By Kerri Williams

WESTPORT – The Planning & Zoning Commission gave its stamp of approval Monday on a residential development on Post Road West that will preserve a historic house that has become dilapidated.

In a busy meeting, commissioners also heard a pre-application that involved possibly saving another historic home on Crescent Avenue and approved a two-story addition to the Boathouse Restaurant for Saugatuck Rowing, at 521 Riverside Ave. 

Commissioners did not discuss a text amendment and project that would allow for offsite affordable housing for The Gables development on Post Road East. Chairman Paul Lebowitz said the offsite affordable plan was “not ready” for a vote although it was included on the work session portion of the agenda.

The P&Z voted 6-1 to approve the residential development at 50 Post Road West, with members praising a proposal that would save the historic Frederick Sherwood House and include both market-rate and affordable housing. The project was previously approved by the Architectural Review Board.

“I am very glad to see this come before us,” said P&Z Chairman Paul Lebowitz. “If you look up white elephant, you may just see this.”

When describing the project, Andy Soumelidis, a principal of Westport’s Landtech, said both the buildings and grounds of the “highly visible” site had become dilapidated over recent years. The 1835 Greek Revival-style building has been vacant for 10 years. 

The plan for adaptive reuse by Botero Property Management involves converting and expanding the historic commercial building into 13 residential units in addition to constructing four new townhouses on the property. The total of 17 units will include four that are deed restricted affordable.  Additional site improvements include a new parking area, landscaping, sidewalks and drainage enhancements.

The commission also passed text amendment 857, which would allow for the addition to the historic building to exceed 50 percent of the building area. The text amendment would not apply to any other existing structures in town.

While all commissioners spoke in favor of a plan for saving the historic building, some brought up concerns about parking and traffic issues that might arise in an already congested area. The commission decided to waive a traffic study for the site, with Lebowitz saying that doing one would most likely not change the outcome and result in delaying the project.

John Bolton, the one member to vote against the plan, made a motion for a continuance, saying he would most likely favor the traffic study.

“I am not ready to give up on this because of neighbors’ concerns,” Bolton said. “I think it would behoove us to do it.”

Soumelidis pointed out that the commission had noted in a previous pre-application for the project that members would be willing to waive the traffic study because the residential development would have less traffic impact than if a commercial development were proposed for the site, which is in the Restricted Office Retail District.

Another concern of some members was the number of traffic spaces on the site. The plan calls for 32 parking spaces, which is two less than the required 34.

Member Patrizia Zucaro pointed out that parking spaces would have to cover not just those that live on site but also potential visitors.

“I would really like to see at least what is required for parking,” she said.

Soumelidis said that finding extra parking on the site is very challenging because of the buffer requirements for residential neighbors and the topography of the site. 

During the public comment portion of the meeting, two neighbors spoke out about concerns for the project. Carol Cutler, who lives in an 1845 home that borders the property, said she was concerned about the stability of her old home with work being done so close by. Soumelidis said he would have an “ongoing dialogue” with the neighbor about precautions they would take to protect her property.

Soumelidis also spoke about many drainage enhancements on the site, which currently has none.

“I think this is a wonderful, well thought out project,” member Michael Calise said of the plan. “It’s a very positive approach to our needs for housing and affordable units.”

In other business, the commission heard a pre-application, or non-binding discussion, involving a property at 41 Crescent Rd. The property contains an 1890 home currently owned and lived in by Aiden Hayes and Maeve O’Connor.

John Fallon, a lawyer for the couple, told commissioners that his client was looking for feedback regarding two proposals for the 2.56-acre property. The first would be for a four-lot subdivision and new private road very similar to a proposal that was made and withdrawn in 2018. The second plan would be for a 30-unit, 8-30g residential development that would include the required affordable housing component. The four-lot subdivision would require a waiver of the zoning regulations because of the angle of the intersection between the roadway and proposed private road.

P&Z members said they would prefer the four-lot subdivision, with Chairman Lebowitz saying the 30 units “scares me to death” because of the traffic situation in the area. He added that he thought the idea of contrasting the subdivision, which saves the historic home, versus putting in the larger development is “a little disingenuous.”

“It’s not intended to be,” countered Fallon, saying that either alternative has benefits for the owner and the town. “The town has shown a strong commitment to affordable housing.”

The Commission also unanimously approved an addition and entryway to a restaurant at 521 Riverside Ave., the Boathouse Restaurant at Saugatuck Rowing. Commissioners praised the plan for the two-story addition that would allow customers to access the restaurant separately from the rowing club. The proposal was previously approved by the Architectural Review Board.

Kerri Williams

^{_{Kerri Williams is an award-winning writer and journalist. She has worked as a reporter at the Norwalk Hour, as Living editor at the Darien News-Review, and managing editor for the Norwalk Citizen-News. For Westport Journal, she is a reporter as well as a gardening columnist, writing “Cultivating with Kerri.” She recently published her first children’s book – “Mabel’s Big Move,” based on her daughter with special needs.}}