The City Plan Commission has approved Hopkins School’s plans to construct a new 35,000 square-foot innovation center on its Upper Westville campus. The center will include a robotics studio, computer science classrooms, and a digital media production studio.
Concerns from Neighbors
Neighbors raised concerns about truck traffic, noise, and the lack of a sidewalk on the nearby Knollwood Drive. Forest Road resident David Darsch worried that construction trucks will make Forest Road more dangerous and called for the installation of a convex mirror and temporary flaggers.
Upper Westville Alder Amy Marx expressed disappointment that no one from the school had reached out to her to discuss the project. She noted that Forest Road has serious problems with high-speed traffic and that noise carries strongly in the neighborhood.
Response from Hopkins School
Attorney Meaghan Miles and Hopkins Chief Financial Officer David Baxter explained that the new building will meet an existing need for the school’s 724 students. Miles said that the project area will cover 2.7 acres of the 100-acre campus and that the new building’s design is in line with that of some of the campus’s oldest buildings.
Miles also addressed neighbors’ concerns, stating that the project’s stormwater-management improvements will not exacerbate downstream flooding and will actually improve the stormwater from its existing condition.
The City Plan Commission voted unanimously to approve the site plan and Class C Soil Erosion and Sediment Control plan for the project.
Original reporting: New Haven Independent — read the source article.
