By Gretchen Webster
WESTPORT — Thirty residents and downtown merchants gathered Monday to tell Representative Town Meeting members how they feel about a plan to revamp the Parker Harding parking lot, which would eliminate 47 parking spaces and the access road by the river.
Not good.
“This is a completely reckless project,” Jamie Walsh, a resident of Gorham Street and member of the town’s Shellfish Commission, told the group at Mrs. London’s Bakery on Church Lane. “Shutting off the access road makes no sense.”
“No one is benefitting from this,” Cathy Walsh, a former Planning and Zoning Commission chairwoman, said of the Downtown Plan Implementation Committee’s plan to remodel the parking lot to make the area greener and more pedestrian friendly.
The merchants and residents said they oppose the project itself, and are aggravated because they believe the DPIC members are not listening to them, and did not keep them informed about the project and its impact on parking and traffic.
“They don’t want to hear us,” Patrick Jean, co-owner of Nômade restaurant, said of the committee. Lack of parking is a huge concern for downtown business owners, he said. “Every Thursday, Friday and Saturday, people who have a reservation call and cancel because they can’t park.”
The meeting was organized by Representative Town Meeting members Nancy Kail and Sal Liccione from District 9, which encompasses downtown. Two other RTM members from District 9, Lori Church and Kristin Schneeman, did not attend.
Several attendees had signed a petition, posted by Douglas Enslin on change.org, protesting the project. “We’re all looking for a solution here that makes sense,” Enslin said. “What are the RTM members going to do about it?”
His petition, called the “Opposition to Parker Harding Plaza Access Road & Parking Space Elimination Proposal,” asks for the “Downtown Plan Implementation Committee to propose a viable alternative that does not impose further burdens on the residents of Westport, visitors and downtown business owners/employees.”
As of early Tuesday, nearly 400 people had signed the petition.
Kail said that although District 9 representatives hold meetings monthly, they have never had close to the number of people who attended Monday.
She explained that the downtown project would have to be reviewed and approved by several town boards before it could move forward. She urged the group to attend those meetings and voice their disapproval, including the next meeting of the DPIC, which is set for 8:30 a.m. Thursday, June 8. Neither an agenda nor location for the meeting had been posted on the town’s website by Tuesday morning.
Gina Porcello, owner of GG & Joe, questioned the survey results posted on the DPIC website. The committee’s research included “dings in cars” as accidents, according to Porcello, and the traffic study was conducted over just two days on a holiday weekend.
“Respondents [to the survey] were not from that area,” said Laureen Haynes, proprietor of the The Chocolatieree shop. She agreed with Porcello and with Jean, who also said none of the downtown restaurant owners and other merchants he contacted knew anything about the project and survey.
“How are new businesses going to come in” if there is not enough parking? Haynes said.
Resident John McCarthy asked the merchants to speak to their landlords about joining opposition to the downtown plan. “The value of the properties will go down,” if the project results in greater traffic problems downtown, he said.
Liccione said that First Selectwoman Jennifer Tooker has the power to table the proposal while more research is done. He and Walsh agreed that Tooker should be presented with the petition, and meet with residents and merchants to iron out a solution.
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.
The online petition has been up for less than 48 hours and has been signed by almost 500 people opposed to the plan. That is more people than responded to the Phase 2 Survey that the DPIC is pointing to as “proof” of the overwhelming town support for the plan. Proof that grass roots communications by citizens is more valuable than the polished work of out of town consultants.
To sign or to just view the petition go here https://www.change.org/p/opposition-petition-to-parker-harding-plaza-access-road-parking-space-elimination-propos
Thanks to RTMs Kail and Liccione for meeting with their constituents about this problem. Quite disappointing that our other two District 9 RTMs, Lori Church and Kristin Schneeman were total no shows. People with knowledge of the situation whom I spoke with at the meeting said that there was a reason for their absence: apparantly both are OK with the proposed plan to kill the congestion mitigating bypass road and wipe all those parking spaces. That would be quite shocking if true. At any rate, I really hope that’s not the case as we’re counting on our all our RTMs to stand up for us.
Morley, my inability to attend Monday’s meeting is not a reflection of my interest in this issue. I attended the previous gathering of business leaders and heard many of these legitimate concerns. I object to your characterization of my views based on unnamed sources; you know very well how to reach me to ascertain them directly. I believe the revitalization of Parker Harding Plaza is a priority for Westport, but I believe the plan we’ve been presented with is not much more than a nicer-looking parking lot and share many of the concerns that business owners and residents have expressed. While public input was sought on the front end of the design process, there has been precious little opportunity for input on the draft design, and as far as I can tell almost no outreach to local businesses. I will continue to provide input to the relevant players as this plan works its way through the process to get to the best possible outcome for the town.
Thanks for confirming your opposition to this plan as presented, Kristin. Unlike Rep Kail, I don’t view that as “inappropriate”. We need advocates, not people in blue helmets. As an aside, it’s unfortunate that you and I have experienced difficulty communicating with each other in the past. Here’s hoping that things maybe improve slightly going forward.
REMEMBER IN NOVEMBER.
I encourage all those who oppose this proposal to attend the Downtown Planning and Implementation Committee Meeting on THURSDAY June 8, at 8:30am at Town Hall. The agenda is posted on the link below. This is tabled as the first item on the agenda.
It truly is unfortunate that non of these meeting can be held during the evening when most constituents are able to attend.
https://www.westportct.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/76315/638216601422065615
I agree, Jamie, these daytime public meetings do not really serve the best interests of residents. That practice is another one of those bad habits at town hall which should have been dialed back long ago.
For a while now, we four District 9 RTM representatives – Kristin, Lori, Sal and Nancy – have held monthly chats a couple days before our Tuesday RTM meetings. We set up these gatherings as a convenient way to hear about items that are important to our constituents. Sometimes all four of us D9 Reps attend these monthly chats and sometimes fewer of us attend; our presence or absence are due to personal scheduling abilities and are not statements of support or disapproval for items discussed. For me, these D9 gatherings are opportunities to listen and learn. Sometimes I might suggest a course of action to someone attending our chat or pass along someone’s concerns to an appropriate town body. However, I rarely voice my own opinions during these sessions. Yesterday, a number of D9 merchants and residents attended our monthly chat. They wanted to discuss the Parker Harding project. I listened and learned and promised to continue to attend Parker Harding related DPIC, P&Z and other meetings. I did not voice my own opinion on the project; it was not the appropriate time to do so. I encouraged everyone present to also attend Parker Harding related meetings to voice their opinions, concerns and ideas about this project. I am grateful to the many who showed yesterday and contributed to the dialogue regarding Parker Harding. I look forward to more conversations about this project and other important D9 and town issues.
That’s all fine, Nancy. But at some point I think many of your D9 constituents are going to expect you to take a public position on this matter.
Knowing when to listen, speak and act are also parts of leadership. My voting record, public comments when appropriate and efforts to engage community members speak for themselves. I continue to be grateful for your feedback and involvement in town issues. See you Thursday morning!
DPIC published the meeting agenda yesterday. Please follow link below to understand the meeting flow.
https://www.westportct.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/76315/638216601422065615
I have a comment about the meeting time and hope many of you feel the same, 8:30AM is an impossible time for many of us who work outside the town of Westport. I worked in the City and have meetings with my top client tomorrow. Unfortunately, I will not be able to attend. Rescheduling my meeting is not an option for me. If you share my same challenges, I would suggest sharing with everyone at Town Hall your frustration. Consequential meetings are best held at night when everyone can be included.
Doug, great points. This is such an important issue that has been lacking in transparency, that a town-wide evening discussion on it is warranted ASAP. One way to do this is to get it on the RTM agenda by having a petition signed by at least 20 Westport voters. Please email me at johndmc888@gmail.com if you are interested in signing such a petition.