Simsbury open-space committee raises environmental and process questions about proposed Curtis Park turf project

The Simsbury Open Space Committee spent the largest portion of its meeting discussing proposals for artificial turf and other improvements at Curtis Park and whether the committee should take a formal role as the project moves through town review.

Members said they have seen conceptual engineering and fundraising plans that include turf, paving, lighting, a snack shack and playground elements, and raised repeated environmental and procedural concerns tied to the park’s location near the river and in a floodplain. “This is a flood plain next to the wild and scenic river and is not the place for this kind of stuff,” a committee member said during the discussion.

Why it matters: Members said Curtis Park appears on town maps as a park/open-space parcel and noted that the park’s proximity to regulated wetlands, alluvial soils and the river…