By Jarret Liotta

WESTPORT — While it wasn’t widely advertised to the public, an online debate Monday night for Westport’s Planning and Zoning Commission candidates via Sustainable Westport focused on environmental issues.

Three seats are up for grabs and the three Democratic incumbents seeking reelection — Chair Danielle Dobin, Secretary Michael Cammeyer, and Neil Cohn — each of whom coincidentally moved to town 10 years ago — presented themselves as a singular unit for reelection, touting their joint record in trying to put environmental issues at the heart of their work.

The two competitors vying for seats — Coalition for Westport’s Ron Corwin and Republican Jack Whittle — both former P&Z members, as well as a 35-year resident and a Westport native, respectively — sought to differentiate their candidacies and their approaches.

In some regards the differences expressed between the Democratic team and the challengers was a comparison between the old and new.

“The Westport I grew up in … is always being chipped away at,” said Whittle, defending the rezoning of the Baron’s South Park to passive open space during his watch — something the Democratic team has criticized and actively sought to reverse.

“Their efforts in that regard are probably the main reason that I decided to run for the P&Z again,” he said, noting he still stands for the same things he did before when he served two terms on the commission.

“I preserved it,” he said, asked what differentiated his candidacy. “They want to develop it.”

Dobin, however, took umbrage with his depiction and said that was “completely inaccurate.”

She said their efforts stem from requests by people in town government, including Sue Pfister, director of the Westport Center for Senior Activities, to look into creating active recreational opportunities at the park — something the Parks and Recreation Commission is currently considering.

“Nobody’s in a rush,” she said of the proposals, but tied it in with the idea that her Democratic team is striving to be proactive with its planning.

“We fundamentally changed the tone at P&Z to be forward thinking,” she said, noting that former iterations of the commission did not strive to incorporate environmental concerns into their planning or actions.

While the candidates seemed to be in general agreement as to the necessity to address various issues relating to climate change and flooding — and to promote sustainability — the role of the P&Z was seen somewhat differently.

“Climate change is in fact an existential issue for us,” Corwin said, “and it is essential that we all pay attention to it … We need to expand and multiply our efforts and action.”

“We need to make up for the many years that Westport’s P&Z didn’t plan for the future,” Cammeyer said.

Whittle pointed out that some of the issues under question “are somewhat outside the P&Z purview,” particularly where flooding and drainage is concerned.

Dobin disagreed, stating, “If we don’t make (it) a P&Z concern, nobody will.”

She said her and her team are moving forward trying to examine the town’s drainage network, which she said will have to include partnerships with residents as some of the work relates to private property.

Cohn, who works in the sustainability industry, said the goal of the town to become carbon-neutral by 2050 with its “Net Zero” initiative is good, but perhaps looks too far into the future.

“We should be doing things that are more near-term,” he said, including encouraging more clean energy in commercial development and through the schools and town.