Major Park Resurrection Plans Detailed Before Farmington PZC

FARMINGTON, CT — Plans to resurrect a major recreational site in town were discussed this week before the local zoning board, with no decision yet rendered.

The Farmington Plan and Zoning Commission Monday, Jan. 13, began a public hearing on a City of Hartford special permit application to resurrect Batterson Park on Batterson Park Road, Farmington.

The long abandoned park site is owned by the City of Hartford, but its area covers land in New Britain and Farmington.

The official address of the park currently is 76 Batterson Park Road, Farmington, which explains why Farmington's PZC must decide the project's fate.

A new address of 95 Batterson Park Road is expected following renovations and the reopening of the park.

Monday, the PZC made no such decision, instead listening to lengthy testimony from a landscape architect hired by the city, Jesse Harris of the BSC Group of Glastonbury.

"By our view, it's a long-awaited and much-needed project," Harris told PZC members Monday.

Following Harris' presentation and a few comments of support by the public, the hearing was continued to the PZC's next meeting on Jan. 27, where a decision could be made once the hearing is closed.

According to Harris, the new park would include a new driveway and parking area, park support buildings, a boardwalk, and picnic areas.

He said Batterson features a 155-acre pond as part of the 266-acre park, with 80 percent in Farmington and the remaining 20 percent in the City of New Britain.

Harris outlined a $7 million plan to reopen the park with a splash pad, picnic pavilions, a kayak/canoe launch, a fishing pier, a bird-watching tower, and a playground/hiking trails.

The new park, however, would not include any public swimming at the park pond, he said.

According to Harris, the former beach area will "remain in its current natural state because the pond water has been deemed not suitable for swimming by the CT DEEP and if at some point in the future the pond water becomes swimmable, the plan is to restore the beach area."

The park closed in 2015 when the City of Hartford faced financial constraints, harming its ability to staff, maintain, and operate the park, which has fallen into disrepair.

Hartford's difficulty in maintaining what is, essentially, a city park (even though it's not within city boundaries) had state and city officials floating the idea of creating Batterson State Park, putting the recreational site under the purview of the State of Connecticut.

But efforts to do that a year ago failed to garner necessary state approval, leading to an agreement among state, city, and nonprofit sources to operate the facility.

As a result, a deal was arranged to reopen Batterson Park in July under the umbrella of Riverfront Recapture, a Hartford non-profit that manages multiple parks in the greater Hartford region.

Those parks are East River Park in East Hartford; Riverside Park in Hartford; Mortensen Riverfront Plaza in Hartford; and Charter Oak Landing in Hartford.

The deal would include input from the City of Hartford, which still owns the property, and the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, which conducted an environmental survey of the site.

Robert Allan, director of public safety & park operations with Riverfront Recapture, also testified before the PZC on Monday.

He said the park will be operated and maintained by Riverfront Recapture, whose "mission is to keep safe, clean parks for everyone’s enjoyment."

Allan said the group will have staff on site and the park will be open year-round from dawn to dusk.

He added the park will not have an audio system and no overnight camping is permitted.

Members of the public testifying before the PZC Monday expressed support for the proposal.

New Britain resident Kathleen Talmont lives on Batterson Park Pond, across from the park site.

"I want to say, as someone who's been very involved in this, ... the original plan was so bloated and so out of control. It was never going to get enough money," said Talmont. "This plan is really quite exceptional."

Farmington resident and Councilman David Wlodkowski of Mountain Road also supported the project.

"I think we've kind of seen this play out for a decade now and I think that bloated plan that was originally unveiled a few years ago was unachievable," Wlodkowski said.

He said Riverfront's impact on the park will be beneficial and was a good move.

Ultimately, zoning board members — who appeared receptive to the plan — voted to extend the public hearing to Jan. 27 because a wetlands permit is still pending on the project before the town's wetlands board.

For the minutes of the Jan. 13 Farmington Plan & Zoning Commission meeting, click on this link.

From Dec. 11, 2024: 'Plans To Resurrect Beloved Park Submitted To Farmington'