Hoping to gain “Scenic Road” recognition for a roadway loop though Binney Park, the Eastern Greenwich Preservation Association (EGPA) will meet with the Board of Selectmen this week to gain support for the next steps in the application process.
The Town’s Municipal Code, Article 3, allows the Planning and Zoning Commission to designate town highways or portions thereof as scenic roads “for the benefit of present and future generations.” Since the Scenic Road ordinance was adopted in 1992, five local roads have received the designation: Cliffdale Road, Burying Hill Road, Selden Lane, Buckfield Lane, and Sawmill Lane.
The Binney Park proposal would be Greenwich’s first official Scenic Road south of the Merritt Parkway. The Binney Park loop would include Sound Beach Avenue from Arch Street to Wesskum Wood Road; Wesskum Wood to Arch Street; Arch Street to Sound Beach Avenue. The move to nominate the Binney Park roadways responds to a goal in the new 2019 Plan of Conservation and Development to “encourage the designation of more scenic roads throughout the town.”
A Scenic Road application requires endorsement by owners of a majority of property that abuts a proposed roadway. Private owners of property along the Binney Park route have already signed the application, but because roadways in the EGPA proposal border Town-owned Binney Park, agreement of the Town as a property owner is also required. In order for Selectmen to co-sign the application on behalf of the Town, they must receive approval from the Representative Town Meeting, Greenwich’s legislative body.
EGPA will discuss the proposal with the Board of Selectmen on Thursday, January 23, at 10 a.m., with a goal of bringing the plan to the RTM. The meeting will be in the Town Hall Meeting Room, and the public is invited.
