By Gretchen Webster

WESTPORT — Plans to tackle downtown parking problems, or at least the latest phase of the project, are moving forward, Downtown Plan Implementation Committee members learned Thursday.

A consultant to study the feasibility of building a parking structure somewhere downtown will be hired, as well as a professional planning firm to promote public engagement so town residents, merchants and others can learn about the project’s phases, according to Randy Herbertson, DPIC chair. 

In addition, Langan Engineering and Environmental Services, the firm which has worked with DPIC on earlier parking projects, will continue to work on design plans to add more parking in the Jesup Green/Imperial Avenue area, Herbertson said.

A plan to expand parking on Jesup Green itself, to help compensate for spaces lost in Parker Harding Plaza’s redesigned lot, was rejected by the Representative Town Meeting in May. 

Bid packages will be issued soon to hire consultants for a parking structure feasibility study and public engagement piece of the multi-faceted “Parking Lots Reinvention” project, Public Works Director Peter Ratkiewich told the committee.

“We will start the public engagement in late summer or early fall,” Herbertson said. Gathering public opinion on downtown parking issues and future plans will include meeting with small groups including key stakeholders, a public charrette at the Westport Library and an opinion survey before the design work is done, he said.

At one point, Patrick Jean, an owner of Nômade restaurant on Main Street, said that unless a parking structure is located near downtown shops and restaurants, “my customers will never go there … It must be where people dine and shop,” he said.

One thing likely to happen soon is the long-awaited installation of a wheelchair lift on the walking bridge over Deadman Brook, linking the Imperial parking lot to the Westport Library/Levitt Pavilion lot. Ratkeiwich said he has received requests to install a lift for years, including from the Westport Woman’s Club, the Westport Farmers Market and others. The lift is required to meet Americans with Disabilities Act requirements, he said.

“We’ll do that first to avoid waiting for construction of the whole project,” Herbertson added, with a goal of installing it before the end of the year.

Merchants complain about Church Lane, employee parking

Also discussed at Thursday’s meeting were concerns by some downtown merchants about closing Church Lane to parking and traffic during the summer to create a pedestrian mall, as well as a lack of parking for their employees. 

Although merchants on Church Lane say the atmosphere on the “pedestrianized” street has boosted their business, others — particularly in Sconset Square — contend that blocking off a segment of Church Lane causes traffic jams elsewhere downtown and further reduces parking, which discourage their staff and customers.

“Two of my employees have quit” because they need to carry heavy equipment to his salons, and the three-hour limit keeps them from parking nearby, said Alex Oracheff, owner of Blow Dry Westport in Sconset Square and the Greg and Tony Salon, 231 Post Road West.

“Our employees are getting tickets … we need a parking structure,” he said. “We’re now looking to move our businesses somewhere else.”

When the Board of Selectwomen in March authorized the closure of Church Lane from April 7 to Nov. 2, no discussion or opposition was voiced to closing the street, said Maxxwell Crowley, president of the Westport Downtown Association. Crowley had asked the selectwomen to approve closing off Church Lane in their capacity as the Traffic Authority. The street has been closed off each summer since the COVID pandemic, an idea to help promote business when indoor dining was banned or restricted.

On Thursday, Crowley urged merchants who have concerns about the street closure to attend the selectwomen’s meeting next year to object.

“Church Lane is not within this group’s purview,” Herbertson added.

There was also discussion of reinstating a shuttle bus to transport downtown employees back and forth between parking lots farther from the center of town. However, several people at the meeting said that when a shuttle bus previously was in use, no one rode it. 

But Matthew Mandell, the Westport-Weston Chamber of Commerce executive director, suggested that a trial shuttle bus program be implemented to see if that would help ease the current parking crunch. He and others suggested the Westport Transit District be consulted to see if a bus could be provided for an employee shuttle service.

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