By Kerri Williams
WESTPORT – During a meeting that was shorter than originally planned, the Planning & Zoning Commission voted to change the zoning in the Saugatuck area on Monday, an action that some members had said was a long time in coming.
The commission voted unanimously to pass text amendment 877, which eliminates the General Business District/Saugatuck Marina Zone created in 2022 for the Hamlet development. In a separate map amendment, the commission voted to rezone 14 properties in Saugatuck Center to General Business District/Saugatuck (GBD/S).
“This is what we all clamored for,” P&Z Chairman Paul Lebowitz said to start off the discussion on the zone change. “Here it is.”
In the early minutes of the meeting, Lebowitz announced that several items on the agenda would not be taken up on Monday but would be continued to the Oct. 5 meeting. The continued items include two text amendments: a controversial proposal to permit fenced-in dog areas at certain town parks and a proposal to create a new Food and Beverage Planned Development District. Some residents left the Zoom meeting following the announcement.
All P&Z members were on board for the Saugatuck zone change, including Patrizia Zucaro and Michael Calise, who previously stated that the action should have been taken sooner. Both members were concerned that the marina zone allowed for developments that were too large for the Saugatuck area.
“I highly approve it,” Calise said of the new text and map amendments. “It’s an excellent change for the Saugatuck area.” He went on to call it a “good baseline for the future.”
In the text amendment, the minimum lot size for the GBD/S zone would be modified to just over 3,000 square feet and the cap of two developments in the zone would be removed.
In a presentation to the commission, Michelle Perillie, director of P&Z, said the amendments expand eligibility for the GBD/S regulations, provide greater flexibility in lot size, make it possible for more properties to be developed, and encourage redevelopment consistent with the established development pattern of Saugatuck.
Currently, there is a proposal in Saugatuck for a 165-unit residential development on Riverside Avenue by Spinnaker Real Estate Partners. That plan is still in the pre-application stage, with P&Z commissioners questioning the percentage of affordable housing units proposed.
Perillie also spoke about why the zone change is in line with the town’s Plan of Conservation and Development; it helps preserve coastal resources, improves streetscape and traffic flow, and helps to maintain the “sense of place” of downtown Westport and Saugatuck Center.
The amendments passed 6-0, with positive votes from Craig Schiavone, Breanne Injeski, Lebowitz, Calise, Zucaro, and Nicole Laskin. Michael Cammeyer left the meeting before the vote.
Kerri Williams
Kerri Williams is an award-winning writer and journalist. She has worked as a reporter at the Norwalk Hour, as Living editor at the Darien News-Review, and managing editor for the Norwalk Citizen-News. For Westport Journal, she is a reporter as well as a gardening columnist, writing “Cultivating with Kerri.” She recently published her first children’s book – “Mabel’s Big Move,” based on her daughter with special needs.
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