By Thane Grauel

WESTPORT — About a dozen members of the Representative Town Meeting and other interested people took a walking tour of the recently rezoned area of Saugatuck on Friday.

It was a field trip for the RTM’s Planning and Zoning and Transit committees, in response to a petition by citizens to have the town’s lawmaking body review the Planning and Zoning Commission’s recent decision to rezone the heart of Saugatuck.

The RTM, under the Town Charter, has the power to override the P&Z’s decision to drastically alter zoning in the area. That would require a two-thirds vote — 24 members, regardless of how many are attendance for the meeting.

Any fewer than 24 votes, or no action by the RTM, means the P&Z decision stands.

The tour, mostly led by Planning and Zoning Commission Chairwoman Danielle Dobin, laid out the parameters of the text amendments, including floor-area coverage, building heights (maximum under certain conditions of 65 feet), setbacks from roads, and various bonuses for providing public open space.

The text amendments were proposed to enable a plan called the Hamlet at Saugatuck, by developer ROAN Ventures. It would be a multi-use development of retail, hotel and residential buildings between the Saugatuck River, Charles Street, Franklin Street and Railroad Place.

Many structures would replace the Saugatuck long familiar to many — Minuteman Cleaners, the building housing Tutti’s Ristorante, the town’s last boat yard and Morton’s Parking shelters, which date back about many decades.

It also would include a major facelift for the office building at 23 Charles St., much maligned over the last half-century. It has a sculpture affixed to one side, looking something like a dinosaur fossil gone wrong, a puzzlement to many that might not be missed.

The P&Z and Transit committees of the RTM had an online meeting planned Thursday night, but technical difficulties scuttled it — the town’s Zoom plan allows a maximum of 100 members and that capacity was quickly reached.

Mandell said during Friday’s tour that the meeting had been rescheduled and would be re-noticed. And, he said, the town was seeking to up its Zoom meeting attendance to 500 people.

The P&Z and Transit committees of the RTM will meet online at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 10, and Thursday, Jan. 12.

Thane Grauel, executive editor, grew up in Westport and has been a journalist in Fairfield County and beyond more than three decades. Reach him at editor@westportjournal.com. Learn more about us here.