The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Denies a $3.8MM dollar Grant to the Town of Fairfield – in part – due to fill utilized to elevate Penfield Pavilion. FEMA indicated that the Penfield Project was subject to regulations under Connecticut Coastal Management Program under the auspices of CT DEEP. The FEMA rejection states:
“The Applicant commenced and completed its replacement of the Pavilion without ever obtaining a coastal zone consistency determination approval from CTDEEP, such that the Applicant has violated the term and condition of PW #680 specifically requiring the Applicant to do so.”
And:
“…the Applicant’s proposed project does not appear to be consistent with the enforceable policies of the Connecticut coastal management program.110 When approached by FEMA in June 2017 about the project’s consistency, CTDEEP stated that there are “still outstanding issues with the site” because of that agency’s concerns “with the placement of fill underneath the building and parking lot which may potentially result in damage to the building from future storm events.”111 CTDEEP stated that “at this point we cannot say the site is consistent with our coastal policies…”