By Thane Grauel

WESTPORT — A plan to tear down a $3 million house and replace it with new one won Conservation Commission approval Wednesday night, but with several conditions attached.

The vote to approve the plan for 2 Owenoke Park was unanimous. The plan includes a new FEMA-compliant house, as well as a pool and patio.

It was OK’d by the Flood and Erosion Control Board on July 6, and will now head to the Planning and Zoning Commission, which must ensure it meets the state’s Coastal Area Management requirements.

The Conservation Commission has jurisdiction because the property sits along Gray’s Creek, a waterway between Longshore Park and the western end of the Compo neighborhood, and near the boat basin at Compo. The application was filed by Environmental Land Solutions on behalf of Bluewater Owenoke 2 LLC.

Commission member Paul Davis, who lives nearby, said he recalled when the house was expanded and raised about 1994, many pilings were driven into the ground to support it being raised. He said they were the size of telephone poles.

He asked if they’d have to be removed.

William Chappa of Environmental Land Solutions said that is a possibility.

“I’ll have to defer to the structural engineer,” he said. “Once they get in to do the structural analysis on the site.”

“If they have to be removed that’s going to cause considerable disturbance,” Davis said.

Commission member Paul Lobdell noted the area can be windy, and worried that nails, roofing materials and other debris might end up in Gray’s Creek during the demolition phase.

Chairwoman Anna Rycenga had concerns about demolition dust reaching wetlands.

Kate Throckmorton, a Wilton land-use architect, said a detailed demolition plan could be included to address those concerns, and include the sequencing.

Michael Calise, who owns a 40-foot-wide strip of land to the west of the house, leading to a nearby undeveloped parcel, worried about grading of the land and runoff.

“Over time, someday, they will no longer be pervious,” he said of the patio tiles. “I worry about my road being flooded.”

Robert Sprouls said the plan has grading of just a few inches, far from Calise’s land, and also includes an underground drainage system.

Sprouls is one of the principals of Bluewater Home Builders, a firm that builds high-end homes in Fairfield and Westchester counties.

Another condition is that the driveway and patio be certified as pervious, and that a deed restriction requiring that in perpetuity be recorded in the land records.

Among other items in the conditional approval, the commission also wants more details about the pool, and will require a bond to ensure the plantings are done according to plan.

Thane Grauel, the Westport Journal executive editor, grew up in Westport and has been a journalist in Fairfield County and beyond more than three decades. Learn more about us here.