Mahackeno Info - Mahackeno

The obstructionists claim Mahackeno is far, far away. false
The naysayers want us to believe that Mahackeno is far from Main Street, which they view as the heart of Westport. (In fact, the Post Road — the town’s major shopping and business artery — is equally important.) Camp Mahackeno is less than two miles from Main Street, making it closer than Staples High School or Bedford Middle School. The new facility at Mahackeno will be closer to Main Street than the Coleytown schools, the United Methodist Church, the Unitarian Church or Temple Israel. These latter institutions are all north of the Merritt Parkway, which is the real northern boundary of central Westport.
A Y at Mahackeno will be difficult to access. false
The current Family Y is an amalgam of three distinct buildings. None of them is ADA compliant, so senior citizens and physically challenged members find it almost impossible to use the facility. The new Y has been designed to meet the needs of all Y members. If you need hydrotherapy, the new pool will be able to accommodate you. If you find it difficult to go up and down stairs, you will be able to use the new cardiovascular equipment. The Family Y will be easier for everybody to access after it moves to Mahackeno, because it will have a purpose-built parking lot, with spaces designated for the handicapped.
Mahackeno is in a rural neighborhood. false
The Mahackeno neighborhood is certainly not rural, although it is zoned for residential use. The Family Y’s campsite, which includes Lees Pond, is next to Exit 41 of the Merritt Parkway. It also is near the Red Barn restaurant and a cell phone tower. The Family Y will need a special permit to build at Mahackeno, but every community facility – from churches to schools – need a special permit. The Westport Weston Family Y already has one for its camp at Mahackeno and it has one for its current facility on Post Road East.
Building at Mahackeno will increase sprawl. false
The Y’s opponents say that building at Mahackeno will increase suburban sprawl and citing a 2003 state report, they say that “sprawl is a significant threat to our quality of life in Connecticut.” It is true that the Blue Ribbon Commission viewed sprawl as a danger. But the Commission’s report described how people are moving away from Connecticut’s coastal communities and cities (because of increasing property values in the southern suburbs and failing infrastructure in the cities).
Building at Mahackeno, less than two miles form Long Island Sound, is not an example of suburban sprawl. The Family Y is not buying a farm or forest. The Y wants to improve land that it has owned and used for more than 60 years
If the Y goes to Mahackeno it will pollute the Sound. false
It pains us when people say the Westport Family Y doesn’t care about the environment. Come on! We – the families of the YMCA – spent more than $250,000 to restore Lees Pond Dam. We rebuilt the trout ladder at the dam. Do Westporters really believe we are willing to damage the environment to build at Mahackeno?
The Town of Westport is preventing the Family Y from accessing the town sewer system, even though it will soon extend that system within a few hundred feet of the Y’s property at Mahackeno. The Family Y has hired some of the best engineers in the country to create a septic system that meets all state and local requirements. The plans for that system were approved by the Westport Flood and Erosion Control Board, the Westport Conservation Commission, and the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection.
Our critics – who throw up every obstruction they can think of – say that we should not just meet Connecticut DEP regulations, we should exceed them. Why? Nobody else in Westport is expected to exceed Connecticut’s environmental regulations, which are some of the most stringent in the country.
Moving to Mahackeno will be bad for merchants. false
“Westport businesses will suffer if the Family Y leaves its Post Road facility,” say the obstructionists. What a great canard! This is the 21st Century, an era of two-career families, who barely have the time to take their children to the Y. Frankly, many children are dropped off at the Y by a nanny, or au pair, and they are picked up by a father on his way home from work. Almost nobody has time to take her daughter to gymnastic practice and then stroll down Main Street. And moving the Y to Mahackeno will not keep members from popping down to Main Street when they need to run an errand. After all, Mahackeno is less than two miles away.
In spite of the obstructionists’ claims to the contrary, the Westport Downtown Merchants Association recognized in 2006 that Main Street would benefit from the Family Y’s departure. The WDMA told the Westport News, “The redeveloped YMCA building at 59 Post Road East will become a new anchor, adding new vibrancy and excitement to the Main Street area.”
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Mahackeno Is the Best Choice for the Family Y

Mahackeno

Is Best Choice