Yesterday, Representative Town Meeting member Seth Braunstein told “06880” that after careful examination, he now supports the Long Lots School Building Committee’s decision to adopt “Option C,” for a new structure.
Westport Community Gardens chair Lou Weinberg responds:
A new Long Lots Elementary School can and should be built while preserving, in their current location, the Westport Community Gardens and the Long Lots Preserve. Nobody is trying to delay or stop a new school from being built. This is not a Gardens or school issue. This is a Gardens and school issue.
We understand that you’ve been given a lot of information by the Long Lots School Building Committee. They have expertise in architecture and engineering, and were appointed by our First Selectwoman. They have volunteered a lot of their own time, and that is to be commended.
To those who believe that the main focus of the Long Lots project should be the kids: You’re right.
The LLSBC was tasked with getting a new school built. They are not a land-use planning committee. The decision to place a ballfield over the Gardens and part of the Long Lots Preserve came from them. It was not part of the Board of Education specifications that were given to them. The proposed ballfield will not serve the educational or physical needs of the Long Lots students.
The decision to put a ballfield over the Gardens has been in the works for many months. We know that the LLSBC has been involved in this decision through communications with the Parks & Recreation Department and other athletic groups in town.
The Long Lots School Building Committee’s recommendation for a new school.
While we don’t know the full extent of what discussions took place, we know that the Westport Soccer Association has been significantly involved to the point of offering money to Parks & Rec to ensure that synthetic turf get added to the project to increase their field usage.
We know that our Parks Department, under Jennifer Fava, has been working to get a ballfield located at Long Lots, at the expense of the 20 year old WCG and parts of the LL Preserve. It is hurtful, and we believe it is wrong.
If the First Selectwoman believes it’s possible to create a bigger/better community garden at Baron’s South, she can certainly locate the ballfield there. It’s centrally located and more convenient for everyone in town.
The artificial turf proposed for the ballfield would not exacerbate the flooding experienced by the neighbors adjacent to the Gardens. Those neighbors would also be unaffected by the lights and the noise.
Additionally the traffic, which will undoubtedly get worse in the Long Lots neighborhood, would be somewhat mitigated. Instead of having a new garden created on questionable soil, the questionable soil can be covered with artificial turf, without disturbing it, and satisfying a need for a new ballfield in town. That is a solution where everyone wins.
The Long Lots Building Committee recommended this site at Baron’s South for the relocated Westport Community Gardens. (Photo/Morley Boyd)
The decree that the Gardens are going to be destroyed anyway, because they are part of a construction site and probable staging area, was made by the LLSBC at the 11th hour.
What would this committee do if there were 4 homes located where the Gardens are? They would find a way to get a school built. They would find staging areas elsewhere, like Baron’s South or the Sherwood Island connector, or they would maximize efficiencies on site.
There has been no peer review of the options generated by the LLSBC for this $100 million dollar project, and now we are shoving this option through the town governing bodies at a rapid clip.
Covering the Gardens with a ballfield, especially an artificial turf field, would be environmentally devastating. It goes against everything we are trying to teach our kids about being good stewards of the environment.
The Westport Community Gardens and LL Preserve are nationally awarded, first-in-class properties. They are models of sustainability and environmental stewardship. They are unique ecological gems in Westport. The biodiversity in these 4 acres is the result of 20 years of carefully tending to the land. We have cleared the land, removed the garbage, eradicated invasive plants that were devastating the property, and planted hundreds of native trees, shrubs and wildflowers. The Garden is an organic acre of native trees, shrubs, and thousands of perennials. It is home to literally thousands of native bees and other important pollinators, insects and birds.
The WCG membership (120 families representing approximately 300 residents) has a significant portion of older residents. The Gardens provide them with one of the best passive recreational activities known.
The offer to create a new community garden at Baron’s South to make it more convenient for our seniors rings hollow. A new garden there would still not be within walking distance of the Senior Center. Many of our older members will not be willing to put in the incredible amount of work it will take to build a new garden. We don’t need any new amenities. A Port-a-Potty has served us just fine for the last 20 years.
Westport Community Gardens.
The WCG is a community that has developed over 20 years. It is vibrant, active, and does not just serve the garden members themselves. We donate food through Grow a Row, support the Westport Garden Club and work together with Eagle Scouts. We have partnered with the Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, SLOBS, and over 20 businesses and nonprofit agencies to create this magical place.
Hundreds of individuals have donated $40,000 and labored to create the Long Lots Preserve. We provide a phenomenal opportunity for Westport Public Schools to partner with us in a number of different areas, including their environmental education curriculum as dictated by state standards.
Imagine that there were 20 community gardens in town and one ballfield, built by hand and maintained for 20 years by the sports community. If one of the gardens was going to be displaced, would we all agree that the ballfield should be destroyed so we don’t lose a garden? No. We wouldn’t do that. It wouldn’t be right.
We believe any other town in America would celebrate and protect what Westporters have created here.
Thank you.