By Thane Grauel

WESTPORT — A Hartford Superior Court judge this week ruled against Hiawatha Lane neighbors who banded together to challenge a three-building, 157-unit apartment project at the end of a sleepy cul-de-sac.

The decision finally may clear the way for construction of the project, where 30 percent of the units would be set aside as “affordable.”

On Tuesday, Judge Marshall K. Berger granted a summary judgment in favor of the developer, Summit Saugatuck LLC., and against plaintiff Selma Miriam, et al.

Plans to develop the 8.8-acre property have been the source of litigation between the developer and, at various times over nearly two decades, the town and neighbors.

Neighbors, in their legal challenge filed last October, argued that deed restrictions on many neighborhood properties stipulated that they remain single family.

The town and developer had settled dueling litigation over the proposal last July in a court-approved deal.

“Given the lack of a common grantor, the conveyance of half of the lots without restriction and no map of the tract with the restriction, the undisputed facts demonstrate no question of fact that a uniform common plan does not exist in this case,” Berger wrote in his ruling this week.

The lawsuit is one of two court actions that have held up the razing of several houses in the modest Hiawatha Lane neighborhood nestled between Interstate 95, Metro-North Railroad tracks, Norwalk’s city line and Saugatuck Avenue.

Plaintiff uncertain of next step

Wednesday afternoon, Miriam was gardening outside her home on Hiawatha Lane.

She wasn’t sure if the ruling was a setback or final defeat in the case. She also didn’t know if an appeal is possible.

“I don’t want a summary judgment,” she said. “We have it on all of our deeds. You can’t have more than a single-family house.”

Miriam said she’s lived in her home since 1962, and likes everything about the neighborhood, except for the highway noise from Interstate 95. 

She recalled that, in years past, people who lived in the neighborhood and the rest of Saugatuck were largely Italian, and built I-95, worked on the railroad and had jobs as police officers and firefighters.

“When a child had a birthday, the whole street was invited,” she said.

“This is a working-class neighborhood,” she said. “Different from the rest of rest of Westport. Westport is scarcely working class.”

Up the street, where many houses are affixed with demolition notices, Mark Lazar was tinkering with a car in his driveway at 42 Hiawatha Lane Extension.

He’s the last person left on his block while he fights eviction ordered by the developer, Summit Saugatuck. The matter is pending in Housing Court.

“Nothing’s different,” he said of the judge’s ruling this week. “I still have possession. I have a trial in June. We’ll see what happens.”

Miriam’s lawyer and the lawyer for the developer could not be reached for comment Wednesday afternoon.

Developer poised to move forward

Peter Romano of LandTech, who works for Summit, said the decision will allow the apartment project to move forward.

“We’ll file our zoning and building permits, and get ready to construct,” he said Wednesday.

The apartment complex was first proposed almost two decades ago, and enabled by “8-30g” state legislation that gives developers leeway and leverage in towns where the housing inventory falls short of the state’s 10 percent threshold for “affordable” housing.

Thane Grauel is a freelance writer and frequent contributor to Westport Journal. Learn more about us here.