Zoning Amendment Puts CREC a Step Closer in Proposal for New Magnet School

Time is of the essence for the Capitol Region Education Council (CREC), which is pushing to build a new magnet school in Avon Park North for its growing student population by September of 2013.

"We would have to know by February if we would have a good opportunity to locate the school in Avon," CREC Executive Director Bruce Douglas said at a Tuesday night Planning and Zoning meeting. "Our responsibility is to the children."

Though the Planning and Zoning Commission approved increasing the student cap on property schools from 250 students to 480 by a 4-2 vote on Tuesday night, some board members are concerned about the bigger picture: Does a school in that location fit the zone and the master plans for developing an Avon Center?

"It's a great idea, but not there," Marianne Clark, one of the commission members opposed to the increased student cap, said at the meeting.

The magnet school would be built on a parcel of land at the corner of Climax Drive and Bickford Drive. The land is near CREC's current Reggio Magnet School of the Arts facility at 150 Fisher Drive, in the same building as the Farmington Valley Academy Montessori School. The Reggio school currently contains about 150 students and the new building proposed would be for at least 435. The current facility does not have enough space to accommodate that many students.

There was immense support from the Avon education community.

Avon Board of Education member Barbara Zuras said it was important to ask the question of the impact a magnet school would have on the Avon community and Avon school enrollment, but she said that magnet schools are a matter of "social justice," there to serve the children.

Some members on the commission questioned the effect a school would have in the current industrial park – would the location of a school near a traffic heavy center in the future be safe for the children; would this complicate the regulations against businesses with a liquor permit, such as restaurants, being located near a school; and would a school turn potential residents and businesses away from the 50 acres of development space in Avon Park North; is it fair for Ensign-Bickford to sell the land and reduce the town's taxable land?

Glenn Chalder, a low impact development consultant from Planimetrics, said that a school would fit into the multi-use conceptual plans for an Avon Center.

"The goal is not to eliminate the industrial park, but to create multiuse land in Avon," Chalder said to the commission.

Ensign Bickford representative Gus Jasminski said that a school would suit the conceptual master plan for an Avon Center well because schools draw in parents, potential customers.

"We think of [CREC] as an anchor," Jasminski said. "Being in Avon would be an absolute home run."

CREC cannot submit site plans for the land until Ensign-Bickford sells the land to the state of Connecticut, allowing for CREC, a state agency, to submit a bid for the land. In the meantime, the approval of the commission is the first step in the process, as Ensign-Bickford would not sell the land without knowing that the zoning regulations would allow for a school of 435 or more.

"I am pleased with the objectivity on the Planning and Zoning committee. I appreciated the forthright discussion," Douglas said. "I understand the views of those who voted in opposition and am grateful to those who voted for us."

Roger Lafleur, CREC director of operations, told the commission it would take about 14 months to build a school. CREC has a target of breaking ground by May 2012 for construction completion by July 2013. That date could be pushed back if the land use application process is delayed too much.  

CREC is exploring other options in case Avon falls through, but Douglas said that the education council hopes to locate the school in Avon, describing Avon as a "welcoming community" and ideal place for a school.

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