By Thane Grauel

WESTPORT — The Fairfield County Hunt Club has withdrawn its application to build pickleball courts.

The move came after neighbors’ concerns about noise, a dicey hearing before the Planning and Zoning Commission earlier this month, and a recent letter from a club member indicating all are not on board with disrupting the neighborhood.

The Planning and Zoning Commission last discussed the already altered plan for two courts at 174 Long Lots Road on Oct. 16. After a lengthy discussion, at times contentious, the commission pumped the brakes and delayed a vote.

The Planning and Zoning Department recently was notified the special permit/site plan application was being withdrawn.

“My client has authorized me to withdraw the application at this time as it relates to the proposed pickleball courts,” wrote John Fallon, the lawyer for the applicant. “This action is taken so as to afford the Club an opportunity to review comments received from the Commission and the public during the course of the of the public hearings that were conducted.

“This withdrawal is without prejudice to our rights and intention to file a new application with regard to the pickleball courts for consideration by the Commission,” Fallon wrote.

When the plan might be resubmitted is not known. Fallon couldn’t be reached for comment Monday.

Fallon’s letter indicated other aspects of the plan — “extension of the tennis courts, construction of a retaining wall and completion of a sewer connection” — could be approved by staff. He said he’d submit a site plan waiver form.

During the public hearing, neighbors not only worried about the notoriously noisy new sport, but spoke about existing noise from special events at the hunt club. Some said it could be heard inside their homes, even over television sets, and in yards a half-mile away. Events appeared to have ramped up in recent years, speakers said, and have lasted later into the night than in years past.

The last letter submitted to the P&Z was from Gery Grove, a club member. It seemed clear members were not of one mind on the issue.

“While some of my reasons have to do with internal club politics — mainly an obvious safety concern for animals and junior equestrians with any sort of additional noise without any modifications to keep our animals and children safe — some do not,” Grove wrote. “Producing a NEW club activity without testing the sound reduction measures is an affront to our neighbors who live there for its pastoral quality.”

“Hunt Club members come in many forms, and some consider the surroundings, while others do not,” Grove continued. “I consider my neighbors in that community often, as I likewise enjoy the quiet of the polo field in their neighborhood, and would like to voice support for their opposition to pickleball.”

Grove noted that unlike other areas in town where pickleball is played, the club is an expanse of grass, and sound might carry in an unpredictable way.

“Being able to continue the sport of riding (which both myself and my daughter participate in) within the Town of Westport is a great gift. We enjoy our surroundings with neighbors who appreciated what the club is like in its current iteration — not the vision of a multi-sport racquets club with no regard for neighbors, no consideration of their descriptiveness or the pastoral and peaceful qualities that go along with an equestrian facility.

“Make no mistake, many of us are here to show gratitude for the neighbors and their needs,” Grove concluded. “Please hear their concerns and consider rejection of this application.”

The matter was to be heard at the P&Z’s next meeting, Nov. 6. That formerly weighty agenda is looking a lot lighter after the Parker Harding Plaza redesign plan also was withdrawn by the town, after receiving a frosty reception from the commission.

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.