Town Seeks A Consultant To Help With Fairfield Hills Planning

The Board of Selectmen is seeking proposals from consultants to assist in the preparation of a master plan for the reuse of the Fairfield Hills property.

The announcement came in the form of a press release issued by the first selectman’s office this week. It is the first news relating to the town’s plans for Fairfield Hills since residents voted to buy the campus from the state at a town meeting in June.

“The first step is to produce a master plan before anything may occur there,” First Selectman Herb Rosenthal said.

The selectmen have issued a request for proposals (RFP) and plan to compile a list of interested consultants to choose from sometime this fall. Once hired, the consultant would work with the selectmen and a committee appointed by the selectmen.

“As I pledged at the town meeting, we will hold a series of informational, interactive public forums to obtain input and to build a public consensus. From that process a preliminary master plan will be presented to the Legislative Council and to a town meeting before submitting the final master plan to the Planning & Zoning Commission for approval,” Mr Rosenthal said.

The P&Z is also required to hold a public hearing before approving, modifying, or rejecting the master plan.

In his statement, Mr Rosenthal attempted to clear up some “confusion” as to the town’s position. As he points out, the Fairfield Hills advisory committee recommended purchase of the property and a conceptual, mixed reuse use. The committee’s conceptual plan called for: 1) town uses such as municipal and Board of Education office space, 130 acres of playing fields, open space trails; and 2) compatible economic development uses and some demolition of excess buildings.

Save Fairfield Hills for Newtown – another group of interested citizens – has proposed a similar set of reuses, but with more emphasis on park-type uses, more demolition and less economic development, Mr Rosenthal explained.

The first selectman said the town now has a “conceptual framework” for the creation of the master plan.

Mr Rosenthal said the Board of Selectmen would work to involve as many residents as possible to participate with town leaders in developing consensus for the master plan.

The town has not yet taken over ownership of the property. It is currently awaiting final paper work from the state before taking over the deed.