NEWS

YMCA Move Is Focus of Last Brown Bag of Season

By Kirk Lang klang@bcnnew.com
Printed in the The Westport News

Wednesday was the last chance for members of Y Downtown!, and those simply against a 90,000-square-foot facility in that location, to express themselves this summer, as it was the last Brown Bag meeting of the season.

Rice's Lane resident Steve Carroll said traffic this summer is "horrendous," without the Y having its main facility up there.

"This is just the camp season," said Carroll. "Add in a 90,000-square-foot building and just picture the amount of traffic that will be enhanced.

"Back country Westport will not be back country Westport if this thing is allowed to happen."

Peter Corrigan, a real estate agent who owns property in Westport, in offering suggestions to try to keep the Y downtown, said YMCA representatives should look into buying two adjacent buildings, if the reason for the move to the Mahackeno Outdoor Center is because of lack of space. He then put First Selectwoman Diane Farrell "on the spot," as he said, and asked her if eminent domain would be an option to take the two buildings.

"I would be loathe to use eminent domain on behalf of a private organization," she said.

Eminent domain will not be necessary.

Dick Foot, executive director of the YMCA, said he and others looked into 37 different sites across four towns, including parcels immediately adjacent to the Y's current location but none were suitable for the Y's needs.

Foot said thought was given to purchasing the property next to the Y on the corner of Elm Street and Church Lane, on which the Educational Foundation of America and a medical facility have offices.

"The acquisition of property adjacent to the current Y would not meet the Y's programmatic objectives," said Foot. One aspect of the Y's programmatic objectives is a 50-meter indoor swimming pool, something which could be accommodated on the 30-acre Mahackeno Outdoor Center property.

Y Downtown! member Debbie McGinley, another person willing to offer her services to keep the Y in close proximity to Main Street, the library and other places of activity, suggested the Y take another look into situating its facility on the Imperial Avenue lot. Last month, when McGinley was at the Yankee Doodle Fair, she was amazed at how many rides and cars the Imperial Avenue lot was able to handle.

"I couldn't believe how big it was," she said. "The Y rejected that site for reasons we don't understand."

Farrell responded by reminding McGinley and others against the Y's planned move that the YMCA is a private organization, not a town organization and "they do have their rights to pursue independent alternatives."

"The Imperial Avenue lot was an option recommended by the Buckhurst, Fish and Jacquemart (the planning firm hired by the town to create the Downtown Plan), but I believe the Planning and Zoning Commission discussed it and rejected it," said Farrell, adding, "It is not for the Town of Westport to tell the Y where to go or what to do. We don't have that legal right."

Rice's Lane resident Melissa Kane believes the YMCA needs to do thorough traffic studies before it submits any applications before the town boards and commissions. She told the Brown Bag audience Wednesday that she and others saw people counting cars and laying cables across roads by Mahackeno to gauge the traffic volume. However, she said she hasn't seen anybody doing any such thing this summer.

"They should study the traffic when camp is in session," said Kane.

"You haven't seen the same type of counting devices (this summer)?" asked Farrell.

"Nothing," responded Kane. "Nothing since mid-spring."

Foot was asked about this and said the YMCA is engaged in a professional traffic engineering study to address future approvals process requirements and to "ensure that the interests of the YMCA and the community are met as the YMCA advances its plans to consolidate its facilities" at Camp Mahackeno, which is near exit 41 off of the Merritt Parkway.

"The study will span upwards of a year as the YMCA ensures a comprehensive analysis of all of the seasons," said Foot. While it won't be completed until next spring, portions of the study will most likely be revealed prior to next year, during the approvals process.

A move to Camp Mahackeno will allow a seamless continuation of the Y's programs and services, Foot said.

If Y representatives had made the decision to keep the Y's facility where it is, a renovation downtown would have necessitated a two-year shutdown to "achieve what we wanted to achieve, and in the end, it would not have fulfilled the YMCA's programmatic objectives," said Foot.