By John Schwing

WESTPORT — Planning and Zoning Commission approval of plans to redesign the Parker Harding Plaza and Jesup Green parking lots, the subject of controversy for a year, is being challenged in court.

A lawsuit has been filed against the P&Z’s April 8 approval of an 8-24 report and coastal site plan for the project by three downtown business owners. The commission narrowly approved the application by a 4-3 vote.

The appeal, filed Monday at state Superior Court in Bridgeport, contends the P&Z action — which came after months of debate and several revisions to the parking redesign plans — was “illegal, unlawful, arbitrary and capricious,” according to the court filing.

The lawsuit asks the court to nullify the P&Z decision and order the panel to deny the application. The suit also asks that legal costs of the appeal be awarded to the plaintiffs.

The plaintiffs include the owners of  Nômade restaurant at 150 Main St.; Honeydo Family LLC, owner of the building at 161 Main St., and Elixir Spa LLC, a business at 163 Main St.

The “aggrieved” parties, as they are described in the lawsuit, are all within 100 feet of one of the parking lots, according to the document.

The plaintiffs argue the plans would harm their businesses because they reduce and/or eliminate downtown parking spaces and hinder access and parking for their “tenants, customers and patrons,” according to the lawsuit. As a result, the plans will have an adverse impact on their business revenues and property values, the suit contends.

The lawsuit, filed by Joel Green, a Bridgeport-based lawyer with a speciality in zoning law, has a return date of June 4.

Green did not return calls for comment.

The plans approved by the P&Z call for eliminating 42 parking spaces at Parker Harding Plaza to bring the lot into compliance with current safety and accessibility standards, and to replace those spaces by carving a new parking area into upper Jesup Green near the Westport Library.

Although the lawsuit specifically cites the Planning and Zoning Commission for its action, the legal challenge potentially poses a major setback for the downtown parking plans advanced by First Selectwoman Jennifer Tooker and the Downtown Plan Implementation Committee since last spring.

Tooker, the Town Attorney’s Office, Paul Lebowitz, the P&Z chairman, and Mary Young, the P&Z Department director, were not available to respond to emailed requests for comment.

Among the plaintiffs’ specific objections are that the P&Z:

• “Ignored and acted in a manner that is inconsistent with and in violation of” the required approval process.
• Failed to make “required findings of fact” or “identify sufficient or adequate reasons” for its decision.
• Failure to comply with “requirements, standards and conditions” set by the town’s zoning regulations.
• Based its decision “on speculation, interference and the consideration of matters not legally relevant or proper” for review of the application.