By Gretchen Webster

WESTPORT — Plans for a new hotel on the 3.8-acre site of the former Westport Inn have been designed, and redesigned, since it was purchased for $5 million in November 2020. 

On Monday night, a revised plan to develop the property into a luxury Delamar hotel moved forward with unanimous approval from the Planning and Zoning Commission

The latest modified plan for the 1595 Post Road East property would increase the number of rooms in the proposed hotel by 11 from the plan approved last October, bringing the total to 86 rooms, within the same footprint for the project.

The modified plan still decreases the number of rooms in the new hotel from the 117 rooms when it functioned as the Westport Inn. 

During the COVID pandemic, initial plans called for creation of “a condotel,” land-use consultant Rick Redniss told the commission, which would have provided larger individual spaces for sale and rent. 

But market research shows a decline in concerns about COVID has boosted the hospitality business again and “generated new thoughts about large units vs. smaller unit sizes,” he said. With the hotel business picking up, creating more and smaller rooms would be a better business plan, Redniss said.

The new hotel will part of the Delamar luxury chain, similar to the nearby Delamar hotel in Southport, he said. The Delamar hotels are owned by Greenwich Hospitality group, with hotels and restaurants in Southport, Greenwich, West Hartford and Michigan.

The P&Z passed the modified plan with little discussion since the modifications would not make major changes to the exterior or interior of the proposed building as outlined.

Redniss said later that construction for the project is expected to start this spring and should be complete by the summer of 2024.

Paying in lieu of open space

A two-lot subdivision at “0” Maple Avenue North was also approved Monday by the P&Z. 

A one-acre lot will be split into two one-half acre lots, explained Bryan Nesteriak, an engineer hired by the property owners, SIR Development.

Although the size of each lot conformed to zoning regulations, the subdivision plan did not set aside 10 percent open space on the lots, as required by Westport regulations. And taking away land for open space would make each of the two half-acre lots non-conforming, Nesteriak said.

When a developer opts out of providing the required open space within a development, they must provide “a fee in lieu of open space,” which is up to 10 percent of the value of the land before it is subdivided, according to Mary Young, the town’s planning and zoning director.

The calculation on the amount owed is completed by an appraiser approved by the town and paid by the subdivision applicant. Once the appraisal is agreed upon, the town will get its portion of the fee each time a lot is sold, she said.

 Commission member Neil Cohn said that he had heard that developers of other properties in the same area had paid fees in lieu of open space that ranged from $18,000 to $75,000. Young said, however, the amount in this application could not be estimated until an appraisal was done.

 The fee will be added to a fund the town uses to purchase open space elsewhere.

The developer offered to make the payment, and the subdivision plan was approved by all commission members, except Patrizia Zucaro, who voted against it, she said, because she didn’t think it was fair to penalize an owner who had brought in a plan with two lots that met size requirements.

Freelance writer Gretchen Webster, a Fairfield County journalist and journalism teacher for many years, was editor of the Fairfield Minuteman newspaper for 10 years and teaches journalism at Southern Connecticut State University.