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The Settler's Park ControversyIn Southbury Connecticut, One Park is a Hot Button IssueAn overview of the controversy over Settler's Park in Southbury CT, examining each side of the argument over whether adding stadium style lights to the park is intrusive.
Settler's Park in Southbury CT is a place much like any other park: children play baseball, soccer and go wild on the playground. The ice cream man rolls by with his repetative music chiming. Parents look on with smiles as their children enjoy themselves. Yet, when dusk begins to fall the children must pack up and head home...there are no lights shining in Settler's Park. Increased TrafficCrookhorn Road is a quiet, one lane, scenic dirt road that was seldom driven on save by Glen Morris for his well-known hayrides. All that changed when Settler's Park became a frequent destination for Soccer Moms and Dads, who drove their SUVs up and down the road well beyond the posted speed limit of fifteen miles an hour. "I felt like I was running on a main road sometimes," says a runner who frequents Crook Horn. "They kicked up alot of dust." The situation got more intense when a local resident took to the road to try and get people to slow down. "I stood in the road and yelled at them to slow down," she says. The town responded to the residents' safety concerns and added emergency access only gating at one end of Crook Horn. Lights ControversySince its inception, Settler's Park was intended to have stadium style lighting to enable sporting events to continue into the early evening, which is typical for High School football fields. Yet, residents who live near the park were alarmed when they learned of the bright lights that might soon be shining into their backyards. "It'd be very intrusive," says one resident. "It'd be lit up like Met's Stadium." The main complaint most residents have is that the lights would interfere with their quality of life. It is difficult to make a case for having bright lights shining into your backyard, but the opposing side is coming at it from another angle: "We just want our kids to have a place to play," implores one father at a Southbury Zoning meeting. Ongoing DebateMeetings are still being held to determine if Crook Horn will get its lighting to enable the kids to play after dark. Both sides attend these meeting diligently, each fearing that one lapse in attendance could be the difference between defeat or victory. Yet, the ultimate outcome may be a foregone conclusion. "They already have the electricity cables run," says Valentina Walton, who lives directly behind Settler's Park. "I saw them when I walked the park's perimeter." Running cable in advance is a typical procedure...better to have too much and not use it than too little. Still, for those who live adjacent to a park that has brought them dangerous speeding and threatens to brighten up their Summer nights, that sentiment doesn't give much comfort.
The copyright of the article The Settler's Park Controversy in Activism is owned by Michael Gilday. Permission to republish The Settler's Park Controversy in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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