Letter: 120-Unit Apartment Complex Doesn't Belong Near Merritt

Dear editor,

As co-president of Fairfielders Protecting Land and Neighborhoods (FairPLAN), a long-time advocacy group who champions smart development and the environment, I implore the Town Plan and Zoning Commission to vote against the application by Primrose Development that would construct 120 units at 5545 Park Ave., near the Merritt Parkway.

I believe this project offers more negative implications than positive to the neighborhood that abuts the Merritt Parkway, one of the first and oldest parkways in the United States and one that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. As Wes Haynes, executive director of the Merritt Parkway Conservancy, recently stated, the state of Connecticut has invested $350 million over the last 25 years in enhancing and beautifying the parkway. My own mother has fond memories of driving on the parkway with her parents as a young child to take in the road’s beauty on Sunday afternoons.

Historical considerations should be part of the deliberation process. The commission can and should prioritize the largest historic landmark in the town of Fairfield. There are many places where affordable housing, high-rise buildings can be constructed in our community, but you can’t relocate historic structures. Every time a structure is built within the vicinity of the Merritt Parkway, that becomes fodder for justifying more development along the nationally registered landmark. The parkway also provides a greenway for wildlife to traverse across parts of Fairfield County, which can’t be overlooked. The proposed development essentially paves over a very steep forested parcel adjacent to the Merritt Parkway greenway and removes land from this important wildlife corridor. I don’t believe our town should contribute to the degradation of this important historical national landmark. For future applications, it would be helpful for the town to commission its own studies for existing site and traffic conditions, so it can have its own independent expertise rather than relying on a developer’s experts.

For background, Primrose Development LLC originally proposed to build an 80-unit apartment complex at 5545 Park Ave., which the zoning commission denied. However, the new 120-unit proposal was applied under the state law Section 8-30g, and in my opinion, the unit numbers are going in the wrong direction in a congested area. Under 8-30g, the commission may deny or modify if “necessary to protect substantial public interests in health, safety or other matters which the commission may legally consider.”

As the application stands now, the proposed building would tower over the thin screen of deciduous trees. At a bare minimum, the commission should scale back the building by removing at least two floors of the proposal, implore the developer to plant pine trees to adequately screen from the Merritt Parkway, and the color of the building should be changed to reflect the local natural setting, certainly not red as it stands now.

As a town, we have to realize that not every site will accommodate every development, and I hope a reasonable decision will be rendered that acknowledges every stakeholder.

Sincerely,

Alexis Harrison

Fairfield