What Will Be The Fate Of The Old Stamford Police Station?

STAMFORD, CT — The Board of Representatives Operations Committee held its first public hearing Tuesday night on the fate of the old Stamford police station located on Bedford Street. A second public hearing will be held in September.

Several years ago, there was known lead contamination in the plumbing within the building. In the summer of 2014, asbestos contamination was exposed when the city was doing HVAC work. That summer, Mayor David Martin mandated that no work could be done above the ceiling or in any way that would risk exposure.

Indoor air quality was continuously monitored, and the city began seeking alternatives as remediation wasn't appealing.

A new police station next door was built, and officers began to move-in in June of 2019; the old building was essentially shut down. In January of this year, Stamford obtained demolition bids and an environmental monitoring Request For Proposal (RFP).

Martin went before the committee in June and advocated for the demolition of the building while keeping the property for future use, calling it "strategic, important property."

Options for the site include:

• Indefinitely leaving the site as a green space for future city use, including but not limited to sale or development.
• Permanently leaving the site as a green space for creation or development of a public park.
• Selling the property to a third party under current R-MF Zoning.
• Selling the property to a third property under R-H Zoning.
• Developing the site into the city's new headquarters for EMS, 911 dispatch and central fire department.
• Developing it into a city facility to operate its youth program≥
• Other suggestions by members of the board or the public.

Four people spoke during the public hearing.

Edward Browne, Assistant Chief of Stamford EMS, spoke in favor of creating a combined public safety center. He said the current Stamford EMS headquarters was built in 1980 for Stamford Ambulance Corps., and is not suitable for how operations run today.

"It would also be helpful to be in the same facility with other public safety agencies like the fire department and 911. That would help with communications day-to-day," Browne said. "We'd have to explore the many, many needs we would have before we would give final approval, but we are in support of the concept in general."

Lary Davidoff, a Board member for Stamford EMS, agreed with Browne and said the organization has "very specific needs" in terms of parking, where extra ambulances are kept and where training takes place.

"If those items can be taken into account and involved in the design, we're certainly willing to support it all the way down the line," Davidoff said.

Martin told the committee in June that he had supported an all encompassing headquarters before a new police station was built. He said that option would require a lot of analysis now.

Stamford Fire Chief Trevor Roach also spoke in favor of the general concept.

"We don't get an opportunity very often to take a look at a piece of property in this city or a resource in this city where we can make public safety better. I would love the opportunity to work alongside EMS to try and come up with a use for this property that could best serve public safety and free up other properties the city could possibly use for other purposes or sell for that matter," Roach said, pointing out that the fire department's buildings are "getting towards the end of their life."

"We do need to look at all of our buildings, but I really want to look at response patterns throughout the city and this would be a great opportunity for us to study all the response patterns and the needs of both of these organizations," Roach added.

Melanie Hollas, the Commissioner for Stamford Parks & Recreation, spoke in favor of more open park space in the city. She mentioned how essential parks have become during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Hollas proposed investigating which fire stations can be consolidated into a new EMS central control area while identifying the neighborhoods where the old stations are located to see if those areas would benefit more from additional park space. Or, she said, a permanent park can be built at the old police station site.

"Parks are necessary for a city to thrive. The rule of thumb is that a park should be located within a 10 minute walk of someone's home, which is equivalent to a half mile," Hollas said.

"By drawing a circle placed around the old police station site that extends to the northwest, an area is encompassed that does not have direct access to a park within a 10 minute walk."

The committee didn't discuss the site following the public hearing. Instead, members focused on procedure and how to move forward with a recommendation to the full Board of Representatives.

Instead of the nine-person committee coming to a recommendation for the Board of Reps., Committee Chair Jonathan Jacobson (D-12) said he felt the item should go straight to the board itself.

"I don't really see it a worthwhile or appropriate use of our time to vote as an operations committee as to a recommendation to the full board. The reason is because this committee only has nine members with nine ideas and nine votes," Jacobson said. "I think that ultimately this is a board issue, and whatever it is we recommend, is going to be limited by thoughts and ideas of the other members of the board that might not come to the Operations Committee or might not participate in our discussion."

Jacobson advocated for a special Board of Reps meeting some time after the second public hearing in September to come up with a suitable option. He mentioned whittling down options through "knockout" votes until a decision is reached.

Rep. Nina Sherwood (D-8) agreed with Jacobson.

"I think that if we were to go the regular route of this committee selecting an option to be presented for the full board, I think for us to come to that conclusion would take us a number of hours in debate, which I'm not against, but all of that debate will rehappen again on the floor when it comes to the full board. I think it makes the most sense to have this item go directly to the full board," she said.

Rep. John Zelinsky (D-11) disagreed, and said he'd rather go the traditional route of coming up with a recommendation in committee.

"The responsibility of the chairman is to move the discussion along in the committee meeting and then make a recommendation when it's his turn or her turn at the full board meeting to give a report. I think we should follow that, and not start something new," Zelinsky said. "To have to come to a special board meeting to discuss one item on the Operations Committee agenda is wrong."

After a lengthy discussion, the item was held. Between now and the next public hearing, members will try to come up with a process.