Council votes down deer-crossing sign

The Fairfield City Council voted down a proposal Monday to install a deer crossing sign on North B Street.

Resident David Goodman asked for the sign to be installed along B Street between Evergreen Cemetery and Baggett Drive, the road that leads to the Punj outdoor tennis courts. He noted that the area is densely wooded and attracts a large number of deer. On top of that, the speed limit on North B Street near that location is 35 mph, and cars are going that fast or faster when they come down the hill. All those factors make for a dangerous road, Goodman said.

Goodman's arguments did not persuade the council, which voted 5-2 against a motion by councilor Paul Gandy to install a deer crossing sign. Councilor Tom Twohill was the only other yes vote. The no votes were Michael Halley, Katy Anderson, Doug Flournoy, Tom Thompson and Martha Rasmussen.

Goodman said that since he lives in the area, he knows to slow down and watch for deer. He wanted a deer crossing sign for visitors who are unaware of how many deer cross at that spot. He even offered to pay for the sign.

'I'm lucky I didn't hit one,” he said. 'My wife alerted me, and I was able to slam on the brakes. I would have been one of the statistics.”

Goodman took his concerns to the council's public safety committee, which recommended the council take no action. Anderson told Goodman at the council meeting that she appreciated his offer to pay for the sign, but she worried about the precedent it would set where residents could ask for signs wherever they wanted.

'Legitimately, they could be all over town,” she said. 'And we have a lot of signs already.”

Anderson said the city has taken steps to reduce the deer population by allowing hunting on private property, though results from that action won't be noticeable for a few years.

Gandy mentioned that Maharishi University of Management removed trees on the east side of its campus because deer were congregating there. Gandy was initially hesitant to approve the sign because he worried that too many other people would want a similar sign, and because he felt visibility in that area was good enough to give drivers proper warning.

Goodman questioned the councilors about whether there would really be a proliferation of signs as they feared.

'I haven't seen anybody else request one,” he said. 'Has anybody else requested this?”

Anderson said other people have asked the city to do something about the deer population.

Mayor Ed Malloy said a car traveling at 25 mph should have enough time to see and stop for a deer in the road.

'But at that area, it's 35,” he said. 'If there was one place in town where [a sign] was justifiable, it would be there.”

Gandy proposed a temporary sign on B Street to see if it would reduce vehicle-deer collisions. He initially motioned to install a sign for 90 days, but Malloy said it didn't make sense for the city to pay for a sign for such a short time, so Gandy struck the 90 days from his motion.

Twohill asked Gandy to amend his motion to make it clear that the city is only installing deer-crossing signs in areas with speed limits of 35 mph or greater. Despite the amendment, the motion failed.