NEWS

Code Enforcement Hearing on Y set for April 13th

By Jennifer Connic westport@thehour.com
Printed in the The Hour

WESTPORT — Neighbors and town officials will have the opportunity to hear more about Westport-Weston YMCA plans to move facilities from downtown to Camp Mahackeno. The Code Enforcement Committee is scheduled to hold preliminary discussions on the plans to move the YMCA facilities at 9 a.m. on April 13 in Town Hall. The committee is comprised of town officials who would need to review the project before it is approved.

Planning and Zoning Director Katherine Barnard said town officials have been reading about the plans to move the YMCA facility in the press and believed a preliminary discussion was needed. Westport-Weston YMCA officials recently stated they have reached a decision to move the facility to Mahackeno after years of study on where the facility should be located.

The facility is located downtown on the corner of Main Street and Post Road East. There are no plans drawn or consultants hired yet, but preliminary studies are being completed for the impending project.

Mahackeno is where the Westport-Weston YMCA currently holds its summer camp and is located off of Sunny Lane near the Merritt Parkway and adjacent to the Saugatuck River. Neighbors, however, are concerned about the possibility of the YMCA facility moving.

John Kane, of Rices Lane, attended Wednesday’s Citizen’s Brown Bag Luncheon at Town Hall to inquire how the YMCA could be kept downtown. “Many people want them to stay downtown because they have something to do when they drop their children off,” he said. “I don’t know why they can’t make it work.” Kane said he knows it would be a challenge for the YMCA to stay downtown, but he does not believe it is insurmountable.

First Selectwoman Diane Farrell said the YMCA is a private organization and it is their right to choose to build on property they already own. The Imperial Avenue parking lot was recommended for YMCA use, she said, but that would cause the facility to be broken into two buildings. “They didn’t see that as workable,” she said.

Farrell said she chose to not make Baron’s South available to the YMCA and believes she made the right decision to place the new Center for Senior Activities at the site.

Additionally, the YMCA will have to go through a public process of approvals before it can start construction. “They need to have some reports completed, and I’m sure they will be made available to the town,” she said. “There will be many opportunities to comment.”

The Code Enforcement Committee meeting would be worth attending because much information will be provided during the session, she said.





Y Downtown
to limit sprawl

Y Downtown
to protect open space

Y Downtown
to reduce traffic congestion

Y Downtown
to invigorate local businesses

Y Downtown
to keep it a central part of the community

Y Downtown
to protect our rural character

Y Downtown
to allow youths & seniors to use it.

Y Downtown
Because Greenwich is doing it