If it's that useful, and it obviously, is, why doesn't our P&Z turn a blind eye and go on to other business?
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Wasting away in margaritaville
The P&Z’s Margarita Albin is once again squawking about the “temporary” trailer parked in the Horseneck parking lot, and she’s growing louder. She says it’s ugly — undoubtedly true — and complains that it isn’t built to code due to its classification as a temporary structure. That, too is undeniable, but, although the (stick-built) building itself may be of temporary construction, it serves admirably for all sorts of temporary uses, and has been in constant service since 2011, serving the needs of a disparate group of town agencies and non-profit organizations. We should keep it.
Greenwich’s Planning & Zoning commission on Tuesday approved a second extension to the Boys & Girls Club’s lease on the building known as the “temporary fire station” at 1 Horseneck Lane.
But not before P&Z chair Margarita Alban warned the commission might get a bit “grumpy about the building.”
Over the years Alban has explained to applicants seeking temporary use of the building that not only was it intended to be temporary, but that it is unattractive, likening it to a Quonset hut in the gateway to Greenwich.
“We’ve been asking you for 10 years to get rid of it,” Alban once said when a previous application was before the board, and she still wants to, but let’s look at the record:
2011-2016 Temporary dormitory for firemen while the Central Fire Station was built
2017-2019 Greenwich International Film Festival (GIFF) received approval from the Planning & Zoning commission to house the festival staff on a temporary basis in the building. They stayed until 2019.
2020 Used by the Byram Fire Dept while renovations were done on their Delavan Ave building.
2021 Used by Neighbor to Neighbor when their new food pantry building construction by Christ Church took longer than expected.
2022-2025 Used by Greenwich Boys & Girls Club while the club building is being renovated/rebuilt.
Back In April ‘22, when the use of the trailer by the Boy’s Club was before the Board of Selectmen for approval, Fred Camillo spoke in support, adding “I know there is some concern about this temporary structure ending up being permanent, but that’s not the intent. The fact is we’re very grateful to have this (structure). It got us out of a lot of jams, having this open to us.”
We no longer live in the Greenwich of 1950, alas, but I believe that the old men running the town back then would have just “forgotten” about the existence of something that cost so little and served so usefully. We could try that here, and then, inspired, perhaps we could find some other “problems” around town that are equally deserving of our benign neglect.
