Neighborhood Petitions Against Gaffney Renovations
By Robin Vinci at May 29, 2024 | 4:42 pm | Print
Residents of the Stanwood Drive gave a petition to the Common Council Wednesday night concerning the proposed Board of Education Plan to renovate Gaffney School on Slater Road.
According to the petition the issue is that “the proposed plan includes a paved thru-way that would permit direct access by cars, vans, trucks and buses from Stanwood Drive - through Gaffney School - and onto Slater Road and I-84. Stanwood Drive has been a “dead-end” City street for 60 years. It is a narrow street, on a steep hill with several curves - and no sidewalks. Since many of the houses have no garages, and short and narrow driveways, several of our neighbors routinely park additional cars and trucks on the street.”
The group claims that according to City Ordinance no proposed street shall be laid out or opened to the public within the limits of the city until the grade, layout, location, width and improvements of such streets have received the approval of the Council and such approval has been filed in the office of the Clerk.
They said if the Board of Education would like to “open” Stanwood Drive - a dead-end City street - to Slater Road, then the Common Council must approve that portion of the Proposed Plan, after public notice and a hearing. And so far, none has taken place.
“You cannot provide an access road on to a highway,” said Stanwood resident Valerie Liistro. “These streets are going to be impacted by traffic and it is going to be a nightmare.”
The group is requesting a study of the Gaffney School Proposal impact on Stanwood Drive to Slater Road and I-84.
“They also want to build a detention pond behind the last two houses on the street and pitch all the water towards our houses and then drain it towards the sewer,” said Liistro. “The Board of Education is trying to get this all through.”
Over 130 signatures were presented to the Council Wednesday night.
“We are all very, very upset by this,” said Liistro. “All the parents who drop off the kids are going to drop off on Stanwood and the school is on Slater Road. It is going to be steamrolling through our property values.”
“I don’t want the additional traffic on my street. It’s a quiet neighborhood. The most you hear are kids playing and dogs barking,” said Tracy Green, a Stanwood Dr. resident. “To have additional traffic will be very disruptive. Between the hours of 8:30-9:30 a.m. the way it is now it is very difficult to back out of the driveway with the current traffic. I can’t imagine all that traffic. We have wild turkeys, rabbits and a fox in the neighborhood. I would like to keep it that way.”
Liistro said the neighborhood found out about this plan in April. Groundbreaking for the project has been set for July, Liistro added that the group went to a meeting and was shut down by the Board of Education and told they were doing it anyway.
But, Sharon Beloin Saavedra, school board president, said she doesn’t expect traffic to change on the street.
“Gaffney parents and students attending pre-school and special education have used Stanwood Drive for many years. The renovation project does not expand “commuter” use of that road,” Saavedra said. “Ray Moore (Director of Facilities) has actually estimated reduced traffic on Stanwood Drive after the project is completed.”
Saavedra said this is not unique to Stanwood Drive.
“Many of our elementary schools have traffic that re-enters the property from several access points,” Saavedra added. “Chamberlain, Holmes, DiLoreto, Vance all have neighborhood roads being used as either entrance or exit points.”
Neighborhood residents said there are other problems caused by the plan.
“People can also piggy back to get onto the highway faster,” said Liistro. “The building commission told us this is unprecedented. Our Alderman said it is our fault because we didn’t do due diligence. We did not understand the scope of this until April. This was not approved by the Common Council. They can’t do it this way.”
Alderman Carlo Carlozzi told the group he supported them to a huge round of applause.
“Tonight was the first time I saw that map,” said Carlozzi. “I don’t understand how that plan even works. I don’t know how you can build an access road there. If this were to come before us for approval, it would not get my vote.”
