By John Schwing

WESTPORT — Even though a Lyons Plains Road church and neighbor failed to agree on the congregation’s plan to rent a former parsonage for outside events, the Planning and Zoning Commission gave its blessing to the application last week.

The Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Westport won the P&Z’s backing for its amended request to remove a restriction on rentals of a small building on its property at 14 Lyons Plains Road, located in a AAA residential zone.

That condition prohibited the congregation from renting the 4,000-square-foot building constructed in 1962, now called the meeting house, to outside groups or to expand its nursery school program.

Congregation officials at first sought to have that restriction lifted entirely, explaining in a letter that accompanied the application that membership has declined in recent years and the building is no longer needed for religious education classes. It is now “under-utilized” and the congregation wants to be able to rent to outside groups, church officials said.

But neighbors Leonard and Roberta Leibman, who live at an abutting property at 2 Coleytown Road, objected. In a June letter from their lawyer Patricia Sullivan, the couple indicated the change would lead to “commercialization” of the Unitarians’ property that could “disrupt the peaceful quiet and their enjoyment of their property.”

Congregation officials reached out to the Leibmans to try to address their concerns, and although zoning officials were informed “productive” discussions ensued, P&Z members were told Sept. 9 full agreement on the proposal ultimately eluded the two sides.

Ruth Fontilla, the parish administrator, told the commission the Unitarians and neighbors were unable to reach “consensus” on revising current restrictions on the meeting house’s use, primarily because the congregation felt their requests would be “too restrictive” on rentals.

One of the main sticking points, she said, was the Leibmans’ request that rentals be required to end at 8 p.m., while the congregation favored 10 p.m. to broaden the property’s appeal to potential renters — and assure a greater influx of needed revenue.

In an attempt to incorporate some of the neighbors’ feedback, Fontilla proposed to amend the current restrictions rather than eliminate them entirely, by adding the following language: “… not withstanding these limitations, the building may be rented to outside groups for educational or community purposes; use shall be limited to non-commercial and not-for-profit groups between 8 a.m. and 10 p.m. There is to be no sound amplification associated with any outside group’s use.”

Sullivan, representing the Leibmans, said they were grateful for Fontilla’s outreach and did not want to be “confrontational” over the issue. But, she said, they remain concerned about noise that could be generated by rentals until 10 p.m., as well a lack of a church representative on site to monitor activities and to secure the premises after a rental event ends.

P&Z members, however, seemed assured by Fontilla’s promise to make contact information available to neighbors who may want to register complaints about an event, as well as to ensure that any tenant’s activities that might require hiring a police officer to manage traffic would secure the required permits.

Neil Cohn complimented the congregation for a “thoughtful process” that led to the amended rules on using the property, adding it was a “reasonable request.”

Amy Wistreich said she recognizes that many religious groups and nonprofits are “struggling to be economically viable,” so finding alternative uses for their properties to help generate income is “appropriate.”

Other P&Z members expressed similar sentiments, and the Unitarians’ request was approved by a 6-0 vote.

John Schwing, interim editor of the Westport Journal, has held senior editorial and writing posts at southwestern Connecticut media outlets for four decades. Learn more about us here.