Stina Sternberg Snow lives on Hillandale Road, not far from the Sherwood Island Connector.
Which means: not far from the clear-cutting done by the state Department of Transportation, as part of construction of a new building at their maintenance facility behind Walgreens.
Stina and her husband Matt have been in touch with the DOT. Here’s their report after a conversation with project engineer Matt Easdon.
One view of the clear-cutting at the state DOT maintenance facility (Sherwood Island Connector is on the left) …
Stina reports: “It’s clear from the way Easdon (and Scott Adkins, the District 3 engineer to whom the baton will now be passed as the project moves to the construction phase) have responded to us that they’re open to input.”
“Just the e-mails and calls they’ve received over the last 3 days have resulted in orders for new design changes to be added to the plans. It’s clear they hadn’t thought of repopulating trees before.”
Stina says she and her neighbors have learned that the construction phase of the new DOT maintenance facility — “essentially a garage for the state’s snow plows and maintenance trucks — the same function this property has held for 60+ years” — will start this summer, and last until the spring of 2027.
The number of trucks housed there now will not increase, but the new main building will be 3 times larger than the current one. It will include offices, and sit closer to the Sherwood Island Connector.
Stina also says that DOT has been told by the town that the east side of the lot (near West Parish Road) is “hands off for now,” because of the possibility of building affordable housing there.
Stina also says that the DOT originally looked for other parts of Westport for new facility — to not disrupt a residential area — but no land was available.
… and another, from Hillandale Lane. (Photos/Matt Snow)
Easdon told Stina that all the trees and brush along the connector and Hillandale Road were removed now — though construction is months away — and done quickly to avoid disrupting wildlife nesting season. That was recommended by the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, which has been consulted on the project.
Stina adds, “They claim to be very open to collaborating with town residents to help make the new facility as undisruptive as possible, and to listen our input when it comes to the tree situation.
“It’s obviously too late for the latter, but because we’ve reached out with our complaints over the last few days, Easdon’s team has already asked the agronomy side of their planning team to work on adding new trees (probably arbor vitae) along the Hillandale Road and Sherwood Island Connector sides to the plans.
An “official” pre-construction meeting, with everyone involved in the project, is set for New Haven next Wednesday (April 16).
The meeting is not open to the public, but Easdon told Stina “they will add a discussion about the community pushback and planting new trees. He will hopefully have drawings to share with us of what the whole project will look like” a few days later.
Stina passes along these emails —
- matthew.easdon@ct.gov
- Scott.Adkins@ct.gov
and a link to a petition to restore the trees.
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As I responded yesterday to Stina’s report on the Westport Front Porch page on FB, thank you Stina for doing the heavy lifting on this one. Somehow her post was either taken down or conveniently hidden as were the comments..Again I am very disappointed in our current administration here in Westport as well as a few RTM members, all of whom I am longtime friends with. In trying to recall some of her post, I THINK I read that prior to this carnage the State had reached out to town officials, but never received a response?
Here are excerpts from Stina’s post from Facebook with that info:
“We got a phone call back from Matt Easdon, the DOT project engineer in charge of the tree clearing that just took place at the DOT maintenance facility between the Post Rd and Hillandale Rd. We talked to him for a long time, and the information we got is a doozy.
Most maddeningly, all of this could’ve been super transparent and included great involvement from the Westport community if it had been at all communicated by our town leadership. They’ve known about this for two years and received frequent updates, yet no one (save for Dick Lowenstein) has followed up with the state regarding this project (Eason literally said “the town selectwoman’s office hasn’t gotten back to us”). No one from the town has expressed any interest to the DOT team in influencing the tree situation or even tried to let the residents know what’s happening.
And it’s clear from the way Easdon (and Scott Adkins, the District 3 engineer to whom the baton will now be passed as the project moves to the construction phase – e-mail addresses for both will be provided at the end of this post) have responded to us that they’re open to input. Just the e-mails and calls they’ve received over the last three days (mostly from people living in this house) have resulted in orders for new design changes to be added to the plans (it’s clear they hadn’t thought of repopulating trees before).
Here’s what we neighbors have learned in two days:
-The construction phase of the new DOT maintenance facility (essentially a garage for the state’s snow plows and maintenance trucks-the same function this property has held for 60+ years) will start this summer and last until the spring of 2027. The volume of trucks being housed will not increase from the numbers that are there now, but the new main building will be three times as large as the current building (because it will include offices), and it will sit closer to the Sherwood Island Connector side of the lot.
⁃ The DOT has been told by the town (I assume by Dick Lowenstein, since he’s the only person who has gotten back to them that the east side of the lot (which butts up against West Parish Rd.) is hands off for now because of the prospect of building low-income housing there a project that is now apparently on hold, but the DOT team is still not allowed to touch that side of the lot).
⁃ The DOT originally looked for other parts of Westport to place this new facility so it wouldn’t be so centrally located and disrupt a residential area, but there was no land available.
⁃ Eason says they took down all the trees and brush along the connector and Hillandale Rd. now (even though construction is months away), and did it fast, to avoid disrupting wildlife nesting season (per recommendations from the Department of Environmental Protection, which has been consulted on this.
⁃ They claim to be very open to collaborating with town residents to help make the new facility as undisruptive as possible, and to listen our input when it comes to the tree situation. It’s obviously too late for the latter now, but because we’ve reached out with our complaints over the last few days, Easdon’s team has already asked the agronomy side of their planning team to work on adding new trees (probably arborvitae) along the Hillandale Rd. and Sherwood Island Connector sides to the plans.
(Just imagine if the town reps had let us know about this project months and years ago, how much damage could’ve been avoided and how much we could’ve influenced the scope of the clear-cutting.)
⁃
….
Thanks, Dave — the Westport Journal is bringing all the receipts this morning, including copies of the letters sent to Westport’s town leadership starting in the fall of 2023, detailing everything that was about to happen in plenty of time, asking for feedback and offering to meet with the community about the project. I quote: “It is the CTDOT’s policy to keep the public informed when such projects are undertaken. It is important that the community share their concerns with us to assist in the projects development.” (They never heard back, and Town Hall never said a peep to town residents about the upcoming construction.) The story also reveals that town leadership knew of the upcoming clear cutting (which apparently by DEEP regulation had to happen before April 15) on January 30, was asked for any comment but again said nothing. Here’s the article: https://westportjournal.com/government/analysis-tooker-mum-on-dot-project-despite-state-outreach-since-23/
This makes me so very sad, particularly if some of it could have been prevented? David, I read the same report on Front Porch. I’d love to know the town’s side? Were they alerted by the state? At least now, thanks to the incredible advocacy by Stina and her husband, the state is engaged and wants to discuss planting trees back etc. It sounds like Dick Lowenstein was the only RTM person who took pro-active action. Why is this?
It’s very important to consider alternatives to arborvitae. Arborvitae may be tall and grow quickly but they have a lot of problems (pest infestations, fungal diseases, root rot). They thrive in swamps, low woods and forest edges. None of these conditions exist at the decimated site. Why not an alternative that would attract pollinators? American Holly (ilex opaca) has dense foliage for privacy. It is drought tolerant and grows to 40-60 feet tall. It is a slow grower but it is going to take a while to replace what was lost.
Yes now is the time to think through a great habitat of natives. River birch. Silver maple. Various native evergreens. Amy number of native shrubs for underbrush.
One important part from Ms. Snow’s post: “Most maddeningly, all of this could’ve been super transparent and included great involvement from the Westport community if it had been at all communicated by our town leadership. They’ve known about this for two years and received frequent updates, yet no one (save for Dick Lowenstein) has followed up with the state regarding this project (Easdon literally said “the town selectwoman’s office hasn’t gotten back to us”). No one from the town has expressed any interest to the DOT team in influencing the tree situation or even tried to let the residents know what’s happening.”
One Republican lapdog is yapping all over social media this morning, implying Jonathan Steinberg was driving the bulldozer and Ceci Maher was helming the backhoe. But the truth is that Tooker ONCE AGAIN fumbled the ball and kept citizens in the dark. She just doesn’t care. And now she wants a promotion.
Again, Jen Tucker did nothing to prevent this shambles or even notify the residence of that area. What a shame we need somebody in the town to speak up and listen to residents
What a scar on one of the main entries to the town of Westport where beautiful landscaping is valued and appreciated by almost everyone. As a landscape designer with many clients in town, I often tell homeowners that change can be looked upon as a new “opportunity” – but what a missed one this seems to be. Several comments are mentioning the opportunities to use native plantings – combinations of evergreen and deciduous – all of which would soften the larger structure, restore privacy to the neighbors, and enhance/beautify this artery into Westport – not to mention the opportunity to support the fragile and precious shoreline eco-climate within proximity to this State-owned property. If you drive around Fairfield County like I do, it’s shocking how many Arborvitae “walls” have been planted around property perimeters and lining street edges. It’s a clear and often unfriendly statement saying “stay out”! For those who are history buffs, Frederick Law Olmstead became the designer of Central Park in the 1860’s thanks to winning a contest put forth by the NYC city officials. How nice it would have been for the Westport Town officials to have asked for public input, whether it was through a design contest or simply a brainstorming forum. It would have rallied support and excitement about a new opportunity versus leaving folks frustrated and mad about yet more clear-cutting!
According to the history of Willowbrook Cemetery, Frederick Law Olmstead was the final architect of that cemetery right here in town.
The Cherry Trees by Sakura got saved from the DOT chopping block…. Surely with diligence from our Administration some of the Connector devastation may have been minimized with enough outcry and follow through during the 2 year period of notification. At least trying to influence them may have worked as it did with the Cherry Trees. I can’t see any excuse for lack of effort- same with giving a heads up to the neighbors as to the extent.