RTM Approves $103M Great Island Purchase; Darien To Acquire Property

DARIEN, CT — After hours of meetings and discussion, the Darien Representative Town Meeting on Monday night approved the historic $103 million purchase of Great Island with a vote of 68 in favor and 13 opposed.

The town will now continue due diligence on the property until Aug. 6, and if it finds the island is unsuitable, the town can terminate the agreement and the deposit will be refunded, First Selectman Monica McNally said.

McNally said the deposit will be made in 12 days, and Darien expects to close on the property and take ownership of the land on Sept. 5.

Great Island is considered one of the largest remaining undeveloped pieces of land in the area. Town officials have called the purchase a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and noted it fits in line with the town's Plan of Conservation and Development.

"I remain convinced that this investment in open space is the right decision for Darien, and that by working together and potentially with the assistance of private support, we can shape Great Island into a town asset that carefully combines investment and preservation," McNally told the RTM Monday night.

Despite the majority of support from the legislative body, several members spoke against the purchase, citing concerns with a lack of information and a fear of developing precious open space.

RTM member Laura Pesce-Gray, who is also the co-chair of Darien Environmental Group, a nonprofit that provides environmental information to elementary schools in town, said McNally's presentation last month on possible ideas for the property frightened her.

McNally outlined a concept in which the island would be divided into four overlapping zones: commons, arts & culture, conservation and education and coastal shoreline.

Included could be pickleball courts, croquet and bocce courts, senior programs or a seasonal ice rink. An arts center, museum, sculpture trail/garden and amphitheater could be possibilities.

"As a resident and environmentalist, I want to see this property preserved and kept in as much of its original and natural state as possible," Pesce-Gray said, who noted she's in favor of the purchase only if development is kept to a minimum. "I simply don't want this island to be an upscale amusement park for hundreds of thousands of people to flock to. We want to preserve this property and the incredible environmental benefits it possesses. Let's work together to do that."

Theresa Vogt, RTM member from District 6, expressed concerns about the cost to run the island.

"Spending $103 million is simply the beginning on this purchase. We all know we will need to spend tens of millions of dollars on this property to do all the things we've been told we need to do," she said. "We've just not had enough time to do the due diligence."

Earlier this month, Selectman Jon Zagrodzky gave a presentation on the financials of the Great Island purchase.

He said that this early, the cost of developing the island is not yet known, and neither is the cost to run it. But Darien expects to receive private funding from donors to help supplement that cost.

Zagrodzky stressed that the purchase would not take away from the town's commitment to funding education or other services.

RTM District 4 member Dan Guller spoke about Darien's decision to reject the Open Choice program, and how the town would be viewed.

Earlier this year, the Darien Board of Education voted against the district participating in Open Choice with Norwalk schools, which would've allowed over a dozen Norwalk kindergartners to attend elementary school in Darien in the fall.

At the time, board members discussed the cost associated with taking on the additional students.

"Another article will be written about how the town who rejected 16 kindergartners because of financial reasons just bought a private island," Guller said. "We need to be prepared for that. Is it worth that kind of reputational damage?"

Guller said the town doesn't have enough information "to set ourselves up for this kind of national ridicule.

"We've had a lot of meetings, we've been told a lot of things, but a lot of it is fiction. A lot of it is wishes and hopes of what it could be, but we don't have any facts," Guller added. "We've been told to let our imaginations run wild, but I can't approve something if I don't have facts, and I don't have actual concrete facts. I need to see plans. If I want fiction, I'll take a summer beach read, but for now I'm voting no."

Along with the purchase of the island, the RTM also approved bonding and a special revenue fund, which will be used to manage operations of the island.