By Thane Grauel
The Connecticut Supreme Court has denied a petition to hear the case brought by neighbors trying to stop Summit Saugatuck from building 157 units of housing on 8.8 acres in the neighborhood tucked between the Norwalk city line, Interstate 95, the Metro-North Railroad tracks and Saugatuck Avenue.
That neighborhood is one of the last remaining clusters of truly affordable housing in Westport.
The town under pressure by a state law that already has pushed people who could afford to live there out so that new units, with 30 percent deemed affordable, could be built. A second 8-30g application, for 5 and 7 Hiawatha Lane, would replace two houses with a 42-unit structure, recently was filed with the Planning and Zoning Commission.
Plans to develop the Summit Saugatuck site have been the source of litigation between developer Felix Charney, and, over nearly two decades, the town and neighbors.
The town at first fought Summit’s larger plan, but in 2021 reached a settlement allowing the 157 units. Then came a court case by brought Selma Miriam and others. Miriam, a member of Save Old Saugatuck and a founder of Blackrock’s famed feminist vegetarian restaurant Bloodroot, has lived on Hiawatha Lane six decades.
A Hartford Superior Court judge ruled a year later against the neighbors’ suit, which argued that many homes in the neighborhood were deed-restricted as single-family 70 or more years ago, and in favor of Summit Saugatuck. The neighbors filed an appeal. That also was unsuccessful, and it was appealed to the Connecticut Supreme Court.
The state Supreme Court has posted a notice Dec. 19 the neighbors’ petition had been denied certification.
“The plaintiffs’ petition for certification to appeal from the Appellate Court, 221 Conn. App. 409 (AC 45645), is denied,” an appellate court clerk wrote.
“This is obviously deeply disappointing,” the neighbors’ lawyer, Joel Green of Bridgeport, wrote to his clients. “Having argued before the Supreme Court last week with respect to a matter arising from a another proposed Section 8-30g set aside development, however, I’m not surprised by this ruling. The overwhelming need for affordable housing in Connecticut appears to be strongly influencing judicial review and the outcome of cases involved in any way with this issue.
“Under the circumstances, this shall confirm that we are closing our file and shall take no further action in this matter,” Green wrote.
“This note above from Joel Green quietly ended one of Westport’s longest and strongest efforts by SAVE OLD SAUGATUCK to stop the abuse and exploitation that Connecticut’s housing law 8-30g provided to developer Felix Charney in his dangerous and disgusting proposal to turn a single-family neighborhood of homes… into a chaos of apartment buildings… that will be built on fragile wetlands and carry the potential of killer traffic problems,” Carolanne Curry of Save Old Saugatuck wrote in an email to the group.
“At the same time, another 8-30g attack on this single-family neighborhood comes from a proposed nightmare development for the properties at No. 5 and No. 7 Hiawatha Lane,” Curry wrote.
“I feel strongly that being so victimized here in Old Saugatuck, we must continue to speak out against 8-30g,” Curry wrote. “We must continue to seek an end to this social and legislative nightmare.
The Westport Journal has reported on this extensively. Read more here.
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.
Perhaps Westport and the rest of Connecticut hasn’t gotten the memo, the rulers of CT. do not care about you. They care about their communist ideology which they are determined to impose on a once great state. In the interest of “fairness” they will eject you from your neighborhoods to make way for “affordable” housing because there isn’t enough of it here in CT. Meanwhile there will be people coming from anywhere and everywhere with no ties to this area moving in and enjoying at low cost what you worked your butt off to provide for your family. Let’s be clear, this has all happened because you are voting for democrats. Whenever I hear someone complain about this state of affairs I ask them, who did you vote for. When I get a blank stare I know the answer. Throw the democrats out and everything will begin to change for the better. One word of caution…look at voting records of some republican candidates and make sure they are not closet democrats. Make Connecticut Great Again.