Westport Baseball & Softball has added its voice to the Long Lots Elementary School renovation debate. Chair Jeff White and president Jeff Brill say:
As expressed in our joint submission with Staples Baseball to the Long Lots Elementary School Building Committee on September 20, which was not then shared with Planning & Zoning, Westport Baseball & Softball — a volunteer-led non-profit organization — from the outset of the discussions regarding the future of LLES has sought only to maintain the status quo for the availability of a multipurpose field at Long Lots in any go-forward planning.
The land contiguous to LLS should continue to be blessed with athletic fields for youth use, much like the other Westport elementary schools.
We strongly encourage you to read this joint submission, and Westport Baseball’s more recent submission on January 17. They explain the need to retain a baseball field based on available resources and participation in Westport baseball programs. and our preference not to displace the Community Gardens.
There is no need to prescribe any specific usage (beyond youth athletics) of the field(s) years in advance of availability and further delay school construction.
Leaders of the various Westport sports programs can make their respective cases to the appropriate town constituencies to utilize the multiuse field down the road. P&Z does not require such specificity at this time, and the Long Lots students, teachers, administrators and community should not have to endure further delay.
Westport Baseball has never requested a full-size baseball field dedicated to baseball, much less a so-called “Babe Ruth” field. There is no such concept of a “Babe Ruth field,” unless one is referring to Yankee Stadium or Fenway Park where Ruth played. This became a cute phrase used pejoratively by opposition groups throughout the December 17th P&Z meeting and in subsequent propaganda.
Our desired multipurpose field includes a 60/90 foot infield that is easily designed to fit within 2-3 acres that would permit up to 8 Westport town youth teams (not special interest or for-profit travel organizations), including the Staples freshman team, to play thereon.
Baseball field experts remain available to discuss with the LLESBC how to configure the space to accommodate a full-size baseball field within the multipurpose field. We want to work collaboratively with the LLESBC and P&Z to develop a solution that serves multiple youth sports. We continue to respectfully request an opportunity to exchange ideas and share expertise.
The current 8-24 proposal calls for a “multipurpose” field south of a new Long Lots Elementary School.
There is not one full-size field in Westport that is dedicated exclusively to baseball for players ages 13 and older, unlike in other towns. Wakeman and even the Staples baseball field are mixed use fields.
We echo the real concerns raised by Parks & Rec, the Westport Soccer Association and PAL regarding field stress of Westport’s heavily used grass fields.
It is already very challenging for Parks and Recreation to schedule practices and home games across programs. Reducing field space for baseball has a domino effect, reducing availability of fields for other sports given the shared fields. P&Z has repeatedly referenced concern regarding “intensification of use” of land. Eliminating this baseball field exacerbates this issue.
Opponents of a baseball field referenced outdated enrollment figures for older players and field utilization by such players. Those players unfortunately will never have the opportunity to play on a new field at LLES. It is the wrong data set.
Current numbers of players on a particular team does not augur future seasons’ participation numbers; the numbers fluctuate for a variety of reasons, including the recent rise in student population.
Young Westport baseball players greet their Staples High School heroes.
Westport Baseball has been asked why it has not been more vocal and active in the ongoing debate regarding the use of the LLES field space. Our only formal action prior to a call last week with chair Paul Lebowitz and submission of our request was to send the joint submission and commenting via our leaders at public meetings.
We have remained quiet and cordial in our limited interactions, and have neither lobbied nor partnered with other organizations, as we sought neither to delay the commencement of school construction nor to further polarize and inflame the discourse.
We have only recently learned that we have apparently been penalized for being good sports and remaining on the sidelines. Westport Baseball and our baseball community is the only organization/populace that has been deprived of any accommodation as a result of bifurcation and the modified 8-24 application.
The informed Westport Baseball community was incredulous to learn that in the letter accompanying the 8-24 application, baseball (and no other activity) has been inexplicably singled out and expressly excluded.
Prohibitions on use of or access to a public field via restrictive covenant are seldomly imposed except when serving to protect the public.
We are not aware of any similar express restriction on a field in Westport. No sport should be identified as a prohibited utilization of the field(s) at this time.
It is our understanding that P&Z has required an express prohibition on baseball in order to approve the then forthcoming 8-24 application. The decision was not ripe and evidences a lack of due process, fair consideration and foresight.
We respectfully request that P&Z acknowledge at the meeting on January 22 that baseball is not a prohibited use of the field(s) at LLS or the deletion of this arbitrary prohibition from the letter. That is our only request at this time.
As explained in our January 18 statement, there is no need to prescribe any specific athletic use or purpose for the field(s). That is what “multipurpose” has been intended to contemplate and represents a compromise.
Westport Baseball and other youth sports organizations can advocate for Long Lots field use at the planning phase without causing any further delay in the construction of the school.