By Kerri Williams

WESTPORT – The Planning and Zoning Commission on Monday continued a public hearing on a text amendment meant to preserve historic structures in town and later unanimously passed a special permit application from Aquarion Water Company concerning the height of water tanks on North Avenue. The Aquarion application received pushback from neighbors during a public hearing last month.

Both commissioners and members of the public praised Wendy Van Wie, a member of the Historic District Commission, for her work on proposed Text Amendment 859, which would clarify and replace zoning regulations 32-18 giving owners of historic homes incentives for subdividing their properties.

Grayson Braun, chairwoman of the Historic District Commission, said that Van Wie has been working on the details of the text amendment for years, praising her as the “resident expert” on the topic. Braun said the prior regulations were “laughable” because of being hard to understand.

“I strongly support (the text amendment),” Braun said. “It was not usable as it exists. If we don’t change it, we should just scrap it.”

The proposed text amendment got mixed feedback from several members of the public who spoke at the meeting, with some saying that the definition of a historic structure is too narrow.

RB Benson, a builder in town who is also a member of the Zoning Board of Appeals, told commissioners that the new text amendment would reduce the number of eligible homes and “appears much more restrictive.” 

Benson said that many people in town are interested in saving more than just the oldest or most historically significant homes, saying that “the cute house down the street” also might be worth saving. “We don’t want to be limiting eligible properties,” he said.

The proposed text amendment would generally limit structures qualifying for subdivision to those built pre-1800, with some exceptions for those of historical significance.

Gloria Gouveia, who commented after Benson, questioned his ability to comment at a P&Z public hearing, since he currently sits on the ZBA. Chairman Paul Lebowitz pointed out that Benson said he was speaking as a private citizen and not in his capacity as a ZBA member.

Gouveia went on to say that she favors keeping the existing regulations. She challenged residents to read the current regulations and “tell me that you don’t mind losing everything in it.”

But Toni Simonetti, of Evergreen Parkway, praised the proposed text amendment for allowing the preservation of historic structures. She mentioned a recent P&Z application concerning 125 Riverside Ave. that involved a 1756 home on the Saugatuck River that might have been demolished in the plan from developer Lucien Vita.

“We are tearing down too many important structures,” Simonetti said. “Riverside brought this to our attention. We need to do something.”

Commissioners continued the public hearing to the Feb. 2 meeting, which Lebowitz said would give townspeople more opportunity to “weigh in” and leave feedback.

In other business, the commission unanimously approved an application for a special permit concerning modifications made during the construction of water tanks on North Avenue.

The Aquarion Water Company project has been the subject of litigation and a settlement with neighbors. In making their decision, commissioners were mainly asked to consider the height of the tanks and the landscaping on the property.

During a December meeting, Westport resident Mark Lemcke, who wrote numerous letters to the commission, said that the size of the tanks is larger than authorized and that they are not screened properly. On Monday, Lebowitz referred to the “robust conversation” that took place previously.

The Commission voted 5-0 in favor of the application. The two commissioners not voting were Patrizia Zucaro, who was not at Monday’s meeting, and John Bolton, who attended the first portion of the meeting.