Editor’s note: The following letter was written to Planning and Zoning Commission members, and submitted to the Westport Journal for publication.

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P&Z members:

Thanks for taking the time to listen to all sides of this story. For much of the planning and discussions on these topics (which I believe began in fall of 2022), the Westport Community Gardeners were excluded until we just happened to learn (in June 2023) of the plan to move the fields to the site of the gardens. I know you have gotten a lot of correspondence on this so I will try to be concise — key points and concerns I’d like to communicate include:

1. We (WCG) fully support proceeding with the building of the new or renovated school as soon as possible — we in no way wish to delay this process.

2. We strongly believe that the issue of the fields and the gardens should be separated from next steps to get the school built, so that unbiased efforts can be made to find the best solution for neighbors, students, the gardeners AND those using the fields.

3. Several experienced builders have made alternate suggestions on how to keep the gardens intact AND the fields on site — and these have been ignored — we suggest these, and other alternate plans be given serious consideration. It was made clear by the LL Building Committee that their strong preference is to eliminate the gardens to build the fields, with no serious alternate for the gardens.

• Suggestions of rebuilding at Baron’s South have had no serious considerations of the apparent toxic waste on the site, the totally inappropriate topography (e.g., the immense mature tree-covered hill to the east of the proposed site, which would block the sun for most of the morning).

• Lack of sufficient parking at Baron’s South (it has been stated that parking there is already tight).

• The need to remove an inordinate number of mature trees.

4. We’d like to clarify, that we are NOT a private club, as some have suggested, any more than the Longshore and Compo marinas are — with limited slips and long waiting lists. Same for the paddle tennis slots, which are allotted for the season and have a long waiting list. In fact, there are frequent openings from year to year for new plots at the WCG.

• The gates to the WCG are locked when no one is there to prevent vandals from stealing equipment, and our bounty of fruits, vegetables and flowers. Anyone interested in getting a tour is welcome upon request or when there are members in the garden. The tall fence and gates also help to prevent critters from entering.

5. The notion that a new and improved garden can be created in another location is also a misnomer. Vague suggestions by the LL committee that they would rebuild the gardens “better than ever before” is patently wrong. In addition, no serious efforts have been made to find realistic new home, IF that is the only option! The WCG have been very much treated as stepchildren.

• Members have spent years creating their own personalized and configuring their garden spaces, some with more focus on social space, others on maximizing production, others nurturing and cultivating native flowers and pollinators, etc. A major part of the beauty of the gardens is in the personalization, rather than a cookie-cutter set of pre-constructed Levittown garden boxes.

• It takes years of trial and error to get the soil right — no garden soil (bagged or truckload) comes ready to go with the right formula to maximize productivity. There is no “plug-and-play” in gardening.

6. It goes unsaid that the destruction of the preserve around the gardens is a travesty. The preserve was built using hundreds of hours of volunteer labor to plan, acquire the (over $45k) plants, grade and remove vast amounts of invasive trees shrubs and other plants, plant and protect the new native plants, hand water them extensively throughout the 2022 drought, etc., the loss of this amazing a precious micro-environment is an immense loss to the town, the school and local community.

• To date, no consideration has been made regarding how and who would have the time, money and appropriate location to move the enormous number of now-established trees and other native plants the preserve.

• It is important to note that the neighbors of the WCG will lose out enormously if the tranquil pollinator-pathway, micro-environment of the WCG and LL Preserve are replaced with an enormous multi-purpose field with compacted turf, significantly increased noise and activity, inevitable lighting, etc. The fields are much better suited to be closer to the new school as suggested by several builders, or elsewhere.

• In addition, prior to any movement of the gardens, a professional assessment on the impact of drainage into the neighbors’ backyards needs to be conducted. If the WCG/field issue is tied to the construction of the new school, this could cause undue delay to the construction of the school.

I look forward to participating in tonight’s critical discussions to get this right for the town and its citizens, including those of the WCG who have been ignored and marginalized to date, in my humble opinion. I am hoping you can help provide unbiased alternatives and options that have not been offered by other town entities!

Julie P. O’Grady

Westport