From the Editorial section of the Litchfield County Times, January 29, 2010 edition:
It has been interesting to watch the process that has unfolded since Matt Klauer unveiled a proposal for a resort-style inn on the campus of the former Wykeham Rise girls school. The plans, lauded by some, decried by others, led to a big-picture look at where inns should reside and were ultimately denied because of scale, scope and intensity in a close vote.
The Zoning Commission’s rejection was 3 to 2, and in last November’s election, voters dispatched Valerie Friedman, who opposed the inn, and put in her place Ray Reich, who openly supports Mr. Klauer’s plan. Meanwhile, Mr. Klauer appealed in superior court the commission’s denial and subsequently offered a vision for affordable housing.
And yet, nearly two years after Mr. Klauer’s plan first surfaced, town officials—and, perhaps townspeople too—may be experiencing a sense of déjà vu. [See the story on Page Three.] Though the Wykeham inn plan is not on any commission’s agenda, the zoning panel is revisiting the issue of how inns should be defined in the zoning regulation and where they belong—as in only on state roads, as was clarified after Mr. Klauer filed his plan, or along town roads also.
The site of the former girls school is located on Wykeham Road, which is part of a shortcut for some motorists traveling between the Washington Green area and the section of Route 109 heading toward Morris. Still, it is a pretty, rural and fairly quiet road, lined by pleasant looking houses. Many of those are home to folks who don’t want to see their residential neighborhood turned into a gateway to a resort inn. They don’t want increased traffic, they don’t want noise and they don’t want a change in the area’s character.
On the other side of the issue are plenty of Washington residents who see only an upside to Mr. Klauer’s plan, and who also don’t understand why some of the Wykeham neighborhood residents protested so much. After all, Wykeham Rise was a busy enterprise in its heyday that came with a certain amount of traffic and noise, and also helped to set the tone for the area. What’s more, the site was subsequently home to another school, known at one point in its history as the Swiss Hospitality Institute.
Beyond all that, in 1989, in between the tenures of the two schools, the Rolling Stones used the Wykeham campus as a place to rehearse for the “Steel Wheels” tour. Given the history of the site, and the demographics and proclivities of Washington, Mr. Klauer’s supporters wondered exactly what was wrong with an upscale inn that would add to the town’s tax base and create local jobs.
All of the debate may arise once again, assuming there is any substance to the stance of local pundits that the Zoning Commission is preparing to pave the way for Mr. Klauer to submit new plans for an inn after the regulations are revised once again, this time to say inns may be allowed alongside town roads. While zoning commissioners are being dutiful in exploring issues—how inns should be defined and where they should go—that were never fully resolved, observers can’t be blamed for perceiving that the post-election Zoning Commission might like to turn back time and make Mr. Klauer’s dream of an inn come true.
Before the commission goes too far down the road toward such an outcome, its members and other town officials might pause to consider whether the issues surrounding the place of inns in Washington are more of a community-wide philosophical concern, rather than a narrowly-focused zoning matter.
In other words, the issue has been so charged, and the outcome is considered so important by so many in the community, that a sort of super-public hearing, or multiple sessions, seems in order. And doesn’t it seem that, in this case, the commission should be guided by the majority view of the townspeople?