$24m Fairfield Woods' Project Needs Final Ok

The $24.2 million plan to expand and renovate Fairfield Woods Middle School won approval last week from the Representative Town Meeting, but the pr0ject isn't in the clear yet.

The building committee still needs approval from either the Town Plan and Zoning Commission or Zoning Board of Appeals.

The construction project - which includes 14 new classrooms (10 full-size, four 3/4-size), an auxiliary gymnasium, auditorium and expanded cafeteria - would violate town zoning regulations, and the building committee wants the Town Plan and Zoning Commission to amend its regulations to permit the expansion.

If the TPZ denies the request, the building committee could file an application with the Zoning Board of Appeals for a waiver to town zoning regulations.

"The issue is lot coverage," said Assistant Town Planner James Wendt.

Fairfield Woods Middle School shares a 25-acre property with Jennings School, one of the town's public elementary schools, and lot coverage is now 14.6 percent, according to plans filed when Fairfield Woods was expanded in 1994. The maximum permitted lot coverage on the property is 15 percent, according to town zoning regulations.

The building committee as of Tuesday had yet to file an application for a regulation change, but Wendt said a public hearing would be required before the TPZ votes on it. Four of seven TPZ members would have to approve the regulation change for it to be adopted.

The criteria the TPZ would use in deciding whether or not to grant the regulation change involves deciding if the construction project:

* Is consistent with the town's Plan of Conservation and Development;

* Warranted due to changing circumstances in the neighborhood;

* Serves the general health, welfare and safety of the town;

* Protects property values;

* Will not increase undue traffic congestion;

* Is needed based on time, experience and responsible planning for contemporary or future conditions.

Wendt said Fairfield Woods Middle School's 25-acre property is big, but it includes two schools. "The lot coverage represents not just Fairfield Woods, but also Jennings," he said. "There's about 4,000 square feet of footprint left out of the 15 percent" lot coverage permitted.

The capacity at Fairfield Woods Middle School is now 650 students, and it would increase to 840 students if the project is built, according to William Sapone, chairman of the Fairfield Woods Building Committee.

Sapone said the building committee wants to have the new classrooms ready for the start of the 2011-12 school year. He said completing the auditorium and auxiliary gym may take until October or November 2011.

Sapone said he expects the project's groundbreaking to be in March or April 2011.

The town has three middle schools, and, as of March 1, enrollment in those schools totaled 2,414 students - 189 students more than the combined capacities of the middle schools, which is 2,225 students.

But enrollment in the middle schools is projected to climb to 2,569 students in 2011-12 and 2,602 students in 2012-13, according to November 2009 enrollment projections from Applied Data Services.

Supt. of Schools Ann Clark said several months ago that Roger Ludlowe Middle School and Tomlinson Middle School couldn't be expanded because there wasn't any room on those properties.

The Board of Education also needs to figure out where future students in Fairfield Woods Middle School will come from. The expansion would increase the capacity at Fairfield Woods Middle School to 840 students, but enrollment at Fairfield Woods is due to peak at 683 students in 2011-12.

Relieving the projected overcrowding at Ludlowe and Tomlinson middle schools could involve changing the "feeder pattern" that determines where elementary school students go to middle school, or redistricting.

Roger Ludlowe Middle School's capacity is 875 students, and its enrollment is projected to peak at 1,063 students in 2012-13. Tomlinson Middle School's capacity is 700 students, and its enrollment is projected to peak at 871 students in 2012-13, according to November 2009 projections from Applied Data Services.

As of now, students in Fairfield Woods Middle School come from Burr, Jennings and North Stratfield elementary schools.

Students in Roger Ludlowe Middle School come from McKinley, Osborn Hill, Riverfield and Stratfield elementary schools.

Students in Tomlinson Middle School come from Timothy Dwight, Holland Hill, Mill Hill and Sherman elementary schools.