By John Schwing

WESTPORT — It’s still not a wrap.

The seemingly endless saga of the infamously unfinished blue-wrapped house looming over Old Mill Beach, after missing yet another target date for completion, has been granted a third extension for exterior work to be finished.

The Zoning Board of Appeals on Tuesday granted owner James Pendry that extension to a court-stipulated agreement, which now will require the remaining outdoor work at 233 Hillspoint Road be completed by Nov. 1, even though board Chairman Jim Ezzes’s patience was clearly wearing thin.

The house, which was listed as blighted by the town after construction had stalled for several years, was purchased by Pendry early this year. He inherited a stipulated agreement that resulted from neighbors’ lawsuit against the previous owner of the incomplete eyesore, which had defied years-long efforts by zoning officials to bring the project into compliance with the approved plans.

Prior to becoming the site of so much disputation, the property was home to waterfront dining at Cafe de la Plage, and later, Positano’s.

Since Pendry took over ownership, the ZBA has agreed to extend the deadline to complete exterior work two times earlier this year, and the applicant on Tuesday was seeking the board’s approval to extend the agreement a third time.

Pendry told the board that while significant progress has been made in adding siding to the structure — sandy gray panels now cover the notorious blue insulation wrap — other factors beyond his control have delayed overall completion. These include, he said, workers called away from his house to help with emergency repairs in upstate communities hard hit by the severe August rain storm and flooding, and even a contractor incapacitated by appendicitis.

Assistant Town Attorney Nicholas Bamonte told the board that Pendry had proposed a new Oct. 15 completion deadline for the modified agreement that will be filed in Superior Court.

“We can’t keep extending this,” Ezzes said, noting that two earlier deadline extensions the panel granted Pendry in April and July of this year had been missed.

Bamonte agreed, saying, “The issue is the deadline.” If any more deadlines are missed, he said, the project will be subject to “additional enforcement action.”

That, Ezzes said, “means the zoning permit would probably be rescinded” if work is not finished in compliance with the deadline specified in the modified agreement. 

Pendry initially said he was committed to assuring that all work would be completed by Oct. 15. Later, however, he said the board was pressuring him for “a very, very early deadline,” and claimed neighbors are not as concerned about the schedule as the ZBA is.

“You’ve never met any of your deadlines, Mr. Pendry, never, and we gave you a lot of latitude … we gave you additional time” to comply, Ezzes chastised the owner. What is Pendry prepared to do, Ezzes wanted to know, if the project encounters more unanticipated problems, such as a period of protracted rain.

Flustered by Ezzes’s questioning, Pendry said he would be more comfortable with a Nov. 1 completion date rather than Oct. 15 since “a million things” could go wrong.

The Oct. 15 extended deadline was requested by Pendry, Ezzes pointed out, not by the board. And after dealing with Pendry’s earlier extension requests that consumed a “huge amount” of Planning and Zoning Department staff time, he added, “we want a resolution to this.”

That prompted Pendry to say that instead of the suggested Oct. 15 completion date, he was revising his request to Nov. 1 “and let’s move on.” 

But when Ezzes again pointed out the Oct. 15 deadline had been Pendry’s request, the applicant retorted, his voice rising, “I understand, but you don’t understand the pressure that I feel from this board to get it done as quickly as possible.”

“We’re not pushing you, sir,” the chairman said, “we’ve been doing this since the beginning of the year with you …

“You’ve met nothing, you’ve made no effort to meet any of those deadlines …,” he added, prompting Pendry to interject, “You’re entitled to your opinion, Mr. Chairman.”

The Nov. 1 deadline is one Pendry said he is more confident of meeting, which finally would mean the Hillspoint house would no longer take up zoning officials’ time.

Ezzes noted that if the new deadline is missed the town will likely take action against Pendry.

Tempers appeared to cool when Ezzes said he would not object to extending Pendry’s Oct. 15 deadline request, preferring to avoid litigation if possible.

Following brief discussion, the rest of the ZBA members unanimously agreed to the modified date of Nov. 1 for completing all exterior work at 233 Hillspoint Road.

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.