Editor’s note: The following letter was sent to First Selectwoman Jennifer Tooker in response to her Jan. 29 letter to members of the Westport Community Gardens.

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This letter serves as a response to your continued efforts to designate Baron’s South as the future location for the Westport Community Gardens.

We appreciate the time and effort you have dedicated to promoting what you believe to be a viable and beneficial alternative to the current site at Hyde Lane. We recognize your intent to make thoughtful decisions for our community.

However, we believe that the Baron’s South location does not meet the critical requirements for establishing a sustainable, thriving community garden. Specifically, there are several concerns regarding the site that we would like to address.

Sunlight Availability

A successful community garden requires ample, direct sunlight, which the proposed site at Baron’s South does not offer. The area is heavily shaded by mature trees to the east, south and west — precisely the directions where sunlight is most needed.

Creating the proper growing conditions would require the removal of dozens of mature trees from both public and private land, an action we, as a committee, are not comfortable pursuing.

Terrain and Accessibility

A significant portion of the Baron’s South property is sloped. This introduces both erosion concerns and challenges for our senior gardeners, who make up a large portion of our membership.

Sloped land not only complicates planting and maintenance but also creates additional risks for gardeners who rely on flat, accessible terrain.

Parking and Accessibility

As you mentioned, the Westport Center for Senior Activities is an extremely popular location, and parking there is already limited. Gardeners often need to carry equipment, soil, plants and other materials, which makes the current proposed site impractical. Distant or diverted parking options would impose undue strain on the gardeners, particularly those with physical limitations.

Additionally, it has been suggested that time limitations at the senior center parking lot may be imposed, which would not resolve the issue of restricted access during the school’s operating hours. This would essentially mirror the time constraints already proposed for the school property, further limiting the usability of the site for the community garden.

Invasive Species

The Baron’s South area is currently infested with invasive species, including bamboo, which is notoriously difficult to eradicate. It has taken nearly two decades of effort to manage invasive plants around the Hyde Lane location. Repeating this process at the proposed site would be a significant undertaking and should not be underestimated in terms of the time, effort and cost 

Soil

We believe that the town should proactively clean up the land to better assess its true potential for a community garden or other recreational use. Without this step, it is difficult to make a fully informed decision about whether this location is truly suitable for gardening or if other recreational purposes would be a better fit.

We remain open to exploring other potential locations in town that could meet the essential criteria for a community garden, including ample sunlight, flat terrain, adequate parking, accessibility and a reliable water supply.

Locations like Winslow Park may offer a more suitable alternative, and we hope that further discussions can explore these options.

Thank you for your understanding, and we look forward to continuing this conversation.

Sincerely,

Westport Community Gardens

Steering Committee

Louis Weinberg, chairman