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04/17/2018 03:00 PMBraving the early hour and the pouring rain, more than 30 residents came to Town Hall on April 16 for an 8:15 a.m. Town Meeting concerning the purchase of additional property, known as 52 Church Street, next to the Community Center. While final use of the property is still to be determined, the land will likely add up to 30 parking spaces at the community center and the purchase of the property was unanimously approved.
First Selectman Matt Hoey previously said the town, the Parks & Recreation Department, and the Land Acquisition Commission have looked at this property for years. Hoey said the commission was given a range for negotiation and the property is now available for a total sum just shy of $500,000, which will be paid from the Land Acquisition Commission fund.
The purchase of the property is being considered outside of the budget because the commission fund is separate from the general fund and has its own dedicated revenue stream.
The commission was also directed to complete studies to be sure there are no issues with the current structure or land as the building was once used as a dental office. The property itself is 0.58 acres and includes a 2,500 square foot home and office with a detached two-car garage. Hoey said future use of the building is still under discussion with the town looking at the possibility of moving some town department or services there.
“We do have preliminary drawings at this point related to additional parking spaces and traffic flow through the back of that property,” he said. “Thirty spots increases by about 30 percent the current capacity at the community center. It’s not an insignificant increase to the parking at that facility.”
Former selectman Gary MacElhiney, who helped negotiate the purchase of the property, said the town has been looking at this property for years and the parking need has always been a primary driver. The community center currently has about 70 parking spots and MacElhiney said that was an appropriate number when the Community Center was built, considering the size of the population at the time. Hoey agreed with his statement and said the popularity of the Community Center has increased the parking need.
“I would add to that it’s not just the population, it’s the extraordinary number and success of the programs run by Parks & Recreation in that Community Center, a significant number of them benefiting our senior population,” he said. “I think we are a victim of our own success to some degree.”
Town employees who work at the Community Center support the purchase and brought photos to show the current parking challenges at the site. Terry Buckley said the popularity of some programs just places to high a burden on the current parking capacity.
“Our programs certainly have grown, particularly with the seniors and people have become very creative on where they park on the Community Center grounds,” she said. “Purchasing this property would hopefully alleviate some of that.”
Many residents spoke in favor of the purchase, including Connie Fusco, president of the Schiller Shoreline Institute for Lifelong Learning (SSILL), an organization that provides lectures, trips, and discussions for more than 450 residents across the shoreline. Fusco said SSILL is very grateful that it can host some of there programs at the Community Center, but also said some of the programs can have up to 150 people attend.
“I think it would be a disservice to not have parking and not buy the property,” she said. “…I have to compliment the Community Center because it’s not a senior center, it’s a Community Center of individuals from preschool age to elder adults. There is nothing else like it on the shoreline.”
While the comments about how creative people get when trying to park at the Community Center drew some laughs, resident Claire Dunn noted that that type of illegal parking is also dangerous.
“I also see a huge safety hazard right now with the parking,” she said. “As the pictures show, people park around the curve and people are parking on the grass and people are blocking the buses. Well, if all those cars are parked and I have a small SUV and sometimes I can’t get through, so my concern is a fire truck or an ambulance” would also be stuck.
The purchase was unanimously approved. The closing is set for Tuesday, April 17 and Hoey said the property will be maintained by the town as decisions are made regarding best future use of the building.