By Thane Grauel

WESTPORT — The Planning and Zoning Commission tonight might discuss legal matters regarding a small property that has caused much disagreement over the last decade.

The northeast corner of Post Road East and Roseville Road — 715 Post Road East — for years has been used by a tree service. Logs, trucks and heavy equipment have been present on the site. The town has had problems with that, but the central issue appears the property owner’s longstanding effort to build a 4,420-square-foot office building on the property.

William W. Taylor applied to do that in 2012, and he’s still trying to make it happen.

The application process — and relations between the staff and commission and the applicant and his lawyer, Laurel Fedor, court records indicate — have been what you might call complicated.

The P&Z had denied the application, and litigation ensued. The applicant argued that the commission did not properly allow his application to be heard, shutting down discussion before being denied.

The Superior Court upheld the commission’s denial.

Taylor brought the case to the appellate court, which ruled he was denied a fair hearing and that the P&Z should rehear the application. But it stopped short of granting zoning approvals, as was sought.

Taylor, in April, appealed to the Connecticut Supreme Court, arguing the appellate court erred in not granting zoning certification, and noting, among other points, that commission members (it appears only then-commission Chairman Paul Lebowitz remains on the P&Z) used language he took issue with. One member, court records state, called the applicant’s filings “crap.”

“Commission members commented on the plaintiff’s previous applications, stating repeatedly that they were a ‘shit show,’ ‘horrible,’ ” and, the appeal states, a more vulgar term.

(See the plaintiff’s filing at the end of this article.)

On May 16, the Supreme Court denied the petition.

The Town Attorney’s Office is expected to brief current Planning and Zoning Commission members on the matter. An executive session — a closed hearing — is on the agenda for the meeting at 7 p.m. June 5.

Pending litigation is one of a just a handful of justifications for holding an executive session under the state’s Freedom of Information Act.

Here is the plaintiff’s appeal to the Connecticut Supreme Court, containing much of the judicial background:

Thane Grauel grew up in Westport and has been a journalist in Fairfield County and beyond for 35 years. Reach him at editor@westportjournal.com. Learn more about us here.