More parking in store for Ambler Farm?

WILTON — For years, a dispute over parking spaces has kept the town and the managers of Ambler Farm from reaching a formal agreement on the property — but that might soon be over.

On Monday, the Board of Selectmen authorized First Selectman Lynne Vanderslice to sign off on a survey of Hurlbutt Field and its surrounding property, in the hopes the town could create more parking spaces on unused land.

“If you look at GIS of the field, you realize that there’s a lot of land around the soccer fields that’s not being used,” Vanderslice said of geographic information system mapping.

Parks and Recreation Director Steve Pierce has walked the property with an engineer in recent weeks, and both determined the land would be suitable for additional parking.

Over the past year, calls for additional parking at Hurlbutt Field have been intensifying from both soccer parents and the Friends of Ambler Farm, the nonprofit that manages Ambler Farm.

The Friends of Ambler Farm, which has been running the property for 15 years, has been at odds with the town over a lack of parking spaces. Efforts to reach a formal publicprivate partnership between the two were renewed in the spring of 2017.

According to the land deed, the 31-acre estate is split into three parcels: One houses a majority of the property’s historic buildings; a second houses the so-called “Yellow House” and a third includes Hurlbutt Field and the adjacent parking lot.

When the Friends of Ambler Farm took over the property, the organization was tasked with managing the first two parcels, while the third remained in the control of the town.

Since then, the two parties have quarreled over a shared parking lot abutting two of the three parcels.

“Both Ambler and the town need additional parking. We have two soccer fields up there, but right now we can only use one at a time for games because of the inadequate parking. That creates a competition between the two, because Ambler is having events on Saturday at the same time,” Vanderslice said.

The town hopes that the creation of an additional parking lot would appease both sides, and would clear the way to a formal agreement.

“It might get us the parking we need, and Ambler will get the parking that they need,” Vanderslice said.

Based on the estimated size, the town will not issue a request for quotes on the project, according to Vanderslice. The town will accept three bids for the project, “not to exceed $10,000,” she said.

It is estimated that the project could cost between $6,500 and $8,500. The estimate includes $3,500 for design and between $3,000 and $5,000 for all work and permitting.

It is unclear how many parking spaces are expected to be added during the project.

Pierce, who would be overseeing the project, could not be reached for comment.