Derailed Fairfield Hills housing debate back on track
NEWTOWN — Debate about housing on the Fairfield Hills campus that was derailed by the coronavirus crisis is back on the front burner, with the possibility of a public vote in November.
The town’s Legislative Council plans to take up the controversial topic at a Wednesday night meeting, with an eye on proposing a question for Newtown voters to consider on Election Day.
At stake is the fate of the hulking red brick remnants of Fairfield Hill’s hospital heritage — handsome but commercially unattractive buildings for any use other than mixed development with affordable housing, Town Hall officials say. If nothing is done with the abandoned buildings, Newtown could spend $25 million in future demolition.
No less at stake is the pastoral grounds of the 185-acre Fairfield Hills campus, considered by some as Newtown’s Central Park. Critics say the campus would be degraded by the kind of housing that was once prevalent on the property in its heyday as a
psychiatric hospital.
Accordingly, First Selectman Dan Rosenthal and the Fairfield Hills Master Plan Review Committee have been deliberate about explaining their recommendation to amend the campus zoning to allow mixed-used affordable house in no more than two of the largest abandoned former hospital buildings.
“COVID scuttled our last public meeting (in March) and the coronavirus scuttled the referendum in April,” Rosenthal said. “This is reviving that process.”
The Legislative Council has until the end of August to decide whether to put a question on the November ballot about rezoning Fairfield Hills for housing.
Meanwhile, Rosenthal said he is looking to reschedule the canceled public meeting in March with developers interested in the Fairfield Hills buildings.
The meeting would follow a similar format as three earlier meetings about the future of the Fairfield Hills campus, including a presentation and questions from the public.
It is not clear what shape the meeting will take, because the state has not issued guidance about gatherings of large indoor crowds. Although much of what was shut down in Connecticut has reopened to some degree, the hardest questions about indoor crowds are still being worked out as the state and the rest of the nation look to autimn, when a second wave of COVID-19 could surge.
Some developers have conducted meetings with neighbors using videoconferencing platforms such as Zoom.
The important thing, Rosenthal said, is to get the Fairfield Hills housing debate back on track.
“We’re still exploring ways to have that final meeting,” Rosenthal said.