By Thane Grauel

WESTPORT — A plan to use the town-owned Linxweiler House at 655 Post Road East as a temporary shelter for the homeless was endorsed Monday by the Planning and Zoning Commission.

A $1 million plan to upgrade the Gillespie Center downtown is set to begin May 1, so the homeless people who spend nights there will have to stay elsewhere. Just a handful can be accommodated at Linxweiler, which previously had been used by Homes with Hope to house families in need.

Homes with Hope, which manages the Gillespie Center — and currently faces a funding gap for the renovation project — also will mange the Linxweiler shelter.

The P&Z was asked by Assistant Town Attorney Eileen Flug, on behalf of First Selectwoman Jennifer Tooker, to review an amendment to the lease between the town and Homes with Hope under the state’s 8-24 legislation, which governs municipal improvement requests.

The lease amendment would be in place for nine months, Flug said, and could be extended monthly after that with the first selectwoman’s approval. The original request was for five clients. Staff members will rotate shifts and always be on hand, she said, but won’t sleep there.

“It means a lot to the mission of Homes with Hope that we can keep a small shelter in Westport during the renovations,” Helen McAlinden, the organization’s president, told the commission Monday.

“We’re in the process of trying to find other places, shelters and housing for the people that live at Gillespie, during the renovations,” she said.

She asked for an addition to the amendment.

“We always keep a bed available for when the Westport police officers come in with somebody that may be on the street in Westport or found in Westport,” McAlinden said. “We would like to have one bed available in the cold months, to amend this to six beds.”

She said the fire marshal said six unrelated people could live in the house.

A staff report by the Planning and Zoning Department was supportive of the lease amendment.

“There was some question about whether or not there was an actual need for this particular 8-24 review by the commission, based up the modest nature of the request,” Planning and Zoning Directory Mary Young said. “But in the spirit of transparency, we thought it better to play it conservative and put it forth for a public meeting.”

There were questions from some Crescent Road neighbors, mainly about the clients, supervision, and what they might expect.

“We will have 24-hour supervision in the house,” McAlinden said. “During the day we have a case manager on site, and the second shift we have staff on site, and then the third shift there’s a security guard from 12 o’clock until 8 o’clock in the morning.”

She said there’s a 10 p.m. curfew. “After that it’s kind of locked down for the night.”

“We have concerns of where these residents go during the day,” said Debra Levin. “Will they be walking in our neighborhood? We don’t know who these people are. And we do have a lot of children and we would just like to know what to expect, and I think some people are not really happy with this.”

“These people are currently part of the fabric of Westport,” commission Chairman Paul Lebowitz said. “And they are currently interfacing in all aspects of life in Westport so you may have been shopping next to one of them at Stop & Shop and not even known it.”

Levin said she didn’t know most of the people at the Gillespie Center have been in Westport for some time.

“We’re just concerned, and we would like a little bit more information,” she said.

“The people that will be moved over, everybody has a housing plan,” McAlinden said. “Most people are working.”

She said that people bring dinner to the center have noted that not a lot of clients showed to eat.

“That’s a good thing,” McAlinden said, noting that some clients work several towns away, one as far as New York City, and use public transportation.

“Quite a lot of people are working, and if they’re not working, we will have a day plan for them,” she said.

McAlinden told the neighbors she’d give them her cell phone number. “If there’s ever a trouble you can call me … our people don’t cause much trouble, they’re just trying to get to the next point.”

“I’ve been working at homeless shelters for 30 years and I’ve never met a person that wanted to be in a homeless shelter,” she said. “Most people just hit hard luck.”

“I appreciate your response and I understand,” Levin said. “Thank you for that.”

Commission member John Bolton lives downtown, close to the Gillespie Center.

“I’ve found the residents to be very engaging and charming,” he said. “And there but for the grace of God go I.”

The commission members voted unanimously to issue a positive report.

Thane Grauel grew up in Westport and has been a journalist in Fairfield County and beyond for 36 years. Reach him at editor@westportjournal.com. Learn more about us here.