WESTPORT — More than a couple dozen people and a few dogs gathered on Jesup Green on Sunday afternoon to appreciate the large, mature trees and upper portion of the hill that might soon be lost for parking.
“Come to Jesup Green today at noon!” Jennifer Johnson, a Representative Town Meeting member from District 9, wrote in an email Sunday morning.
“There’s an effort to save Jesup Green from being converted into a parking lot,” she continued. “This a complex issue, but in short there are BETTER solutions to adding much-needed parking downtown.”
She included photos of the mature trees that would be lost to add 42 parking spaces in a terraced lot on the upper portion of Jesup Green. Those spots are to replace parking lost in the redesign of Parker Harding Plaza.
“A retaining wall (up to 4 feet) is proposed to cut the across Jesup Green … reducing the current Green by about 1/3,” Johnson wrote.
She asked people to attend the RTM meeting at 7:30 p.m. May 8, when the body will once again discuss a $630,000 request to fund the design of the Jesup Green and nearby parking.
“There are multiple petitions that you can sign to stop the destruction of Jesup Green,” Johnson wrote. “Click here for one. And email Larry Weisman at lpweisman@gmail.com to sign the other.”
“Your voice is important!” she said.
Toni Simonetti said Sal Licione, also of District 9, some Tree Board members and Marilyn Harding, who’s father is one of the namesakes of the Parker Harding Plaza, were also on hand.
At 6 p.m. Monday, the RTM’s Planning and Zoning Committee will discuss the Jesup Green plan. No vote is expected, according to the agenda.
The Environment Committee of the RTM will also discuss the plan at a meeting at 6 p.m. Wednesday in Room 309 of Town Hall.
“Discuss environmental impact of the proposed Parker Harding/Jesup plan, in particular, open space and trees,” reads the agenda item. “We will have a member of the tree board joining us.”
Neither of those committees was asked to discuss the plan when the funding request came to the RTM.
The Planning and Zoning and Finance committees of the RTM previously endorsed the spending. The Transit Committee voted against it.
I just solved the problem.
Let just say, hypothetically, we left parker harding alone…did absolutely nothing.
Then we wouldnt need to destroy Jesup Green.
And
We wouldnt need a parking garage.
Somtimes the answer is staring at you.
Again, Mr.Tracy is the voice of reason using his God given common sense. If you’re of a certain age, you remember a few song lyrics pre Taylor Swift. One which comes to mind is ” they paved paradise and put up a parking lot.”
So before we rip up the trees ,let’s consider the following:
Trees contribute to the environment by providing oxygen,improving air quality,climate amelioration,conserving water,preserving soil ,and supporting wildlife. They also ease the mind during stressful times. The trees at Jesup are magnificent mature trees which any environmentalist will tell you ,hold much larger amounts of carbon and harmful pollutants than their younger counterparts.
But the proposal on the table is to destroy trees an favor of a parking garage ! A polluting ,unsightly,unnecessary edifice which we may soon discover is a waste of space, time and taxpayer money.
Last week two women on a sunny afternoon discovered their wallets missing at Darien’s Trader Joe’s. Within minutes the suspects sped to SONO collection to swipe the credit cards at Apple and Nordstroms. Were the alleged suspects typical Darienites? Or as we open the doors to the new affordable housing project within feet of Main St. are we about to see 5 finger discounts at the shops on Main, pickpockets,carjackings et al?
So let’s follow the advice of our esteemed neighbor,Todd Tracy. Take a deep breath and wait and see.