How did we get here? – A Truck Stop Is the Wrong Vision for Batterson Park’s Future
For more than a decade, volunteers, advocates, neighbors, and public officials have worked to bring Batterson Park back from the brink. Through cleanup efforts, community organizing, fundraising, and countless hours of volunteer work, people never gave up on the idea that this remarkable regional resource could once again serve the public.
Today, that vision is finally becoming a reality. After roughly $10 million in public investment, Batterson Park is preparing to reopen as a waterfront destination for families, walkers, paddlers, birdwatchers, and outdoor enthusiasts from Hartford, Farmington, New Britain, and beyond.
That is why the proposed Noble Energy truck stop and logistics development near the New Britain-Farmington line is so troubling.
Reasonable people can disagree about development. New housing, commercial investment, and economic growth all have important roles to play in our region. But not every project belongs in every location. In my view, this project is simply the wrong use in the wrong place.
The proposed site sits between Dead Wood Swamp, Batterson Pond, and established residential neighborhoods near the New Britain line. According to the public filings, the development would include diesel truck fueling, gasoline fueling stations, loading docks, warehouse operations, truck parking, and significant new impervious surface in a watershed that the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection has already identified as impaired.
All of that runoff ultimately flows toward Batterson Pond.
The applicant has proposed mitigation measures, and those efforts deserve acknowledgment. But the broader question remains: Why are we investing millions of taxpayer dollars to restore a waterfront park while simultaneously considering a high-intensity truck stop and logistics facility upstream in the same watershed?
Those two goals seem fundamentally at odds with one another.
The concerns extend beyond water quality. There are five or six New Britain schools located within close proximity of the proposed development. Established residential neighborhoods directly adjoin the site. Residents have raised legitimate concerns regarding truck traffic, school bus safety, air quality, noise, and the secondary public safety issues that often accompany large truck stop facilities.
These concerns deserve careful study and serious consideration, not dismissal.
The issue also highlights a larger structural problem. The land in question was originally part of the Hartford Park Trust and was intended to remain part of the larger Batterson Park system. During Hartford’s fiscal challenges, approximately 86 acres were transferred into the Municipal Employees Retirement Fund in lieu of cash obligations owed by the city.
While that transfer may have been legally permissible, it transformed protected park land into an investment asset. Once that happened, the financial incentives shifted. Land that was once viewed primarily as a public resource became land that could be monetized. That may have solved a short-term budget problem, but it created a long-term conflict between conservation and development.
There is also an uncomfortable environmental justice question here. Would a proposal of this magnitude be seriously contemplated if this were protected open space in one of Connecticut’s wealthier suburban communities? Many residents believe the answer is no.
Batterson Park has always been different. For generations, it provided access to nature, recreation, and swimming for people who otherwise had limited access to those opportunities. In a small state with limited public swimming areas and growing demand for outdoor recreation, preserving and improving places like Batterson should be a priority.
The recent sightings of bald eagles and other wildlife around the park are reminders of what remains possible. These species are not just symbols of environmental recovery; they are evidence that stewardship works.
The public process is still ongoing, and everyone should have the opportunity to make their case. But as residents of New Britain and Farmington consider the future of this area, I hope we ask a simple question:
What do we want Batterson Park to be fifty years from now?
A restored regional park, cleaner waterway, and outdoor destination for future generations?
Or another highway-adjacent truck stop?
I believe there is a better path forward. Our state and local elected officials should work together to return this acreage to permanent conservation status—whether through a protected land trust, restoration to the Hartford Parks Trust, or incorporation into the lands managed by Riverfront Recapture—so that future generations are not forced to revisit the same development pressures every few years.
Batterson Park is too important to be treated as a surplus asset. If we truly believe in restoring the park, improving water quality, and one day bringing back the beach, then we should be working to protect more of the watershed, not introducing new pressures on it.
If you share that vision, please consider joining us as we work to reconstitute Batterson Park Conservancy. Whether your interest is conservation, water quality, public recreation, environmental stewardship, or simply preserving a special place for future generations, we can use your help.
The next chapter of Batterson Park’s story is still being written. Now is the time to get involved.
