Sites Eyed For Safety Facility

By KARIN CROMPTON
Day Staff Writer, Lyme/Old Lyme
Published on 3/23/2005

East Lyme —An architect Tuesday night told a committee trying to find a permanent site for a public safety complex that he would narrow the list to two sites: property off Roxbury Road where the salt and sand sheds are, and a 117-acre parcel off Boston Post Road near Old Lyme.

Brian Humes, an architect with Jacunski Humes Architects LLC of Newington, told the committee that he would probably disregard property at the northern edge of the high school. The committee had previously considered that spot its top choice.

Also Tuesday, the committee voted unanimously to recommend three sites to the Board of Selectmen and then ask the board to hold a public hearing. After getting input at the meeting, the committee will pick one site to promote.

The public safety site selection/design committee, appointed by the Board of Selectmen, has been meeting weekly since October. Its charge is to recommend a permanent site for a new public safety complex and to work on the design of the building.

The committee started with a list of 25 sites and has asked Humes to evaluate the five sites still under consideration. The other two included private property on Pennsylvania Avenue next to Veterans Memorial Field and town-owned property on Society Road, across from the Middle School.

Humes gave the Roxbury Road site high marks for its access to major roads and for not being located in a flood zone or an aquifer protection district. He said neighbors might also consider a public safety complex an improvement.

“I feel this site could be an improved site over what is there now and offer a better alternative in terms of aesthetics ...,” Humes said.

The major drawbacks to the site include high development costs, the relocation of existing uses and a lack of room to expand.

Humes said the Spring Rock Road site, though located on the edge of town, would not hinder day-to-day police and emergency activities.

“While you are remote, you are still on a main travel route in an identifiable area,” Humes said.

Humes said the site would provide good access to a major road with low impact to abutters and that there is plenty of room to expand. The building could also be located in a number of areas on the parcel.

Disadvantages include the site's “de-centralized” location and the inclusion of parts of it within the 100- and 500-year flood zones.

Humes wrote in his recommendations that while the high school “appears appropriate for the placement of a Public Safety Facility,” with access to several major routes, it would probably meet resistance from neighbors. Humes said that a soccer field would probably have to be removed to build the complex, as would a wooded buffer area.

Humes also thought access was a problem with the high school site, with one road. If that road became blocked, emergency crews would need to use the high school driveway.

The committee is on the agenda of the Board of Selectmen's April 6 meeting, when it plans to give a presentation on its work and the three sites.