leading to the conflict on allowed use of this open space.

The conservation restriction for the High Meadow parcel describes the "limitations, restrictions, and uses to which the property may be put," and "covenants and restrictions which will run with the land and be binding …"

The document states that the meadow is designated as open space at the request of the Planning and Zoning Commission. The open space "has specified via zoning regulations that the land can be utilized for passive recreation. Any proposed passive recreation … would have to be authorized by the Board of Selectmen."

Included in the conservation restriction is a declaration stating that the town "agrees to perpetually preserve, protect, limit, conserve, and maintain the land … in its natural condition."

Mr Benson's recent memorandum stipulates that the proposal "would include a conceptual site plan integrating the memorial into the surrounding landscape, with possible enhancements to the meadow habitat."

"It has always been our suggestion to integrate enhancements to the land. In fact," said Mr Lyddy, "the first time we walked the ground we realized the location we are considering has downed trees and would benefit from being enhanced." He went on to note that the High Meadow is actually a hay field. Members of the SHPMC and Conservation Commission have attended a seminar on meadows, "So we are doing our due diligence," he stressed. "We are trying to research, do outreach and understand how best this can come to life."

"Enhancement is very subjective," Ms Astarita said. Downed trees are essential areas for insects and birds. "They are a great addition to a wildlife habitat. Who is going to be making the decisions?" she asked.

She questions whether the SHPMC is weighing other suggestions for a permanent memorial, and questions whether other town-owned property has been closely examined for this purpose.

The proposed memorial site is "smack dab in the middle" of the High Meadow, Ms Astarita said, thus having great impact on the ecology of the site. "Whenever, in my opinion, you're going to change a habitat, it's better to do it at the edges," she said.

There may be other options, suggested Ms Astarita.

"Think of all the land we have, even at Fairfield Hills, with roads, lighting, and security already in place. People have suggested amazing things," she said, such as a memorial trail, thinking "outside the construction box of a memorial; a living memorial space that would not change the nature of the open space. This is something not developed in a plan yet. It has the possibility still to not set a dangerous precedence regarding the development of open space," she said.

To include a memorial within a walking trail would mean that anyone walking the trails "would be prone to seeing it any and every time they walk the trail," Mr Lyddy explained. "We are trying to avoid that with this upper hay field space," he said. A large dip in the meadow between the existing walking trail and the proposed site would prevent trail users from easily seeing the memorial.

"I don't want to be callous toward the families [of 12/14 victims]. At the same time," Ms Astarita said, "we shouldn't overturn years of policies and regulations because we feel badly and want to make it better. In 50 years, will we have a memorial we don't know how many would visit, or an open space open to recreation? We are taking away from an open space that is already very healing."

"What Mr Benson has provided us are guardrails for our commission to consider as we progress through this process… In no way is what he provided a distraction to our work, but instead offers more clarity as to what we can and cannot do. At this time we are sticking to our current location and will open it up to design," said Mr Lyddy.

"Our commission is not designing this, per se, but instead are putting the fundamental skeleton together for a professional to come back and assist us on how this can take form. We want the design criteria to be tight so we come back with ideas we think can work within the space," he said.

"We are committed, per our charge, to make this a memorial that honors and remembers those lost on that horrible day. We will continue to listen and we want this to be inclusive. We will not, however, be bullied into a decision based on one-sided thoughts," the commission chairman continued.

"Right now, we have a location and we are proceeding with it, taking under consideration the different opinions many people have while keeping in mind we won't please every single person in this community. We don't have a timeline attached to this work," he said, "but we don't want to be designing this ten years from now."