Tabor Plan Strikes Out With Neighbors

The TPA Design Group presented a master plan Wednesday for the town-owned Tabor property that includes ball fields, park areas and a new public works facility.

But the plans struck out with Tabor neighbors.

About 60 people packed the Board of Selectmen (BOS) meeting at the new fire headquarters. Many applauded when eight people spoke in opposition to the plans. One person spoke in favor. 

At about the same time, the Board of Education (BOE) met across town to approve a new contract for administrators, and to seek proposals for an architectural firm in regard to major renovation projects at Walsh Intermediate School and Sliney Elementary School.

Tabor Neighbors Say No

The master plan for Tabor was presented by David S. Golebiewski, president of New-Haven based TPA Design Group, and architect Heidi Berg Hajna (pictured above).

Hajna said the 77-acre site could feature a baseball field, softball field, a multi-purpose field, a concession building and restrooms, a BMX bicycle park, new roads, connections to walking trails, access to Chet’s Pond (which is already on the property), parking areas, and the public works facility. There would be space for future athletic fields if needed. More than 60 acres would become a park, and about 10 acres would be used for the public works department.

A new exit onto Tabor Drive and an emergency access road to Pine Orchard Road would be built. Hajna said there would be ​“significant” landscape buffers between the park area and Tabor Drive, and landscape buffers around the public works facility.

She also displayed an aerial photo of the area, with the public works building superimposed in yellow to show the distance from residential areas.

“I know this is new and it will be presented again,” said First Selectman Anthony ​“Unk” DaRos. He handed out copies of the master plan for people to study. ​“This could be one of the nicest neighborhoods in town,” he said.

The BOS voted 2 – 1 in November to build the new public works facility at Tabor, with Third Selectman James Cosgrove, the sole Republican on the board, voting against it. Click here to read the story.

In October, Cosgrove said there should be a master plan for Tabor, and DaRos said he would have one ready in 60 days. 

The BOS vote caps two years of work by the Public Works Building Committee to investigate potential sites. Consultant Jeff Alberti analyzed several properties and ranked them according to suitability. Tabor came out on top in all comparisons. Alberti is an engineer with Weston & Sampson, a firm that has designed 60 public works buildings from Maine to New York.

The public works issue will eventually be discussed by the Board of Finance and the Representative Town Meeting (RTM). Several RTM members attended last night’s meeting.

DaRos spoke about the plans to the Democratic Town Committee earlier this month. He did not present the master plan sketch until Wednesday night’s meeting. Click here to read the story

DaRos said input from the community regarding Tabor ​“is the most important part” of the master plan.

Fred Russo (pictured) of Cocheco Avenue was the first to speak in opposition Wednesday.

“We don’t want a park, we don’t need a park…this is just a mask,” Russo said in regard to the master plan. He said the public works building doesn’t belong in the Indian Neck neighborhood. 

“We shouldn’t have to come to these meetings to fight something we don’t want,’ said Russo, who suggested putting the public works facility in Stony Creek where DaRos lives.

“I wish we had a place in Stony Creek because I would want it there,” DaRos responded.

Alternative Site Proposed

Resident Tina O’Neill said Tabor should be used for a golf course or a new senior center, instead of a park and public works facility. ​“I’m not sure a park belongs there,” she said. O’Neill, like other neighbors, said the facility would bring an influx of trucks.

O’Neill said the site at 20 Elm St., where Cherry Hill Glass is located, would be a better site for public works since it is commercially zoned and is in the center of town.

That Elm St property is owned by Elm Harbor Realty LLC., of which O’Neill’s husband Kevin O’Neill is a member. Tina O’Neill did not identify her connection to her husband’s property at the public meeting.

The Elm Street location is one that was considered by the committee. At the November meeting, Second Selectman Andy Campbell discussed three of the properties in terms of residential impact. Campbell said the nearest homes to the Tabor parcel are about ¼ mile away, and that would include 10 homes. Campbell said there are about 100 homes within a ¼ mile of the Northeast Industrial Road site, and hundreds of homes within ¼ mile of the proposed Cherry Hill Glass site.

Former Republican Third Selectman John Opie also questioned the master plan. ​“Do we even need a park?” he asked. ​“Are we really short on baseball fields?” Opie said there are alternative sites for the public works building. Alex Palluzzi, the head of the recreation department, says he needs ball fields; indeed the first sketches for the Tabor site in 2003 – 2004 contained them when Opie, then first selectman, formally took the site by eminent domain on Jan. 5, 2004. 

Alice Lambert, a former member of the RTM who lives in Indian Neck, was the only person to speak in favor of the Tabor site Wednesday. ​“I personally feel this is a fine plan. I have never seen Unk propose anything that wasn’t in the best interest of the town.” 

Cosgrove aired his views after the public spoke. ​“At some point in time, I’m in favor of using the Tabor site,” he said, but not for public works. ​“For the residents, it’s a quality of life issue,” he said.

Cosgrove also questioned the matrix that was used to analyze the sites. ​“This thing is skewed,” in favor of Tabor, he alleged. ​“Branford has hundreds of acres of industrial land in town that don’t impact a neighborhood.”

Alberti, the consultant, rose to explain the matrix to the audience. He said it was an initial screening tool to look at the properties and compare a ​“broad view of the strengths and weaknesses.” He said a more in-depth analysis and evaluation of the properties was then conducted.

Cosgrove said although he opposes the Tabor site, it is imperative to find a permanent home for public works soon, because it is expensive to keep it in a rental facility that is inadequate for the department’s needs.

Over the past two years, there have been public input meetings, numerous committee meetings, tours of properties and public hearings. Click here to read about a tour and public hearing in March. A majority of neighbors who commented at meetings opposed the facility being built at Tabor because of concerns about truck traffic and flooded roads.

DaRos has repeatedly said that roads in the Tabor area need to be upgraded to prevent flooding regardless of what happens with the public works facility. He has also stated that there will be no truck traffic on Toole Road, which was a concern of residents. Click here to read about a petition campaign spearheaded by Ray Ingraham, a member of the RTM and chair of the Republican Town Committee.

Renovating the Schools

Meanwhile, across town at the Walsh Intermediate School, the Board of Education (BOE) unanimously approved a 4‑year contract for administrators that includes a 7.8 percent increase spread over four years. Frank Carrano, who chairs the BOE, told the media after the meeting that printed copies of the contract overview were not yet available.

The BOE also voted to seek proposals for architectural firms to develop a cost analysis and sketches for major renovations at Walsh. In addition, Carrano said the architects will be looking at the former Branford Hills and the former Pine Orchard schools as possible replacements for the aging John Sliney Elementary School. Both of the former schools would have to be renovated and expanded if they were to replace Sliney. 

Carrano announced last month that it was time to bring in the experts to help in the decision-making process regarding Walsh and Sliney. He discussed the issues at a meeting of the Feasibility Committee that has been looking into options.

The Eagle asked Carrano how the public can attend both the BOS and the BOE when the meetings are held an hour apart on the third Wednesday of the month. The BOS meeting began at 6 p.m. and did not adjourn until about 7:40 last night. The BOE meeting began at 7 p.m. and adjourned about 8:10 p.m.

Carrano said the BOE bylaws require them to meet on the third Wednesday, and that it would be easier for the selectmen to change their meeting night. He said he himself would have liked to attend the BOS meeting.

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