By Thane Grauel

WESTPORT — A Compo Beach home might be the town’s next pricey teardown.

No. 23 Soundview Drive last sold for $5 million in October 2021, and has been renting for just under $20,000 a month ($40,000 for July and August, according to a listing on realtor.com).

According to an application with the Zoning Board of Appeals, it would be demolished and replaced by a house on the same footprint, but slightly smaller overall.

Parts of the house date to 1909, according to land records. It has 3,226 square feet of living space.          

Peter Romano of LandTech is the applicant. The house is owned by Lola’s Beach Shack LLC. Architectural plans from Tanner White Architects are titled “New Single Family Home Hirani Residence.”

The new house at the corner of Soundview Drive and Danbury Avenue will need Coastal Area Management site plan approval from the ZBA as well as variances for coverage and setbacks.

“The architectural plans have been revised to reduce the size of the home and subsequently the coverage so that the proposed coverage is now less than the existing coverage,” Romano wrote to the ZBA. “It remains greater than allowable coverage. We are still seeking to allow the new home to be placed over the footprint of the existing home which will remain inside the setbacks.”

A few letters have been sent to the ZBA, all supporting the plan. One was from Jim Hood, also of Soundview Drive.

“I support the new house to be situated in its current location for the following reasons:

“• The plan will maintain the current streetscape of Soundview Drive and Danbury Avenue

“• It will maintain open green area on a street sorely lacking green space

“• It will maintain the views of the wonderful sculpture placed in the green space between 23 and 19 Soundview Drive

“• It will create a FEMA-compliant home, which is perhaps most important.”

Thane Grauel grew up in Westport and has been a journalist in Fairfield County and beyond for 35 years. Reach him at editor@westportjournal.com. Learn more about us here.