Ridgefield News
January 16, 1998

Site Selection Committee Winnows the Field

Site Selection Team Pares "Short List" to 7 Sites

This week the New School Site Selection Committee met twice and accomplished a great deal. For a newly formed committee, it is operating with a speed and professionalism which other town boards would do well to emulate.

(Left) Using a map of the town, Di Masters highlights some of the zoning issues affecting school "footprints."

The Monday evening meeting was a broad-based discussion of the five town-owned sites which were walked over the weekend. Literally dozens of issues, concerns and suggestions were batted around. First, the Committee decided to expand its search to include non-town-owned properties. Only two are known to be immediately available: the old high school owned by the Congregation of Notre Dame, up on West Mountain Road, and 58 acres of land across Rt 35 from Fox Hill. The Committee decided to investigate those and it was agreed they would be walked on Saturday morning.

Here's a quick and unofficial look at the concepts and concerns for the leading town-owned sites:

>>> Build a new school behind the Barlow Mountain Rec Center or convert the Scotland School.

Behind the Rec Center is a large, gently sloping piece of woodland that ends at the river. The space is pristine and often used by residents because of the walking trails laced through the trees. However, the property is "deed restricted" to open space and the town would have to find comparable land and swap it for the land used by a new school.

There is additional land behind Scotland School, between the building and the sports fields. While the grade is steep it is buildable. If Scotland were converted to the new lower middle school, a 100,000 square foot expansion on two levels is one possible answer.

Positive aspects:

The Town already owns it
The Rec Center would be available for the after-school use of the fifth and six graders.
There is enough land to build a sufficiently large footprint within the zoning regulations.
The deed-restricted land could be used for sports fields.

Negatives:

The deed restrictions limit the flexibility on the site and could delay construction.
The property generates a great deal of traffic currently; an expanded school would exacerbate that situation.
The septic system probably would need to be upgraded and there may not be sufficient room on the property for that improvement.
The school would be fairly distant from the center of the population in town.
The logistics of finding a home for the current Scotland School students during the construction would be a challenge.

>>> The High School, on the current tennis courts and north.

Now this is a nice piece of property, just north of the High School behind the tennis courts. It is fairly level for a Ridgefield site, with rock close to the surface and a steep drop-off at the back of the property. In the front of the property there is enough space for playing fields; the school would be built on the slope in the back. The space is large enough for an elementary school and, with some creativity, probably would fit the new Lower Middle School.

Positives:

The Town already owns it
Campus-like environment with the High School
Vehicle and bus access is good
Site is sufficiently large

Negatives:

A tight fit
Not near the population center
The steeply sloping land means ADA (Amercians with Disabilities Act) compliance might be expensive
Site development costs will probably be on the high side.

>>> Richardson Park, across from the High School

This is a beautiful and under-utilized property across the street from the High School and backing up to Lake Mamanasco. The north side is lower than the south side of the plot and is covered with a second-growth pine forest. The south side is a gently rolling field and deciduous trees. Adjacent to the lake is a rocky outcrop with a very high cliff (30-40 feet perhaps) dropping straight into the lake. The house on the property is rented to a town employee.

Positives:

The Town already owns it
Vehicle and bus access is good
Site is sufficiently large

Negatives:

The cliffs are beautiful but undeniably a dangerous attraction to children
Not near the population center
Site development costs would probably be on the high side.
The site is completely unique in all of Ridgefield, and to lose it would be a shame.

>>> The McManus Wildlife Refuge on Oscaleta

This is a lovely part of the town's open space. The irregularly shaped parcel was originally purchased by the town to be the future site of an elementary school, but it has served as parkland for years. The site has two distinctive features: a rocky outcrop fifty feet high in one corner, dropping down to small but awkwardly placed wetlands in the opposite corner.

Positives:

The Town already owns it
There are no schools in the area, so it would help balance bus travel times and such
The site, while small, would fit at least an elementary school.

Negatives:

Too small for the Lower Middle School
Septic fields would be difficult to squeeze in without affecting the wetlands
The complex site would require a great deal of creative design and engineering to make it buildable (read: expensive).
The road access is a bit too rural for more than the occasional school bus, so expensive road improvements would have to be included.

>>> Prospect Ridge ball fields

This site contains a total of about 32 acres all together, but only the 12 acres next currently supporting a little league softball field are free of state and federal deed restrictions. The land has a fairly steep slope down from the street. It is centrally located in town, but in an area already carrying two active schools. Mike Violante made a detailed presentation of the site which showed that a two-story building, stepping down the slope, would fit and meet all the educational requirements. The property includes the Guild of Artists building (3,000 sq. ft) which reduces the remaining buildable total.

(Right) Mike Violante presents his ideas for a new school on Prospect Ridge

Positives:

The Town already owns it
Great location
Water and sewers
Playing fields already built and available

Negatives:

A densely developed neighborhood with neighbors who have a track record of fighting additional development in the area.
The school might fit on the 12 acre site, but it would allow for no margin of error
Construction would cost the town at least one softball field or potentially two soccer fields.
Building on the site's other acreage would require lifting the deed restrictions, which would delay school opening between 6-24 months.

On Thursday night, in the ice storm, the Committee met again and clarified a number of issues. Chris Moomaw, a local architect and expert in access for people with special needs, spoke to the Committee at the request of Chairman Zemo. Mr. Moomaw felt Mike Violante's strawman proposal on Prospect Ridge underestimated the complexities of the site. Of special interest were (1) the grade is too steep for school buses without expensive filling, (2) there are other problems caused by slope and drainage which were underestimated, and (3) there were no allowances for important non-classroom design features, such as overhangs for the school buses. The maximum footprint on the 12-acres site was determined to be 93,000 square feet, and in his opinion that was a very, very tight fit for a 150,000 square foot school.

Allan Kerr, the town attorney, spoke for about a half an hour on the process of converting of deed-restricted land to other uses. He judges that it is feasible, but it puts our fate in the hands of risk-averse bureaucrats in Hartford. The general concept is that it takes six months to two years to free land from deed restrictions.

The Committee worried about traffic flows again, focusing on Prospect Ridge and Rt 35. Joseph Heyman brought standardized planning data about vehicle flows for certain types of schools. For example, an elementary school generates 0.15 student vehicle visits per day per student and 2.3 vehicle visits per employee/faculty per day. With this data the Committee can roughly judge the impact of proposed sites upon local traffic. Chief Rotunda also voiced several concerns in a lengthy memo.

The Committee agreed to review the properties not owned by the town at the Monday meeting. It also agreed to accept proxy ballots at the voting on Monday, due to the planned unavailability of several hard-working members. Also coming up this Monday will be two separate analyses of the Scotland School expansion from two Mr. Violante and Mr. Moomaw. Lastly, the group agreed that Monday would be the day the site would actually be selected, so that the report can be drafted for review on Thursday.