The University of Connecticut is withdrawing plans for a golf practice facility at a location in Mansfield that locals have been protesting for months over environmental concerns, according to a notice posted by Connecticut’s Council on Environmental Quality on Tuesday.
The university will instead look at an alternative site on its Depot Campus.
“It’s a big relief,” said Quin Harper, a local resident concerned about stormwater and pesticide runoff.
His parents’ home suffered constant water damage after trees were removed from a nearby property in 2001. Harper and other locals worried the same would happen at the proposed golf site in Mansfield.
“Whatever it was that tipped the scale and made them reconsider a different location, we're all very glad that it happened,” he said.
“We all hope that however it proceeds, it's done with the same kind of environmental concerns in mind.”
What is UConn building and what’s the controversy?
UConn is looking to build a new golf practice facility for its men’s team. The site will be smaller than a golf course and will not be open to the public.
The university initially proposed building the facility on top of a hill on the corner of Storrs Road and East Road. The site is currently home to a collection of dwarf conifer trees once studied by university researchers.
Construction would have involved “selective tree clearing,” according to the university. But local residents and protestors said tree clearing could lead to potential stormwater and pesticide runoff into residential wells and the Fenton River.
“We’re getting heavier rains, they’re coming in these massive deluges, flooding, that’ll go into people’s wells. It’ll have soil runoff. It'll take the chemicals from the grass and put it into the streams. There's no way that it makes sense,” said Phoebe Godfrey, a professor-in-residence of sociology at UConn, who took part in a protest at the university campus in April.
The notice did not specify why the project was not moving forward at its original location, but stated the cancellation was “unrelated to the environmental review requirements of the Connecticut Environmental Policy Act (CEPA).”
The university is now looking to build the project on its Depot Campus, located approximately 5 miles away from the original site in Mansfield.
Updated information on UConn’s website states the original site “remains viable for future developments,” but the Depot Campus site is “a better candidate at this time.” Four buildings on Depot campus, which are already in poor condition, are scheduled to be demolished in early 2027. The new site also has direct access to UConn utilities and requires less clearing work.
The proposed building will be approximately 6,000 square feet with office space, lockers, restrooms, showers, equipment storage and repair space, a team room, indoor putting and simulation areas, according to a new scoping notice published by the Council on Environmental Quality.
The facility will take up approximately 6.5 acres of land.
Learn more
Written comments from the public will be accepted until October 9. Requests for a public scoping meeting must be made by Sept 18. Comments and requests should be sent to: Ian Dann, Sr. Project Manager, University Planning, Design & Construction
E-Mail: ian.dann@uconn.edu
Áine Pennello is a Report for America corps member, covering the environment and climate change for Connecticut Public
