By Thane Grauel

WESTPORT — A sweeping plan to change zoning regulations in Saugatuck so several old buildings could be razed and replaced with structures up to five-stories tall got its first airing Tuesday night.

The Architectural Review Board heard from the applicants at a pre-application review of the sprawling project, the Hamlet at Saugatuck, envisioned between Railroad Place, Franklin Street, Charles Street and the Saugatuck River.

A pre-application review is a non-binding discussion for board members to learn more about a project, and to give feedback to the applicant. The developer is ROAN Ventures.

The ARB made no decisions Tuesday night and will discuss the project again in September. Members did provide feedback, ranging from hopeful to concerned.

Concerns included the height of some of the buildings, which could be almost as tall as the office tower at 23 Charles St.

“This is a monumental project for Westport,” Peter Romano of LandTech told the board. “We thought it would be helpful to engage with the board first.”

“It’s taking a piece of property that has zero green area and has incorporated 1.5 acres of green spaces here,” he said. “There’s another three-tenths of an acre of walkways, brick patios, and things like that.”

Romano said for doing that, they’re asking for a little more height.

Eric Bernheim of FLB law noted the proposed text amendment would reward the developer with a higher height for conducting a thorough environmental remediation of contaminated properties, rather than just capping the site and building on top.

“We are going to come in with five-story buildings, we’re going to come in with some four-story buildings and some three-story buildings,” Bernheim said.

“The remediation on our site is extremely expensive,” he said. “So, yes, we need the density to make it a viable project.”

The project includes a dozen buildings with a mix of residential, retail and restaurants, including a hotel on the river.

The applicants touted increased public access to the waterfront, and said a boardwalk would be built, similar to the one outside BarTaco downtown. It might eventually be linked to the Gault development just upriver, past the Interstate 95 bridge.

A lot between the train station parking and Luciano Park would have a farmers market building, the applicants said.

The Black Duck Cafe, and most of Railroad Place, would remain as is.

Morton’s Parking, Minute Men Cleaners, an office building across Riverside Avenue from the cleaners, as well as the building housing Tutti’s, and the marina behind, would all go. So would 2 Railroad Place and a couple other buildings at the bottom of Riverside Avenue, and one on Franklin Street next door to the office building.

The office tower on Charles Street would get a facelift.

ARB Chairman Ward French said a project of this sort has been needed a long time, but that board members would need more information before voting on whether to recommend a text amendment proposed to carry out the plans.

“From my perspective, I’m fully in support of the direction of this project,” he said. “The architecture certainly looks like it could be well crafted.”

Board member Manuel Castedo felt differently, and said he thought the plans look like something in southeast Asia.

“I really don’t see a relationship between this overabundance of angles, gables, terraces, balconies, windows every shape every which way available, and related to traditional New England architecture,” Castedo said.

“It looks plopped down, like it landed,” he said.

Member Jon Halper wants to see a more “homespun” development of the details.

“The big picture, it is very interesting and vibrant, but I think the details need to be brought home,” he said.

Vesna Herman, another board member, said the project would be replacing one- , one-and-a-half and two-story buildings.

“How is this going to be phased in?” she asked. “How are the existing buildings going to be incorporated with the architecture that you are proposing?”

“And not only with the architecture, but with the lifestyle that you are proposing?”

The Planning and Zoning Commission is to discuss the project at its Sept. 12 meeting.

Thane Grauel, the Westport Journal executive editor, grew up in Westport and has been a journalist in Fairfield County and beyond more than three decades. Learn more about us here.