Today, the Westport Community Garden Steering Committee sent an update to its “gardening families.” The email offered reasons to reject a relocation of the garden from Long Lots School to Baron’s South.
They propose a different site: part of Burr Farms Field, off Long Lots Road. The steering committee wrote:
You may have read that the town of Westport has submitted a new 8-24 for 13 Hyde Lane/new Long Lots School Site Plan, removing the Westport Community Gardens completely from the property to make way for a multi-use Parks & Recreation field, post-construction.
The Planning and Zoning Commission is scheduled to meet to discuss, and possibly vote on, this 8-24 on Monday, June 9.
As a possible relocation site for the gardens, the town suggested Baron’s South.
After carefully touring the property and thoroughly researching its suitability, we, as your Steering Committee and representatives of this community, came to the conclusion that we could not, in good conscience, recommend it.
Proposal for Community Gardens at Baron’s South.
The safety and health concerns — along with accessibility and environmental factors — would place too many of our gardeners at risk. Baron’s South is not a long-term solution to a long-term problem.
We have consistently asked the town for a collaborative effort to identify an alternative location, should we not be allowed to co-exist with the new Long Lots School. Despite multiple outreach attempts and ideas, we have not received any meaningful response or engagement.
In light of that, we recently submitted a formal proposal to relocate the Westport Community Garden to a portion of Burr Farms Field, located on Burr School Road off Long Lots Road.
Burr Farms Fields, located on the site of the former elementary school.
If you are unfamiliar with the property, we encourage you to visit it. This site offers many of the same benefits that made our current garden so successful: It is sunny, flat, centrally located, easily accessible with ample parking, and complementary to the surrounding neighborhood. We believe it offers a truly viable and equitable path forward.
A copy of our submitted proposal is attached for your review.
The letter noted that “the space is underused, with a portion currently chained off from any use at all.”
The steering committee asked to share the property. One baseball diamond would remain, with the outfield “still available for tot soccer or other light recreational use.”
One possible location for the gardens. Burr School Road is at the left; the parking area is at top …
The location “also complements the property’s character and history,” the committee said. From 1958 through the early 1980s, it served as athletic fields for Burr Farms Elementary School. The building to the north of the fields was demolished, and was replaced by homes.
Existing fencing could be repurposed, with “only minimal infrastructure, such as hose hookups and permiter fencing” needed to get started.
… and a second one.
The steering committee called deferring a relocation decision to a townwide planning process with consultants “expensive, slow, and frequently re-opened by incoming administrations to suit shifting priorities.”
The letter to gardening families continued:
Thank you for being a part of what makes our community garden so special. Your spirit, care and commitment have built more than garden beds — you’ve created a deeply rooted community. We remain hopeful that together we’ll soon be planting new seeds in a new, beautiful space where this community can continue to grow and thrive.
The current Burr Farms site.
