By Andy Brophy

WESTPORT–The Conservation Commission’s public hearing on a $100 million development proposed on Greens Farms Road was continued Wednesday night to a tentative date of Oct. 28.

Three members of the public spoke at Wednesday night’s hearing and expressed concerns about potential flooding from the proposed development, saying the 21.9-acre property at 55-57 Greens Farms Road was completely flooded during Sunday’s storm that dumped seven inches of rain in Westport.

Jennifer Driscoll of High Street said “extreme flooding” happened on the property and surrounding area and that numerous families lived nearby.

Beth Lomanto of Guyer Road said the entire property was flooded during Sunday’s storm and that ponds on the property couldn’t be distinguished from asphalt. She said she was concerned about the impact of stormwater runoff on nearby properties.

Alina Cravero of Hale Street questioned how much parking and impervious surfaces would be needed to accommodate a 250-unit residential development that would replace one of two office buildings on the site.

“I think it’s important to understand how a building this size impacts the entire lot,” she said. Cravero urged commission members to “even more scrutinize what is being proposed.”

Josh Lewi, the Conservation Commission’s chairman, said the commission had yet to receive a report on the proposed development from the town’s Flood and Erosion Control Board. That board was scheduled to review the proposed development on Sept. 2 but continued its review to Oct. 6, according to minutes of the board’s Sept. 2 meeting.

The development calls for the three-story, 60,000-square-foot southern office building, which is #57 and closest to Greens Farms Road, to be demolished and replaced by a 250-unit residential development. The residential development would include a mix of one-bedroom and two-bedroom units and 30 percent would be set aside as affordable housing.

The northern office building, #55 and also three stories and 60,000 square feet, would undergo exterior and interior renovations.

Timothy Hollister, a Hartford attorney representing TC Greens Farms LLC, which bought the property for $25 million in February, said the proposed residential building would comply with Federal Emergency Management Agency regulations.

Jason Williams, an architect at SLR Consulting in New Haven, said debris and invasive plants now in a stream channel on the site would be removed by hand, and Thomas Daly, an engineer at SLR Consulting, said flood storage on the site would increase by 660 cubic yards due to underground chambers.

Daly said the project meets town standards for stormwater management and erosion control and complies with Westport’s floodplain regulations.

Impervious areas on the property would increase by 13.8 percent, from 239,510 square feet to 272,520 square feet, according to the application.

Chris Robbins, a wetlands scientist at SLR Consulting, said 80 square feet of wetlands would be directly impacted, due to increasing the diameter of a stormwater pipe from 15 to 18 inches, and that the state Department of Environmental Protection said no protected species or habitats were on the site.

Hollister said the project would take about a year to build.

Hollister and Williams said the project also would include two interior courtyards, a trail system, sculpture garden, outdoor seating, an emergency access drive, open air pavilion and new trees and plantings. Cravero said parking for the proposed residential development would be underneath the building and questioned how many stories that building would be.

But Lewi said that was outside the Conservation Commission’s purview.

The proposed development’s height, impact on traffic and whether it would be in harmony with the surrounding area fall under the purview of the town’s Planning and Zoning Commission, which also would have to approve the project before construction could begin.

Lewi said he saw “enormous ecological benefit” from the project, and Conservation Commission member Michele Carey Moody spoke favorably of plans to clean debris and invasive plants from the stream channel.

Andy Brophy

Andy Brophy is an experienced Fairfield County journalist. Andy was a staff writer at The Connecticut Post for 10 years. He also wrote for the Norwalk Hour, Fairfield Minuteman, Fairfield Patch and weekly newspapers in Westport, Fairfield and Norwalk. When not reporting, Andy enjoys playing chess and listening to pianist Art Tatum. ^_.