A key tenet in the Town of Darien’s acquisition of Great Island has been that all residents must have safe, reliable, efficient and cost-effective access to the property. Planning for such access has been front-of-mind from the beginning and has included the purchase of the traffic circle at the entrance, expansion of easements where possible, pathway re-paving and other ongoing improvements.
All of the steps that the Town has taken to date, beginning with the acquisition itself through the most recent public hearings, were developed in a transparent manner, regularly involved public input, followed applicable local and state statutes and were consistent with past practices. The goal has been to make long-term, focused decisions that consider public input whenever applicable, and to do so while balancing fiscal and environmental constraints.
A number of public discussions this year included detailed design plans (and in most cases illustrations) that outlined the Town’s intentions. All discussions were taped and are available for viewing on the TV79 page of the Town website https://www.darienct.gov/ Boards and Commissions that have been involved include the Board of Selectmen, the Architectural Review Board, the Environmental Protection Commission, the Planning & Zoning Commission, the Board of Finance, the Coastal Advisory Commission and the Representative Town Meeting.
The Tree Warden Public Hearing on September 12 was a required step in the tree removal process, as mandated by Connecticut General Statutes, following the receipt of a written protest about such removals. This provided an opportunity for the Tree Warden to hear from the public regarding the proposed removals and to take this input into account.
The points below are provided in response to questions raised at the September 12 hearing.
When the Town of Darien acquired Great Island, the use of the property changed from Residential to Municipal, which necessitated certain improvements to meet the standards for access.
The first standard is that all residents, regardless of physical mobility, must have safe and efficient access. There is no way to provide such access without the use of vehicles. Whether this is accomplished with cars parking on the island or no cars and just shuttle buses, vehicles will be needed to take people regularly to and from the island. The second standard is emergency access. In an emergency (e.g., medical situation, fire, evacuation, security issue, etc.), emergency vehicles must have access, and such access cannot be impeded by regular traffic. While it is true that the Town negotiated an easement on the Ziegler property from Long Neck Point Road to the traffic circle, this is intended only for catastrophic emergencies where the main entrance road is inaccessible.
Alternative measures such as traffic bump-outs to permit passing are not adequate. Nor is it possible to widen the road in the opposite direction, as doing so would encroach on private property that includes large trees as well.
As for timing, the Town will undertake this work sooner rather than later so that the roadway is ready to accommodate both visitors as well as any construction vehicles required in the future. While these mature trees unfortunately are being removed, a robust replanting plan has been developed to replace them, as was described in the hearing.
Note that as the Tree Warden states in this letter, his decision can be appealed to Stamford Superior Court. Any appeal must be filed by Thursday, September 26.
As a process matter, First Selectman Jon Zagrodzky offered at the hearing to continue this dialog. He is willing to meet or have a call with any resident who still has concerns. He can be reached at (203) 656-7386 or jzagrodzky@darienct.gov.
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It is disappointing to take down any trees, especially mature ones that take decades to grow. But it is clear that meeting the standards for both equitable and emergency access require us to do so, which will be true no matter what shape the final master plan for Great Island takes.
It is worth keeping in mind that had the Town not purchased the property, it likely would have sold to a developer, which certainly would have resulted in much more significant