Minutes Subject to the Approval of the Fairfield Hills Master Plan Review Committee
The Fairfield Hills Master Plan Review Committee
Monday, June 13, 2011
Newtown Senior Center, Newtown, Connecticut
Mr. Floros called the meeting to order at 7:21 pm.
Present: Michael Floros, Paul Lundquist, Gary Steele, Alan Shephard, Robert Maurer, Ben Roberts, Nancy Roznicki, and Deborra Zukowski; Absent: Michael Mossbarger
Also present: Ruby Johnson and Rosa Zubizarreta
Public Participation: ~Ruby Johnson from 16 Chestnut Hill Road, commented on comment that Mr. Floros made a few weeks ago about jobs and the economy. She reported that Mr. Floros said that it would be nice to have more good jobs in Newtown so residents did not have to commute so far. Ms. Johnson agreed that it would be wonderful to have more jobs in Newtown and she gave examples of jobs that were historically in Newtown. She also shared an article that was in the May 30, 2011 Time magazine about the changes in the world economy.
Approval of Minutes: There are not minutes to approve at this time.
First Selectman Llodra
Mr. Floros stated that at the last meeting the members of the Fairfield Hills Master Plan Review Committee each shared their visions for Fairfield Hills. Mr. Roberts, Ms. Roznicki and Mr. Steele were not able to attend so Mr. Floros asked them to share their visions at this meeting.
Mr. Roberts said that he would like Fairfield Hills to be a destination for the local community. Mr. Roberts did express some concerns. His first concern is that there isn’t much money to put into the campus right now. He is also concerned that 5 years Fairfield Hills won’t be very different from what it is now. Mr. Roberts suggested making some recommendations for changes in the process. He also brought up two of the more controversial issues; infrastructure costs and demolition vs. preservation of buildings.
Mr. Lundquist added that he came to the same realization as Mr. Roberts. He added that most of what the committee is talking about is already in the Master Plan. He feels it is important that the Fairfield Master Plan Review Committee needs to have an impact, not just pass along the Master Plan and say it is “ok.” The committee has done a lot of work
Ms. Roznicki said when she was thinking about her vision it helped her to refer to the Plan of Conservation and Development because that document looked at the town as a whole. She said she got some of her ideas from the public. She added that the public made it clear what they didn’t want, for example, housing. Ms. Roznicki said that her vision is that Fairfield Hills focuses on it being a central geographic position in town. She said it should be a community gathering place including: open space, passive recreation, active recreation, indoor sports center. It should also have areas that are designated to support town programs such as Relay for Life and the Community Garden. She would like to see a place for cultural arts activities on the Fairfield Hills campus, including a
place for performances. Ms. Roznicki would like to see some land banked for future educational uses. She would also like to see a central emergency building including, police, ambulance and fire. She sees Fairfield Hills as being part of the town of Newtown not a separate entity.
Mr. Steele said that his vision for Fairfield Hills, like many others, is to see it as a destination within Newtown. He thinks that the buildings that are not able to be reused should be demolished. He thinks that the town has a sufficient number of athletic fields and additional ones are not needed at Fairfield Hills. Mr. Steele said he wrestled with the idea of housing at Fairfield Hills. He said it was obvious that the people in town do not want housing there. He feels the idea of residential housing is still viable there but he doesn’t know how to make it work. Mr. Steele added that a communications officer is needed in town. There needs to be someone to articulate what the Fairfield Hills Master Plan Review Committee is trying to accomplish.
Mr. Shephard said that he thinks the members of the committee are saying a lot of the same things. Mr. Floros agreed that there is a lot of agreement within the committee. Mr. Floros did add that he feels there are some areas that need more discussion. These areas are: demolition, schools (as Ms. Roznicki is the only one that mentioned education in her vision), housing, and the idea of a town plan vs. a Fairfield Hills only plan.
The group had some discussion about housing and including what the definition of affordable housing is. Mr. Lundquist stated that the residents of Newtown overall were mostly opposed to any type of housing at Fairfield Hills. Some members of the group expressed concern that if even 1 unit of housing is allowed on the campus it could open up the possibility to bigger housing issues. Some members of the committee addressed the need for more diversified housing within Newtown but felt that Fairfield Hills was not the place for this. Mr. Lundquist stated that he doesn’t believe it is necessary to have housing to support commercial development. Mr. Shephard agreed that Fairfield Hills can be vibrant without housing. Mr. Maurer added that the culture in Newtown has always been
anti-housing. He never really understood why people were so against having apartments at Fairfield Hills. He thought it might be a good idea to include on the final report that some members of the committee were open to the idea of housing at Fairfield Hills.
The committee discussed the importance of keeping their report in a consistent format. Mr. Floros felt it’s important to make a short summary, about one page. He felt the most of the Newtown residents will only read that first page. Ms. Zukowski discussed the format of an executive summary, including; a 3-4 sentence vision and then digging down deeper in subsequent pages.
Ms. Zukowski reread some of the visions that were written aloud to the group. The group had some discussion on the different wording of the visions. It was decided that the group will email the visions around and try and come to agreement on one vision. Mr. Floros set a deadline of Wednesday night to have the vision statement completed. The committee will meet again on Wednesday, June 15. At that meeting Mr. Floros would also like to discuss the following issues: demolition of buildings, lease vs. sell, municipal plan vs. Fairfield Hills plan, and how do we get the public behind this?
Ms. Zubizarreta said the group should phrase their vision in the present, not the future; for example, “we see Fairfield Hills as a place…” Mr. Floros reiterated that on Wednesday the vision will be finalized and the committee will discuss process.
Ms. Zukowski shared an email from a member of the Conservation Commission about land that will be used for emergency services. Mr. Floros suggested that Ms. Zukowski forward the email to the Fairfield Hills Authority.
Public Participation:
Ruby Johnson of 16 Chestnut Hill Road suggested that Ms. Zukowski give the email to Ms. Llodra. She also said that the committee has to think about packing a lot of things into 40 acres.
Mr. Lundquist made the motion to adjourn. Ms. Steele seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously and the meeting adjourned at 9:54 p.m. ~
Respectfully submitted by Allison Sharlow, Clerk.
| 
