Seth Braunstein is a District 6 Representative Town Meeting Member and Chair of the RTM Finance Committee.
After 2 visits to the Long Lots Elementary School property, their views on the future of Westport’s community gardens have changed. He now supports the Long Lots School Building Committee’s recommendation to move the gardens.
Seth writes:
Sometimes beauty is in the eye of the beholder. You may like one thing, but I may prefer another. Opportunities for different interpretation or appreciation exist and can be celebrated. However, we can all agree that community gardens and the reserve are beautiful and valuable assets to the city.
Feasibility is generally not something that is open to the same subjective interpretation.
Last Sunday morning I joined approximately 25 concerned citizens of Westport for an official tour of the Long Lots School property hosted by the majority of the Long Lots School Building Committee.
The LLSBC began the tour by leading the assembled group from the south end of the property where the beautiful community gardens and reserve are located to the north end of the property through several athletic fields (soccer and baseball ) spread over 2 different property levels, then on the west side of the property where there are wilderness areas (thankfully no poison ivy found) and catchment basins and a creek in the middle of a steep drop grade as the property ends behind Harvest Commons.
Part of the Long Lots Elementary School campus. The community gardens (not shown) are located to the south of the school. (Drone photo/Brandon Malin)
I am convinced that all parties involved in the debated issues surrounding the question of building new or renovating come to this difficult decision with only the best of intentions. I am confident that the Board of Education, the LLSBC and the first woman selectman are sincere in their desire to achieve the best possible solution for our community. None of these dedicated public servants have any “nefarious intent” and none of them want an outcome here that results in something that falls short of the high standards our city demands. None of these people deserve the ad hominem attacks they have been subjected to.
I’m also sure that supporters of community gardens have strong arguments for why their two decades of investment in this property leave them hopeful that their interests and the reality of a new school can effectively coexist with the garden remaining in its existing footprint. Indeed, as a concerned member of the community (and an elected member of the RTM) I was convinced that this mutually beneficial outcome would be very likely.
Having now had the benefit of a well-detailed explanation of the reasoning behind LLSBC’s support of the option they recommend, along with a first-hand view of the property’s limitations, my view of what it is feasible has changed. I had visited the Gardens a couple of months ago at the invitation of a member and at the time it was hard for me to see why the two couldn’t coexist.
Now I understand why. This is a relatively small property that is already crowded. The LLSBC has worked for months and hosted numerous meetings focused on what can be done to fit all the pieces of the existing puzzle together so that all the different constituencies represented on this property can walk away happy. This has been a huge undertaking (did I mention they are all volunteers?).
The LLSBC has had to consider not only how to build a new school on this small property, but also, most importantly, how to ensure that the children at the existing school can continue to receive the best possible education while in the midst of a construction zone. during the approximately two years that the project will take to complete.
The committee has considered everything from how buses will enter the property, how parents who prefer to drop off their students will approach the building, where teachers and others who work at the school will park, how everyone can continue outdoor sports and leisure activities. and how to do it all while minimizing the inevitable disturbance that a project of this magnitude will cause to the neighborhood.
They have also been clear about their desire to consider Westport’s intention to increase sustainability, which would require a series of geothermal wells to also occupy the site in the future to increase the energy efficiency of the new building.
Parking and bus loops are considerations when designing a new school.
Under the best of circumstances (and this property does not meet standard space limitations, as well as grade and drainage concerns), a project of this magnitude requires significant staging areas. Take a moment to think about things like building materials (steel, brick, windows, etc.), heavy equipment (tractors, backhoes, forklifts), work spaces (construction trailers, bathrooms), large amounts of land and other materials (to help correct it). grades and supporting foundations), not to mention parking for the sizeable construction crew. When considering the necessary staging areas, the difficult task of assembling this complicated puzzle becomes untenable.
No one wants to displace the Community Gardens. No one has made the decision to sacrifice this wonderful city resource, but when you consider where flexibility falls in the planning of this project, it is obvious that the school (an investment of more than $100 million that will further help to polish our well-regarded school district) must take top priority.
Some have chosen to frame this unfortunate circumstance as the Gardens against the school or the Gardens against the city management or the BOE. This simply does not reflect the reality of the situation. This really becomes a question of what is actually feasible on this property.
I choose to see this as an opportunity for optimization. Instead of trying to overcome the inherent limits associated with this crowded property, a better solution exists. In fact, it is a solution that has already been provided by LLSBC itself. The community gardens could be moved to part of the baron’s southern property. While this will no doubt upset supporters of the Community Gardens (and they’ve earned the right to be upset given the two decades of work they’ve put into the current location), it might actually deliver a better long-term outcome for in the Gardens and for the People.
I have been a long-term supporter of preserving the rare open space left in Westport (check the voting record: I have been adamantly opposed to a deal to develop Baron’s South for housing or active uses), but placing the community gardens in one part. of the property could achieve a number of desirable results.
First, it would provide an environmentally positive land use that would be consistent with the passive-use spirit of current zoning (while attracting many more people to this vastly underutilized gem of a city).
Second, it would provide the Gardens with a larger space than is currently used. I would also add that supporters of the Gardens have cited the number of seniors who have enjoyed the Gardens and moving the location to a spot on Baron’s South that would put them within walking distance of the Senior Center seems like a beneficial outcome. It’s hard for me to see how this wouldn’t be a classic win/win scenario.
The proposed site of the Community Gardens, at the Senior Citizens Centre. (Photo/Morley Boyd)
Finally, an appropriation application for this building project will be submitted to the RTM and the full range of issues related to this property will be discussed. From where I stand, there are legitimate questions about the state of the baseball field. The LLSBC’s mandate was to retain all existing school features and a baseball field is one of those features, so it should be included in the new plans. However, any discussion of turf or lights or a major increase in the scale and scope of a new field should be scrutinized.
I would also add in closing that as an RTM member and chair of the RTM Finance Committee, I would vote for the city to provide funding for the transition of the Gardens location (there may be an opportunity to keep the Reserve in your current location). ). The gardens are undoubtedly one of Westport’s jewels, and moving them to a place where they can continue to grow and flourish, rather than existing in a kind of limbo amid at least two years of construction, seems like a smart way to go. · smart to move forward.
