Protect the Partrick Wetlands
and our Community


Presentation in Opposition to 22 House Cluster Development on the Partrick Wetlands

Presenter: Helen Block
Open Space


Associated Powerpoint

My name is Helen Martin Block and I reside at 67 Partrick Road with my husband and son. I am among many who believe that open space is one of Westport's most important resources. The issue of open space must be carefully examined before any decisions can be made concerning the proposed development.

OPEN SPACE IN WESTPORT

The emphasis in the preamble of the 1997 Westport Plan of Conservation and Development is "that conservation of existing natural and built resources is valued more importantly in Westport than the promotion of new or expanded commercial or residential development". The plan continues with "Protection of wetlands is a vital consideration for natural habitat maintenance, water quality protection and flood hazard mitigation". Partrick Wetlands is an open space, which has been a corner stone of the unique natural component of the Old Hill area and an outstanding feature of Westport. During their presentation ARS stated that this land was never designated as open space. In fact, the 1997 Plan lists School Property Associates (a/k/a FD Rich) for possible acquisition as open space.

Continuing from the 1997 Town Plan (page 15)
OPEN SPACE AND WOOLANDS

"Vacant land is a diminishing natural resource in Westport. Such sites provide natural habitat for wildlife, aesthetic enhancement of community image, respite from urban development and noise, buffer zones for waterways, wetlands, flood storage and costal areas, and help to maintain air quality". Open space has health benefits, increases property values thereby increasing the local tax base, decreases local tax increases due to savings of reducing the construction of new infrastructure, combats pollution, attenuating noise, provides less expensive and natural alternatives for clean drinking water by filtering trash, debris and chemical pollutants before they enter the water system, controls wind, erosion and moderates temperature.

In section II of the Natural Resource Plan, Policy A (page 23) states that: "Preventive measures and regulation will be insufficient in some areas to reestablish the natural environmental quality that once prevailed. In these cases the town should take an active approach to improving environmental quality ". Patrick Wetlands has been scarred over the years through mining and dumping abuses. The land has been called ugly and characterized as being undesirable by some. Nothing could be further from the truth. This land has been in the process of reclaiming itself for years and has provided the faithful service that wetlands have been designed by nature to perform. This ugly duckling is slowly transforming itself into a swan. The uplands serve synergistically to perpetuate a productive wetland. Radically infringing on the uplands may alter the wetlands ability to maintain its multi-purpose task of protecting us. Your charge as stated in your goal (page 23) is to " Actively restore to a more pristine condition certain key natural areas which deteriorated due to either natural or man made causes". What could be considered more key than wetlands that boast an aquifer, is a recharge area and is the last substantial piece of open space left in Westport?

In section III, the 1997 Town Plan has a goal to establish the means to expand and supervise the open space territory. There are criteria listed delineating land for consideration.

These include

  • Land left undeveloped to prevent over development
  • Land that can be used as recreation or other specific municipal use
  • Land consisting of five acres or more
  • Land adjacent to Town owned property
  • Land with freshwater wetlands, tidal wetlands, steep slopes, ponds, streams and/or offers flood storage
  • Land that offers abundant wild life habitats
As Partrick Wetlands met so many of the criteria in the 1997 Town plan for acquisition, one wonders why this land was allowed to languish until it fell into its current unfortunate situation.

In addition, Partrick Wetlands falls under environmentally fragile as it is:

  • Wetlands
  • Floodplains
  • Topographically limited
  • Has a stream
  • Has aquifer
  • Wildlife habitats
  • Is an area not intended to be developed for intensive uses or intrusive improvement.
This last large piece of open space in Westport could easily fall under Open Space to Passive or Non-Organized Recreation use. Open space enhances our lives and the vitality of our community. We are fortunate to live in a town, which has rolling hills, meadows, beautiful beaches, forested areas, marches, wetlands. But these topographical features continue to shrink in size and proportion to our population.

Lastly, I will address how Westport measures against its cohorts with information from SWERPA - South Western (Connecticut) Regional Planning Agency - Regional Open Space Inventory and the League of Women's Voters Report, public land management study

How does Westport measure up to the following towns? Weston , Stamford , Darien, Greenwich, New Canaan, Wilton and Norwalk

Town               Public               %         Private              %                     Public/Private%

1 Darien           263                  3.2       784                  9.5                  (1,047)   12.7

2 Greenwich   1,928                 6.3       5,140               16.8              (7,068)      23.1

3 New Canaan   766                5.4       1,329               9.4               (2,095)   14.8

4  Norwalk     1,410               9.7         614                 4.2               (2,024)  13.9

5 Stamford   2,054                  8.5       2,250                9.3              (4,304)  18.8

6 Weston      473                   3.7        3,316               26.2             (3,789)  29.9      

7 Westport   1,080              8.4          801                  6.3              (1,881)   14.7

8 Wilton      1,196             6.9          2,158                12.5           (3,354) 19.4

Figure 5 reveals that Westport is below average when measured in the category - Open space acreage as a percent of total town acreage. Westport's 8.6% of total acreage is second lowest (behind Darien) of the eight SWRPA municipalities, and is less than 2/3 of the SWRPA average of 13.4%. This is one of many charts that reflect the lack of open space in Westport.

I close by asking the commission to employ their charge as stated in the 1997 Plan of Conservation and Development, "Westport shall maintain a regulatory standard of practice consistent with the most stringent level of natural protection feasible." We ask that P&Z follow their intentions, which are designed to protect Westport from over-development.

Thank You.