The Town of Westport has filed another 8-24 site plan for the new Long Lots Elementary School.
This one does not include a community garden.
That controversial element caused concern at last month’s Planning & Zoning Commission meeting.
Commissioners liked the plans presented. But the 8-24 (proposal for municipal land use) they were considering had been approved in January of 2024, with a relocated garden at an unspecified site on the 13 Hyde Lane property.
Town officials later decided to move the gardens to another, not-yet-determined location, off school grounds. Because the 8-24 still included a garden, P&Z members asked for a revised 8-24.
That was filed with the Planning & Zoning Department on Friday, and received today.
Most recent architectural plans, submitted to the Planning & Zoning Department.
The new “special permit & site plan” — applied for officially by 1st Selectwoman Jen Tooker — calls for “construction of a new 127,945 sf elementary school, a 250 space parking lot, dedicated parent drop off and bus lanes, (2) multipurpose natural turf athletic fields, (2) playgrounds, a basketball court, a paved play area and all associated site and utility construction.”
The parking lot would increase from the current 196 spots.
The initial 8-24 plan — filed over 2 years ago — did not include the garden. It showed a baseball diamond where the garden had been located for 20 years, on the southern edge of the property.
The revised 8-24, submitted in January of 2024, had the garden back, but at an unspecified location. A multipurpose athletic field replaced the baseball diamond.
The Planning & Zoning Commission will discuss the new 8-24 site plan at an upcoming meeting. It has not yet been added to an agenda.
Meanwhile, the Long Lots School Building Committee meets tomorrow (Tuesday, May 20, 6 p.m., Town Hall Room 201/201A).
They’ll hear a project update, review plans with the design team, and hear public comment on agenda items.
Three views of the proposed Long Lots Elementary School.
Toni Simonetti is a longtime advocate for the Westport Community Garden. The other day, she wrote about them on her Substack:
I spotted this drill in the upper field at Long Lots Elementary School on April 30.
Meanwhile, the first selectwoman closed the Westport Community Garden on May 1. It’s now forcibly and shamefully abandoned.
But when will it be bulldozed and otherwise desecrated? I tried to find out when the special permitted land use designation officially changes from “community garden” to construction dumping ground, then to regulation-size soccer pitch.
The garden use at then-11 Hyde Lane (since merged with 13 Hyde Lane) was first established via special permit with unanimous consent of the Planning & Zoning Commission on October 27, 2005 (Resolution #05-071).
Subsequently it was enlarged. A special permitted use as a garden was again approved unanimously on February 11, 2010 (Resolution #10-0001).
My question was simple, yet not one town official I asked could (would?) answer.
The Planning & Zoning chair did not understand my question. The town P&Z director said she lacked the expertise to answer. The town attorney on staff recused herself from garden matters, and referred me to Ira Bloom. Mr. Bloom doesn’t respond to my queries, so I did not even try.
I asked an experienced land use consultant, who was absolutely adamant that no other land use is allowed until such time as the existing use is changed.
Westport Community Garden.
To date, only an 8-24 municipal use report (to include a community garden) has been submitted to, and been approved by, P&Z.
However, an 8-24 does not change the existing land use. In addition, this one includes a garden.
The town must apply for special permitted land use as athletic fields, construction staging, parking, whatever. Then the P&Z must approve it. The town has not yet done so.
Furthermore, I anticipate the town will withdraw the present 8-24 report and submit a new one that excludes any mention of a garden, then must go through the 8-24 process all over again before applying for a new special permit. It has not yet done so.
At its last meeting on the matter — a pre-application for a site plan that did not include a garden — the P&Z made it clear it wants to see concrete plans for an alternate garden site underway before it will approve any new 8-24.
I have implored any number of people to do something on this front. I have offered ideas and plans to explore. I have offered sweat equity to get this done.
So far, crickets.
Garden gone. (Photos/Toni Simonetti)
Perhaps some secret dealings are underway, but the Westport Community Garden chair won’t say. It’s no surprise that I may have been blackballed from any progress; I don’t know.
But still, what’s going on? And why isn’t there an expanded group of invested citizens engaged?
Meanwhile, drills are drilling in preparation for construction of geothermal wells. The school year is winding down. The land use on Tier 1 remains on record as that of a community garden. And gardeners are banned from using the property for one last season of gardening.
I’ll be watching this little parcel until such time as the land use is changed. I bet tomatoes will be ripe on the vine before that happens.
Stay tuned.
(“06880” Opinion pages are open to all. Email 06880blog@gmail.com.)
The Long Lots Preserve is one step closer to reality.
But the ecologically important, sustainably sound and very natural project around the perimeter of the Westport Community Garden needs our help.
Under the direction of Lou Weinberg — and with the help of many volunteers and businesses — neglected public open space, overrun with invasive plants and pests, is being turned into a native New England environmental oasis.
The project includes the removal of non-native plants. Then comes dense planting with native trees, shrubs, wildflowers and grasses. They attract and sustain hundreds of year-round and migrating organisms. including the endangered monarch butterfly and native mason bees.
If the Long Lots Preserve gets $7,500 from at least 70 people, Sustainable Connecticut will match it with $7,500 more.
All money raised will purchase plants at wholesale cost. All deductions are tax-deductible.
Click here to donate online, and for more information. Checks can be mailed to Long Lots Preserve, 1630 Post Road East, Unit 129, Westport, CT 06880.
PS: Partners include Connecticut Audubon, Aspetuck Land Trust, Earthplace, Bartlett Tree Experts, AJ Penna & Son, Robbie Guimond, SIR Development, Southwest Conservation District, Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Service Forestry Program, Community Gardens members, many private citizens and 2 Staples High School interns.
The Long Lots preserve weed suppression team (from left0: Lou Weinberg, Darryle Kowalsky, Frank Rosen, Julie O’Grady, Andrew Coleman.
New England Hemp Farm has transitioned from its Brooks Corner store, to an online and wholesale business.
But you can still buy its full line of products — for yourself and your pet. They’ve partnered with Earth Animal, on Post Road East.
CEO Matt Bannon says, “Since humans and their pets both have an endocannabinoid system and suffer from similar conditions such as inflammation, anxiety, autoimmune and sleep cycle issues, this is a unique opportunity to keep a local presence.”
It’s a great fit for several reasons. “Earth Animal is committed to a health and wellness philosophy for pets and humans. They’re friendly and welcoming people who allow us to provide all of our products to clients who prefer to shop in-person. And this allows us to support another business right here in town.
When classes resume Tuesday, the Westport Police Department will increase traffic enforcement in school zones. Officers will look for drivers on cell phones, speeding and disregarding bus signals.
The department says: “We urge commuters to allow extra time, as they will be sharing the roads with school buses making frequent stops, as well as children who will be walking and/or biking to school. Obey the school bus laws, which include slowing down and preparing to stop for yellow flashing school bus lights and stopping for red flashing school bus lights.”
They urge parents to discuss safety with their children — and with young or inexperienced drivers at home.
I got 2 emails within half an hour yesterday. As Westporters return from summer trips, and we head into even busier traffic times, both are worth noting.
Shelly Sherman writes: “Please emphasize the need for cars to slow down. and stop at crosswalks on Compo Road South. More than once I’ve had to sprint across with my dogs to avoid being run over by cars speeding to ???
“This area of Westport has so many runners, walkers and bikers, it’s amazing more people haven’t been hurt. Pedestrians in crosswalks have the right of way — but I’d not want to test that theory every morning.”
Carol Sampson describes another danger, in a different part of town:
“Despite the sign saying ‘State Law Yield to Pedestrians’ at Post Road and Bay Street, it is clear from my experience today that few people actually stop. (One did, but the others whizzed by.) What is wrong with drivers in this town?”
Hmmm…let me think…
Entitled? Distracted? Selfish? What have I missed?
It’s a beautiful day. Just don’t try to cross the Post Road here. (Photo/Carol Sampson)
Staples High School Class of 2012 graduate Sam Reiner met Mallory Silliere 2 years ago this month, on a dating app.
On their second date, he took her kayaking on the Saugatuck River. They pulled up to the Black Duck for lunch. It’s remained one of their favorite dates.
Last Saturday, Sam proposed to Mallory — on the dock behind the Duck.
A small group of family and friends helped celebrate.
Wedding plans are TBD. It may not be at everyone’s favorite dive bar. But there are still bachelor and bachelorette parties to plan …
Last month, “06880” reported on the Wings4Peace national art-and-gun safety awareness project.
Yesterday, artist Darcy Hicks provided an update. She says:
“Today marks 3 months since the Uvalde massacre. This morning, part 2 of the Wings4Peace message reminds communities everywhere to remember those children – and all children who are affected by gun violence.
“Last night, people across the country put out the second set of wings, which say ‘in America,’ making the message so far, ‘Peace in America…’
“Each month on the 24th the sentence grows, with the mission to inspire people to take action against gun violence. Art has always inspired societal change.”
Speaking of back-to-school (see above): Are you ready for winter and spring break?
Builders Beyond Borders is already planning service trips to Ecuador. To learn more, students and families are invited to a pair of open houses: this Sunday (August 28, 3:30 to 5 p.m.) and September 14 (6 to 7:30 p.m.) at the B3 office (66 Fort Point Street, Norwalk). RSVP here.
The other day, Tricia Freeman headed down the internet rabbit hole. She ended up at a 1950 New Yorker story about Ernest Hemingway.
In the piece by Lillian Ross, the author has just arrived in New York, heading to Europe. There are 2 Westport references, starting with:
“Where I like it is out West in Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho, and I like Cuba and Paris and around Venice,” (Hemingway) said. “Westport gives me the horrors.”
Is that Westport, Connecticut? With so many of them in the world — and so many non-East Coast places mentioned in the quote — who knows?
But the second one narrows it down:
“Hunting is sort of a good life,” Hemingway said. “Better than Westport or Bronxville, I think.”
That’s it.
Besides his long friendship with the late author A.E. Hotchner, did Papa Hemingway have any connection at all with our town?
If you know — or think you do, click “Comments” below. And if you want to read the entire (long) New Yorker piece, click here.
cARTie — Connecticut’s first (and only) non-profit mobile art museum bus — bridges inequities in education and arts access across the state.
Each year, they exhibit a juried art show of diverse high school student art. It’s interactive, designed to inspire young students and families.
Several current and former Staples students have exhibited with cARTie.
This year’s event is Sunday, September 18 (3-5 p.m., Westport Museum of History & Culture). The afternoon includes “paint and sip,” live music, a silent auction and raffle, awards and food. Click here for more on cARTie.
Joni Mitchell was right. After a long winter — and 2 long years of COVID — we’ve got to get ourselves back to the garden.
And there’s no better place than the Westport Community Gardens.
There — just a few hoe-lengths away from Long Lots Elementary School — 100 or so gardeners grow fruit, vegetables, flowers, herbs and grasses, in a wonderful array of designs and configurations.
Some are families with young children. Some are folks in their 80s. Some are experienced gardeners; others know little, but learn from them. All form a helpful, happy — and very well-fed — community.
Gardens plots are available to town residents and town employees. A few remain to be allocated this year.
The gardens are deer-proof. Water is available.
Grow the tomatoes you’ve dreamed of — or any other fruits, vegetables and flowers you’ve wanted to try.
Families find a home at the Community Gardens. Supervised children are welcome — and encouraged.
There’s even a bocce court.
Click here for more information; scroll down to “Join the Community.”
Hey: You are stardust. You are golden. You’ve got to get yourself back to the garden.
Earlier this year, it was estimated that 25% of all Bridgeport residents lacked reliable access to a sufficient amount of affordable, nutritious food.
And that was before the coronavirus.
The pandemic has made the food insecurity situation worse — both because more people are economically vulnerable, and fewer are able or willing to donate to food pantries and soup kitchens.
The townwide organization — which already promotes a Zero Food Waste Challenge, encouraging composting, food scrap recycling and redistribution to food insecure people — has ramped up their efforts.
They’ve partnered with Christ & Holy Trinity Church and Westport Community Garden.
The Garden’s Grow-a-Row initiative encourages Westporters to plant an extra row in their gardens, then donate a portion of their harvest to our food insecure neighbors in Bridgeport.
Westport Community Garden provides gardeners row markers to indicate a portion of their plot for donations.
There is already a collection bin at the garden, on Hyde Lane. Now everyone else can drop off produce in green bins inside Christ & Holy Trinity’s Branson Hall. It’s open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., 7 days a week.
Donated food is brought to the Center for Food Equity and Economic Development (the FEED Center). Student chefs convert the produce into delicious meals, for distribution in soup kitchens. Some of the produce also goes to the United Congregational Church in Bridgeport, for its Feel the Warmth supper.
Vito Pidalla is a graduate of Chef Raquel Rivera’s intensive culinary training program. Rivera, owner of a Pinch of Salt of Bridgeport, provides culinary training for low-income residents for food industry employment and entrepreneurial ventures.
Grow-a-Row is a collaborative effort between the Church’s Aileen Brill and the Community Garden’s Amy Unikewicz. Both organizations have a long history of providing food to the needy.
NEXT COURSE: Sustainable Westport sponsored a webinar on eating more with less. Click here to see.
A sampling of the food donations grown and collected at the Westport Community Garden through the Grow-A-Row initiative.
I thought last Sunday’s Photo Challenge was a tough one. It was Franco Fellah’s drone image of the Community Garden at Long Lots Elementary School — but it looked more like (as one person commented) his mother’s kitchen linoleum. (Click here to see.)
There was no way anyone could tell it was an aerial shot.
Or so I thought.
Rich Stein, Jonathan McClure, Diane Bosch, A. Darcy Sledge all identified it correctly — and all within minutes of posting.
Seth Goltzer chimed in soon.
So I’ll try to stump you again. This one is not easy.
Then again, I said that last week.
(Photo/Miggs Burroughs)
If you know where in Westport you’d see this, click “Comments” below.
If you see a monarch butterfly around town — at the Community Garden next to Long Lots Elementary School, Wakeman Town Farm or anyplace else — you’ll marvel at its beauty and grace.
You should also thank Alice Ely.
Alice Ely
The Westporter is a garden coach. She gardens “with you, not for you,” her website says. “Whether you are just beginning, want to take your skills to the next level, branch out or troubleshoot, I’m happy to help.”
She is a master gardener and a compost maven. But she holds a special place in her heart for monarchs.
Alice’s inspiration, design and transplanting skills helped create the butterfly garden at the Community Garden, across from the compost area.
That garden is now a registered monarch way station. Filled with milkweed and pollinator plants, it is flourishing.
Inspired Community Garden members help plant, water and maintain it.
Alice was also a driving force behind the habitat at WTF, and 2 others on Cross Highway. Beyond providing monarchs with homes, she helps ensure them a pathway of habitats on their migratory routes.
There’s a lot more to that than just planting milkweed and “letting nature do its thing,” Alice notes. It’s painstaking work — but it pays off in gorgeous, environmentally crucial ways.
A monarch butterfly, at the Westport Community Garden.
Monarch butterflies — and the rest of nature that they nurture — can’t thank Alice Ely.
But “06880” readers can. Which is why she is this week’s Unsung Hero.
(Do you know an Unsung Hero? Send nominations to: dwoog@optonline.net)
Dorothy Rolla was at the Community Garden yesterday, when she spotted a hawk perched on the pergola.
(Photo/Lou Rolla)
She and her husband Lou admired its beauty and majesty. Meanwhile, the hawk was searching for nesting rodents, and perhaps waiting to enjoy some fine Westport produce.
Who wants to build a pergola at the Community Gardens?
That was the challenge offered to all Boy Scouts in town, by Ellen Greenberg.
Brendan Wisniewski was the first to respond. He wanted an Eagle Scout project that would benefit the community in a lasting way. This was perfect.
After meeting with Ellen, Lou Weinberg and Nick Mancini — all Community Gardeners — Brendan conducted research online. He figured out the size, materials and structural integrity of the pergola, then created a detailed plan including time frame, help needed, cost and drawings.
Former Troop 39 scoutmaster Tony Giunta helped. Fellow scouts offered their assistance. Guided by Brendan’s father Mark (current Troop 39 scoutmaster) and his mother Jeanne (troop committee member), construction began.
Over 175 volunteer hours later, the pergola is finished. A few hurdles remain, but Brendan should soon join his brother John in the Eagle Scout ranks.
Tomorrow night (Monday), Garden members present a proposal to the Parks & Recreation Commission. The plan: expand the site, adjacent to Long Lots School.
Opposition is expected. Some Long Lots parents worry about safety. (Not from an errant hoe; more like garden-variety sex offenders. Ho ho.)
Watch out for unwelcome guests!
Though unauthorized people are not allowed on school property when school is in session, the rule is somewhat relaxed for Community Gardeners: If they want to till their plots during school hours, they must get a special Parks & Rec pass. (After, of course, passing a background check.)
Most gardeners wait until school is out — and prime gardening season is summer, anyway — but what the hay hey.
Other concerns involve competition for parking spots at the site (gardeners vs. teachers and parents). There are very few gardeners during the day (see above), so even with the expansion that might not be a major issue.
It could be worse: Can you imagine the battles between spade-wielding Subaru drivers and iPhone-texting seniors and juniors if the Community Gardens were at Staples?
It's amazing how ugly a garden can be.
Some people object to the aesthetics of the garden itself. It was built by the gardeners themselves. It is not a designer-garden, as in many Westport backyards.
But again, things could be worse. This is a garden, people — not the Quonset hut squatting a quarter mile away off North Maple.
The action begins at 7:30 p.m. at Town Hall. Let’s hope it stays civil. The last thing we need is one side throwing tomatoes at the other.
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