By Gretchen Webster

Two property owners seeking waivers of the town’s rules against encroaching into the public right-of-way received two different outcomes at Wednesday’s Board of Selectwomen meeting.

One waiver request to reconstruct and install a stone stairway, partially located within the right-0f-way at 276 Main St., won quick and unanimous approval by the three selectwomen.

But the bid for a waiver to repair an old stone wall at 11 Little Fox Lane generated so many questions the board tabled the item until the applicant can return with a more detailed plan.

Not only must a detailed proposal for the Little Fox encroachment area be prepared, the property owner must also sign a standard “hold harmless” insurance agreement to protect the town from liability problems, the selectwomen said.

Repair or remove?

Owner Rabia Hayden, of 11 Little Fox Lane, was requesting a waiver to repair the stone wall encroaching into the town’s right-of-way next to her property. 

Keith Wilberg, an engineer with the town’s Department of Public Works, said the wall appears to have been “disrupted” in several places, and in such cases, the DPW recommends that whatever encroaches into a right-of-way be either entirely removed or moved back onto the owner’s property.

But moving the wall or demolishing it “destroys the look and the history” of the property, Hayden said. Redcoat Road, which intersects with Little Fox Lane, commemorates British troops’ Revolutionary War invasion of Westport through the neighborhood.

“We would like to fix the wall so that this wall can be preserved,” said Hayden, emphasizing its historical aesthetics. “This wall has seen it all, I think.”

But Wilberg noted there are several problems with the wall that need to be fixed before the town would consider a waiver. Several broken down parts of the wall pose “a safety hazard,” he said. “A stone could fall down on the road,” posing a traffic hazard. 

In one section, stones have tumbled out near the break; a second spot is damaged where utility lines were installed through the structure, and trees planted near the wall also pose a problem in a third spot, the engineer said.

“I’m not going to say whether I’m going to be in favor or against [granting the waiver] until the three areas are cleaned up,” he added.

Hayden told the selectwomen that she and her husband bought the property two years ago, and did not cause the breaks in the wall.

They want to repair the wall, she said, but not if those repairs still are not considered adequate to qualify for a waiver. It would be cheaper to simply take down the wall entirely, she said the couple has been told.

Fairness of rules questioned

The wall also lines other properties along the street, Hayden added. She particularly does not understand why the Haydens should be responsible for mistakes made by a previous owner. 

“It doesn’t seem fair,” she said. “We didn’t build the wall.”

Hayden also bristled at the idea of having to pay insurance on the encroachment area for as long as they owned the property.

“I’m not willing to take on any liability,” she said. “It could be an act of God” that might cause damage within the town’s easement.

Assistant Town Attorney Eileen Lavigne Flug explained that owners of every property in town that requires a waiver and encroachment easement have to provide liability insurance for the town’s portion of the land used by the property owner.

“If you want the waiver, we will have you sign a hold harmless [agreement] and provide copies of your insurance on an annual basis,” Flug said.

Brian Stern, a Board of Finance member speaking as a neighbor of the Haydens, supported the plan to repair the wall, which he said “needs to be fixed.”

“I’m fully in favor of this. It’s a historic pile of stone,” and not dangerous in any way,” Stern told the meeting. “All the residents around would be very supportive of it. … This would improve the aesthetics.”

First Selectwoman Jennifer Tooker said it seemed that a meeting between Hayden, Wilberg and Flug would be the best next step for the property owners. “There are some parts of this that may not be clear for you,” she told Hayden. Such a meeting meeting, Tooker said, would help Hayden “understand what your responsibilities are with this and what you want to do.”

When Hayden agreed, Selectwoman Candice Savin made a motion to postpone consideration of the encroachment waiver until a future meeting to be scheduled “when the applicant signifies that they are ready.” The motion passed unanimously.

Main Street application OK’d without comment

The waiver request for the property at 276 Main St. was presented to the board by Peter Romano of Landtech, on behalf of property owner Ezra Greenberg.

The planned reconstruction of the encroaching stairway would include new curbing, he said.

Wilberg said while the DPW routinely recommends against granting waivers if work needs to be done within a town right-of-way, this project would reduce the existing encroached area by about 40 square feet. 

Taking that into consideration, he said, the department has no objection to issuing the waiver.

The application raised no questions from the selectwomen or the public, and the waiver was granted unanimously.

Freelance writer Gretchen Webster, a Fairfield County journalist and journalism teacher for many years, was editor of the Fairfield Minuteman newspaper for 10 years and currently teaches journalism at Southern Connecticut State University.