Pear Tree Beach Building Committee Provides Update On Future Plans

DARIEN, CT — The Darien Board of Selectmen this week heard an update from the Pear Tree Beach Building Committee on a project that could help preserve one of the town's gems for generations to come.

Building committee Chair Mike Sgroe told the board that the town recently received a Certificate of Permission from the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (CT-DEEP) to make infrastructure improvements at Pear Tree Beach.

Most notably, the parking lot area and asphalt at the beach would be reduced and elevated to correct drainage and flooding issues, increase beach resiliency and reduce erosion by increasing natural shoreline areas, according to Dan Biggs, an architect with the firm Weston & Sampson.

Because of the reconfiguration of the parking lot, 31 parking spaces would be lost. Selectman Jon Zagrodzky asked if a study on beach usage and density had been conducted.

Sgroe noted that no study has been formally conducted yet, but an informal analysis on July 4, 2019, showed plenty of parking spaces for beachgoers.

Sgroe called the approval from CT-DEEP "unprecedented." He said 18 feet of additional beach would be onto the west section.

"Very few municipalities in the world have an opportunity to build beach nowadays," he said.

Craig Flaherty, a senior engineer with Redniss & Mead who has been hyper-focused on local flooding issues in town, said the beach is a uniquely vulnerable property because of its low elevation.

Flaherty said action at the site is needed.

"We will lose the asset that is Pear Tree Beach," he warned.

By elevating low portions of the parking lot, pulling the curb back and having the low elevation point moved to the middle of the parking lot through a series of catch basins, there would be no flooding events, and very little flooding when factoring in sea level increases.

"We're not only trying to correct what's happening today, we're trying to plan for the future," he said.

The project would also feature the fixing of the boat ramp and channel dredging, Biggs noted.

As for what to do with the building at the beach a heavily-debated topic in the past, Parks & Recreation Commission Chair Lorene Bora said the best option at this time is to make cosmetic and minor changes to the current bathhouse.

The town ran a survey last summer asking residents what kind of improvements they wanted to see at the beach. Bora said the town received 1,800 responses.

"People said we want better landscaping, we want a better picnic area, we want clean bathrooms and we want a beautiful, peaceful beach," Bora said. "They weren't looking for much more."

The approval from CT-DEEP marked a major milestone in a process that began four years ago and stalled throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Pear Tree Point Beach Building Committee was originally formed in 2018 as an offshoot of the Parks & Recreation Commission's master plan, which cited Pear Tree Beach as a priority for improvements.

The building committee was charged with focusing on the building at the beach, as well as improvements to the footprint of the beach itself.

The committee met 30 times over an 18 month period, but halted work except for the application process to CT-DEEP when the pandemic hit, Sgroe said. Since 2020, the application made its way through the state and the Army Corps. of Engineers, and was finally approved in October.

No action was requested during the meeting from the selectmen, who seemed to offer support for the improvements. They mostly had questions on timing and the cost.

Sgroe said as of right now, the building committee anticipates a nine month process of producing detailed construction plans and securing a contractor before a shovel goes into the ground. It would then take another nine months for construction, assuming there are no interruptions.

Should the process begin in January, Sgroe said construction could be complete just in time for the beach season in 2024. Construction would be lined up to where it doesn't impact a beach season at all, he said.

Sgroe said he'd have a better idea on an exact cost once the project goes out to bid, but he estimated it could be "in the mid-seven figure range."

The permission from CT-DEEP is valid for five years, Biggs said. Construction doesn't need to be complete by year five, but if the town does not make "a conscious effort to enact the permit," it would have to apply for an extension.