By Ken Valenti

WESTPORT–The owner of 55-57 Greens Farms Road, planning the residential development “The Fitzgerald,” will face less of an obstruction from wetlands after convincing the Conservation Commission that a 1983 town map overstates the sensitive areas by 2.4 acres.

Chris Robbins, a principal scientist with SLR Consulting, told the commission at its Wednesday night meeting in Town Hall, that the wetland areas had been impacted by the development of the site, which holds two office buildings. 

Timothy Hollister, an attorney for TC Greens Farms LLC, said his client “is affiliated with the Trammell Crow company,” the global real estate development firm.

Hollister said the plan is to create a multi-family residential community. He said the new maps were an “update” of conditions that have changed.

“The original map is almost 45 years old,” he said after the commission voted to accept the new maps.

With the change, the 22-acre site includes 374,615 square feet – about 8.6 acres of designated wetlands. The previous map showed 478,288 square feet, or 11 acres.

That’s a reduction of 103,673 square feet, a little more than a fifth of the previous total.

Andrew Hally, the town’s conservation analyst, said Jay Fain, an environmental consultant hired by the town, generally agreed with SLR’s findings.

Town records show that the owner bought the property for $25 million in February. The site is surrounded by single-family homes, the Assumption Greens Farms Cemetery and Greens Farms Road.

Hollister said the developer plans to create residences in 57 Greens Farms Road, the building closer to the road. The Fitzgerald’s project plans are in the works, he said.

Ken Valenti

^{_{A career journalist and lifelong resident of the New York City region, Ken Valenti has enjoyed decades of reporting local, regional and national news in New York and Connecticut. Topics of special interest are development, the environment, Long Island Sound and transportation. When not reporting, he’s always on the lookout for the perfect coffee shop or used book sale.}}