The Westport Community Gardens were granted preliminary approval Monday to grow a little larger.

After two public meetings and hours of discussion, the Parks and Recreation Commission voted 4-0 to recommend to the Board of Selectmen approval for the proposed expansion to the community gardens, providing the gardeners create an acceptable self-monitoring plan for on-site activities during school hours.

The proposed expansion would add about 60 plots to the gardens that currently consists of 66 plots.

The reason for monitoring stems from concerns of the Long Lots School PTA, whose members argued the expansion to nearly double the gardens' size, and the number of people using them, would create an increased probability of an incident occurring on the property, located about 70 yards from the school.

"An incident doesn't equate to child molestation," PTA co-president Kathleen Nealon said at the Monday meeting. "I think there's been a lot of repetition by the gardeners group that this is our biggest concern. ... Our biggest concern is safety."

Nealon said that comes in the form of monitoring the parking lot, avoiding any altercations between parents and gardeners and "having a true measure of enforcement" for a recreational activity "that really has nothing to do with the school."

At last month's meeting, Parks and Recreation Commission chairman Richard Kestenbaum asked both the gardeners and the PTA to come up with a compromise that would allow the gardens to grow and provide safety for school children.

Nealon said the PTA suggested restricting gardening to hours when school was not in session or to require an attendant monitor the gardens when they are open.

Lou Weinberg, chairman of Westport Community Gardens, told the commission he disagrees the garden poses a safety concern. All gardeners go through a limited background check against the state's sex offender registry and all are required to carry photo identification passes on site. Weinberg said the gardeners would be willing to get photo IDs for all family members who come onto the property and would identify themselves as gardeners with car stickers.They also do not garden during periods of drop-off and pick-up at the school.

"While I appreciate the idea of gardeners being restricted from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., it is wholly unrealistic and the idea there is plenty of other times to garden is preposterous," Weinberg said at the meeting.

"Many of our gardeners garden during the day. They don't all come at the same time," he continued. "I firmly believe that the issue of there being people at the garden during the day that will compromise the safety of the children is unrealistic. ... The increased presence of good citizens - the gardeners - might deter crime, so that's something to consider."

Kestenbaum asked Weinberg what the gardeners reaction was to the idea of an attendant.

"Many of them were offended," he said. "They feel like they are being treated like second-class citizens. ... We don't have somebody who can sit there any day where there is a gardener present. It's a logistical nightmare."

During the meeting, superintendent of the Westport School District Elliott Landon asked the commission to postpone its decision to allow for a safety analysis to be done and to consider an alternative location for the gardens. Landon said the existing gardens could be turned into a parking area for school buses, which would save taxpayers nearly $3 million over the next 10 years.

Parks and Recreation Director Stuart McCarthy said the property is designated for future athletic fields but neither the need nor the funds have materialized for that purpose.

"Allowing the gardens would not preclude the town from going back and using that property again (for athletic fields)," McCarthy said. "The same may not be true if turning it over to a bus parking lot."

Ultimately, the commission decided to move the gardens forward to the Board of Selectmen with a recommendation for approval and a stipulation the gardeners monitor on-site activities in an acceptable way. Kestenbaum said the "acceptable" monitoring would be reviewed by McCarthy, the Board of Selectmen and the Planning & Zoning Commission.

While commissioner Janis Collins attended the meeting, she abstained from voting on the gardens.

"I really didn't like the ultimate resolution and I didn't understand who would make the acceptable terms," she said. "I ultimately believe those two groups should come up with a solution."