Politics & Government

CREC Magnet School Approved for Cider Mill Site

The commission approved it by a 5-2 vote.

The Capitol Region Education Council got the green light from the Planning and Zoning Commission Tuesday to build and relocate Reggio Magnet School of the Arts to the Avon Cider Mill Property on Waterville Road.

However, a green light could also put a temporary red light on a project that has been an ongoing discussion for nearly a year.

The commission approved the application by a 5-2 vote with the stipulation that the state installs a traffic light at the intersection of Avonwood Road and Route 10. Avonwood Road lies along the perimeter of the magnet school site, located at 59 Waterville Rd.

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"We're pleased with the outcome," Bruce Douglas, Capitol Region Education Council executive director, said. "We're glad to be a resident of Avon. It's something we aspire to be. We think we have a great future partnership with this town and our children and Avon children will flourish."

APPLICATION APPROVAL CONDITIONS

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If the state Department of Transportation rejects the proposal for a traffic light, the education council will have to reapply, according to Duane Starr (R), commission chairman.

Part of that condition entails widening Waterville Road "to incorporate a bypass lane."

In the meantime, the education council also has to meet seven other commission conditions and gain State Traffic Commission approval before it can break ground on the school. Douglas said it will not be difficult to meet those conditions.

"We hope to have the school opened by September or January of 2013," Douglas said.

One of the conditions is that the education council reconstruct the 700 feet of Avonwood Road that it is responsible for along the frontage of the magnet school site.

Donald Walsh, education council deputy director, said that by statute private users are responsible for the road, not the owner. The education council will coordinate with the strip mall and residential associations on the road to put in writing who is responsible for upkeep of the rest of the road

"The ownership of the road will remain with the owner until such time that title is transferred," Walsh said, noting that the Capitol Region Education Council would be open to discussions in the future. "We don't intend to do that at this time."

Other conditions include a request for additional field-topographic information pertaining to storm drainage, marking the Avonwood Road shoulder with white paint along the portion the education council is responsible for and compliance with providing sufficient parking for large events. Off-site parking will be coordinated if necessary.

Supporters of the school have often noted throughout the application process that having Reggio in Avon would give the town access to the facilities. Some of the commission's conditions include assurance that any recreational field built be available for the Avon Recreation Department's use if it does not conflict with a magnet school event. That would be free of charge for the town. The auditorium, gym and classrooms will also be available to Avon residents and groups on weekends and over the summer.

The other major condition related to the fate of the yellow post and beam building.

"It would be a shame to take that building down," Avon Town Planner Steve Kushner said. He and other commissioners said it would be possible to have the relatively new building moved to another off-site so that the structure could be used elsewhere.

All buildings on the property, including the Avon Cider Mill, must be removed from the site prior to getting a certificate of occupancy. Without the yellow building there, the education council will gain 38 necessary parking spots.

PUBLIC HEARING

While the commission vote and deliberation over the application seemed to move quickly toward the end of the meeting, the public hearing alone lasted at least an hour.

Traffic Concerns

Traffic was the primary concern both raised and defended.

While Avon resident Wade Horsey was supportive of the education council programs and the school, it was the safety of the location that raised a flag for him. He noted the proximity of the school site to the Route 44 and Route 10 intersection where there was a and where a .

“You’re going to bring 500 kids and expose them to that area every single day and you don’t see that that isn’t a greatest representation of Avon?" Horsey said during the public hearing. "I’m not a parent, but if I was, my question would be would I send that student to school on that bus? If you think that is a safe area to put your kids on the bus, I would vote yes.”

There was a lot of discussion about the danger of Avon Mountain for buses given that many of the magnet school students, from three years old to fifth graders, would be coming from Hartford.

"I think it's a very legitimate concern," Douglas said. "I've been driving over that mountain now for 15 years everyday of the week except for Saturdays and Sundays. So I see what happens there.... I think the mountain is safer now than it has been before. I think that the t and the West Hartford Police Department are paying a lot of attention to it. I don't think the mountain itself, the road itself is unsafe. I think the drivers who drive that road are unsafe."

Education council officials assured the commission that none of their buses come over Avon Mountain to get to the current Reggio Magnet School location at 150 Fisher Drive in Avon in the same building as the Farmington Valley Montessori School.

"Most of our buses come from over Simsbury Mountain in Bloomfield (Route 185)," Douglas said.

Commission member Marianne Clark (R) begged to differ.

"I see buses going over the mountain and they're sitting there telling me that they don't and I'm seeing it with my own eyes," Clark said after the meeting. "I know they are CREC buses. I follow them to the CREC school that's there now in the temporary position."

Diversity

Concerns about traffic volume also led to indignation in some cases that there must be a better location for the magnet school. Most of the pre-kindergarten to second grade students at Reggio's current Fisher Drive location are from Avon, Canton, Farmington, Hartford, Simsbury and West Hartford, Douglas previously said.

"We're sticking these children on a highway on the outskirts of town," said Avon resident Robert Payne, an initial Republican candidate for Town Council who withdrew from the race.

Payne spoke on behalf of Rev. Henry Brown, the head of Mothers United Against Violence, who he said was called to a vigil in Harford after a recent shooting. The nonprofit represents minorities in the Hartford area. Payne noted the fact that many of the students attending Reggio are from inner city backgrounds. 

"He is absolutely apauled that Avon, after years of planning, working and cooperating on the Scheff vs. O'Neill files, would have these children of minorities sent to a school in high risk where the opportunity there to gain from the cultural opportunity in Avon is zero," Payne said. "Everyone in town anticipates this is a positive thing. Why don't we have the minorities, whose children and grandchildren are going to be here, listen to what they have to say?"

In the July 9, 1996 case Payne referenced, the that "students in the Hartford public schools were racially, ethnically and economically isolated and that, as a result, Hartford public school students had not been provided a substantially equal educational opportunity under the state constitution, article eighth," according to the state judicial website.

Avon resident Joseph F. Delbone, a neighbor to the Cider Mill property who withdrew his against the education council and the Planning and Zoning Commission regarding the application, argued that the school did not fit the town's comprehensive development plan.

"What in the world are you folks considering this type of verbiage on a zoning application?" Delbone said. "It has no bearing on this.... Are we looking at zoning regulations or social engineering?.... I don't care about how the kids are going to be affected by breathing the Avon air. Don't care. My concern is about the economic impact to Avon."

Douglas has often heard similar statements.

"I've heard that so many times before that I don't hear it anymore," Douglas said. "Social justice and civil rights, it's a difficult thing to accomplish in the world and modern society and we've faced this kind of thing before. We've prevailed before and we work with a good staff. We put our heads together. We're thoughtful. We're genuine. We're forthright."

Commission member Linda Keith (R) pointed out to the public after Payne spoke that "those are part of the dialogue presented to the commission. We cannot make a judgement on segregation or anything like that. We make our judgement on the rules and regulations of our commission."

Delbone also asked about what would happen with the education council land buffering the line to his 45 Waterville Rd. property.

"What if I want a wall?" he asked.

Douglas said, after the magnet school was approved, that the education council will invite Delbone to visit the school and read to the children.

THE VOTE

Clark and fellow commission member Peter Mahoney (D) were the only dissenting votes.

"I don't think that's a good location," Clark said. "It's a very unsafe location. It's on a state highway and I'm going to feel really sorry if it's an accident because does education really matter if there's fatalities or if they're injured?"


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