WESTPORT — ”What kind of Saugatuck does Westport want?” will be the focus of a May 7 roundtable discussion hosted by Westport Journal.
The free event will take place at 6:15 p.m. Wednesday, May 7, at Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 399, 465 Riverside Ave. It is open to the public, but registration is required.
In the early 1900s, migrants, many from southern Italy, settled in Saugatuck. In the mid-1900s, the Saugatuck Railroad Station became the access point used by a growing group of New York City commuters. In 2010, the Gault family built Saugatuck Center, revitalizing a portion of Saugatuck along Riverside Avenue. Today, thousands of Westporters live in or near Saugatuck, some in modest post-World War II Capes and some in spectacular riverfront manses.
Saugatuck today boasts home design stores, marinas, more than two dozen eateries, a gas station, butcher, salon, package store, rowing club, barber shop and preschool. With its tight, 19th Century streets, the afternoon rush hour can slow traffic down throughout the neighborhood. And any disruption of the three-lane traffic on I-95 can create a spill-over effect on Westport’s east-west arteries, including Greens Farms Road, Bridge Street and Post Road East.
In 2022, the Planning and Zoning Commission approved a zone change allowing taller, denser development near the train station. The ROAN Development Ventures development plans include 11 new buildings, including three hotels, a restaurant, several residential buildings with first-floor retailers and a multi-use community center called The Barn.
As plans for ROAN’s “Hamlet at Saugatuck” development are working through the town’s review process, Westport Journal offers the opportunity for readers to hear from three experts and to ask them questions:
- Jennifer Johnson
- Member, RTM District 9 and former director, Westport Transit District
- Rodrigo Real
- Co-Founder & Partner, ROAN Development Ventures, LLC
- Kathryn Braun
- Member, Fairfield Town P&Z Commission, Founding Member FairPlan
Westport Journal LIVE is a series of public meetings that put readers in the same room with local thought-leaders.
Other topics in the series include What kind of downtown does Westport want?, Consider Weston, An expert’s guide to summer in Westport, Westport Civics 101 and Fall culture preview.
Westport Journal LIVE is underwritten by the KMS Team at Compass.
Just to correct this article the hamlet is NOT doing only one restaurant.
It states in a letter on PZ website that “in line” with regulations it is planning the non residential square feet, in other words their high rent ground floor retail( netting them far $$ more psf than hotel/apt) is divided 70% retail and 30% restaurant, bar, tavern, cafe.
So that will be another approximately 10 restaurants.
Along of course with the PZ granted patio allowance every restaurant can apply for with 75% of capacity indoors to be allowed as extra outside. For example 200 seats inside allows then in addition 150 seats extra outside effectively almost doubling the size of the restaurant.
Most restaurants can’t avail of this because they were built so many years ago and don’t always have the wide pavements etc to do this.
I fully expect the hamlet plans on making sure every restaurant in its 30% will have a purposeful patio area in order to take advantage of this “regulation”
So in essence the hamlet if it builds in 30% restaurants with a total of let’s be conservative 1200 -1300 seats between them that’s then getting another 1000 seats outside between April and November.
For a grand total of 2300 seats.
This of course in adddition to the 1 restaurant the article cites which looks like a 250 seat plus restaurant. If it’s the huge building to the railroad end of the hotels.
No doubt it will also have patio seating which will make it larger.
On top of those numbers ( which don’t include hotel guests, apt guests, visitors to retail stores, spa, etc)
We have approx 20-30 staff per shift per restaurant.
Call it 300
Grand total of restaurant heads for 6 months of the year, it’s conservatively 2800-3000 people.
Assuming 2 to a car. I’d argue lots of cars have only 1 in them.
1400-1500 car parking spaces for the new restaurants hamlet is adding.
Glad I could correct the(1 )restaurant statement.
And assist in helping folks understand the numbers of patrons and staff this means.
I think that property owners at Stoney Point have the most to gain here with this catastrophic development as it stands.
If low income housing takes over Saugatuck, their property values plummet. If this monster takes over, their property values will sky rocket. Imagine 15 new restaurants within walking distance of their already multi million dollar mansions. They already have private docks on their property, so they cam refi millions more against their homes and sail off in their yachts without even seeing a Westport traffic jam.
So it all makes sense now. What are we talking about? The Westport they want or the Westport we want?
I vote for letting the low income housing take over Saugatuck because regular people bring real culture. Stoney Point investors bring fake hamlet sell out culture.
I will always respect people who make money but the playground needs to be fair… legal…spot zoning is not legal.
Let poor people have shot at Westport. Vote no on hamlet
If a giant low income housing project goes up in Westport everyone’s property values plummet. “Give poor people a shot at Westport”? Sure, if you want Westport to turn into Bridgeport. Are you virtue signaling or delusional. As with most things in life, individuals are largely responsible for their successes. Work hard, save your money and better your own situation. Don’t ask others to give you a shot at anything you weren’t willing to work for.
I normally would agree with you but in this case the rules were changed at the exclusion of poor people. After growing up in Westport I moved to Bridgeport and realized that people work hard there too. Westport could have a low income housing complex in Saugatuck and values would skyrocket, for one reason…income diversity. Westport had become a kind of pretty picture of itself or a parody like an aging rock star who has to sing the same song every night. Who benifits from the zoning changes in Saugatuck passed in 2022?
I’m not sure what “rules were changed at the exclusion of poor people”. Zoning changes that require set asides for low income residents in otherwise market value housing is not excluding poor people. Quite the opposite. There are people who work hard everywhere but some places have people who don’t work at all and commit crimes while at the same time demand benefits from the government. If the hard ir not so hard work you do only affords you an income sufficient to live in one of those places, then that is where you should be living. That is, in fact, what provides an incentive to get educated and/ or work harder. I have explained this multiple times but I can’t make you understand it if you refuse to use logic and always default to emotion.