By Gretchen Webster

Sixteen modifications to improve traffic flow in Saugatuck as part of the Hamlet development plan were proposed to the Board of Selectwomen on Wednesday by the project’s developers. The selectwomen, however, postponed a vote on the traffic plan after they were advised by Town Attorney Ira Bloom to wait until the Planning and Zoning Commission accepts or rejects the full Hamlet application .

“My recommendation is that it is premature for the traffic authority – this board – to offer approvals preliminary or otherwise because the application is pending,” Bloom told the selectwomen. “Essentially, we’re deferring any substantive decision for now until there is further information.”

The Selectwomen did hear the developers, ROAN Development Ventures, describe the various traffic modifications, however, as well as objections from several members of the public who disagreed with the plan.

Among the traffic modifications proposed by ROAN are the following:

• To change a portion of Franklin Street from a one-way to a two-way street from Charles Street to Railroad Place.
• Add additional lanes on a portion of Riverside Avenue, and on Charles Street.
• Improve pedestrian crossings to make them safer at the intersections of Charles Street and Riverside Avenue; Franklin Street and Railroad Place; and Riverside Avenue intersections with Ferry Lane and Railroad Place.
• Modify traffic signals at the intersections of Charles Street and Riverside Avenue; and Charles Street and Franklin Street.
• Add a new mid-block crosswalk on Franklin Street.

The developer’s proposed traffic modifications also include adding some parking spaces in a few locations in addition to parking garages they have proposed.

Public concerns largely surround congestion and traffic

Several members of the public questioned the developer’s claim that their traffic plans would improve traffic in Saugatuck, including Dara Lamb of the Westport Alliance for Saugatuck, who said there are 1,300 signatures on the organization’s petition opposing the Hamlet development.

“Saugatuck’s congestion is already unbearable during peak hours,” Lamb told the selectwomen. “The proposed Hamlet development with its event space, hotel, retail, spa, and restaurants will undoubtedly exacerbate these issues.”

Jim Kempner, a commercial real estate developer and Westport resident, said it was imperative that the town get an independent traffic study of Saugatuck traffic, and not rely on the information submitted by the developer.

“I never opposed development in my life. But this particular project does not work,” Kempner told the selectwomen. “You’ve got to get this right.”

Also asking town officials to consider the project more thoroughly was Rita Gantt, who said she had recently moved to Westport “because of overdevelopment in Norwalk.” She was concerned about the impact of the Hamlet project on increasing car traffic and on bicycle safety.

“Can we slow down?” she asked the selectwomen. “It seems that there are enough issues to say, ‘let’s slow down.’”

After the public comments, Eric Bernheim, the attorney for ROAN Ventures, said that the developer’s traffic study had been reviewed by the Westport P&Z’s peer reviewer “and he has agreed that we are going to make traffic better with our implementation of these mitigation efforts.” Bernheim also said that if the traffic improvements were not made “the traffic in Saugatuck will continuously get worse.”

A short presentation on the sewer system capacity for additional development in Saugatuck was also made to the Board of Selectwomen in their role as the Water Pollution Control Authority. Roan consultant Andy Soumelidis of Landtech, said that tests had shown that the Hamlet development would only add 2% to the sewer usage there. “There’s sufficient capacity” in the system for the development, he said. 

After public comment, First Selectwomen Jennifer Tooker asked Bloom to explain the role of the Board of Selectwomen as the Local Traffic Authority, because “the LTA has a very narrow purview and I want to be clear with everybody on that,” she said. “We want to make sure that your voices are heard in the places they need to be heard.”

Bloom explained to the board that if the P&Z approved the Hamlet project, “at that point you will be reviewing the proposed traffic modifications and making recommendations” as the Local Traffic Authority.

The selectwomen approved two resolutions, one as the Local Traffic Authority and one as the Water Pollution Authority, stating that “upon the completion of the Planning & Zoning Commission’s review of the Hamlet application including a final decision on the application,” they would recommend that the applicant return to the Board of Selectwomen for further review and, if appropriate, preliminary or final approvals or disapprovals.

Freelance writer Gretchen Webster, a Fairfield County journalist for many years, was editor of the Fairfield Minuteman and has taught journalism at New York University and Southern Connecticut State University.