The votes ended lengthy public hearings, which began in December, on the proposal. But, the process is not over. The planning and zoning commission still must review the project before passing along its recommendation to the Town Council. Once that happens, the council can pass the plan or deny it with a two-thirds majority vote. If the proposal is rejected, Kim Ricci, Rocky Hill's director of planning and building, said it goes back to the planning and zoning commission.
Though both commissions concluded the public hearings with yes votes, their approval came with stipulations.
The planning and zoning commission said all training at the facility, which would be utilized by 29 area police stations, must take place within the building and be restricted to between 7 a.m. and 6 p.m. Training with live ammunition is prohibited. Instead, the facility is to feature ammunition training as well as classroom education and simulator exercises.
The facility also must be built as a large cape so it resembles a single-family home.
The open space and conservation commission said the facility needed to be located away from the wetland boundaries. Also, plants appropriate for the surrounding habitat are to be included in the landscaping around the building.
The lone dissenting vote coming from the two commissions was cast by planning and zoning member Guy Drapeau.
The opponents of the facility were hoping for much such votes, enough for one of the commissions to reject the facility, which would have effectively killed the proposal. They were very vocal at the hearings, citing safety concerns for surrounding residents, environmental concerns for the nearby wetlands and the need to preserve the town's open space. To spread their thoughts, they created a Web site, www.saveelmridgepark.com.
The 13,700-square-foot facility, funded by a $1.5 million grant from the Capitaol Region Council of Governments, is set to be built on a six-acre parcel of land that is located behind Elm Ridge Park and across from Forest Park apartments. The land is owned by the town and considered part of the park but the Parks and Recreation Department determined a ball field could not be built there.