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Beach-area residents urge study of Reef Road evacuation route as zoning and density rise
Summary
Residents told the Fairfield Fire Commission that Reef Road functions as the primary evacuation corridor for the beach area and asked the town to commission a risk/impact study before approving higher-density housing on that route.
Two longtime beach-area residents urged the Fairfield Fire Commission to push for emergency-management input and a formal study of Reef Road after a developer-backed zone change and a proposed apartment project drew community opposition.
At the commission meeting a resident identified as Sue Kamarta outlined that roughly 450 houses on Fairfield Beach Road and 100 on Reef Road serve thousands of people during busy periods, and said Reef Road acts as a funnel for evacuations when storm tides overtop other routes. Miss Cummings (public commenter) described experience during Hurricane Sandy, when flood timing changed and evacuation windows shrank unexpectedly.
Residents asked that engineering, emergency management and planning officials prepare an evacuation-impact statement and risk analysis to give the Town Planning and Zoning Commission (TPZ) more context when it considers higher-density proposals on Reef Road. They argued that added residents, parked cars and transient student occupants could create a bottleneck that impedes both evacuation and emergency-vehicle access.
Chief Dunn and commissioners said the fire department does not routinely produce traffic/evacuation studies in-house and suggested seeking engineering records, state or federal grant funding (FEMA was suggested) or contracted traffic specialists. Staff noted that emergency-management inclusion in zoning reviews has been inconsistent and that studies generally require funding or allocation in the budget.
Residents said a 45-unit apartment project across from Veterans Park is the near-term concern and noted a recent zoning change allowing taller buildings and narrower setbacks along Reef Road. Commissioners suggested following up with DPW/engineering to obtain the original evacuation-route maps and exploring grants or external funding to support a study.
Ending: Commissioners encouraged residents to continue gathering data and requested staff follow up on available engineering maps and possible grant sources; no binding land-use decisions were taken by the commission.
