By Thane Grauel

WESTPORT — Amazon has ghosted Westport, mothballing a nearly completed grocery store on Post Road East, and zoning officials might soon order up some prime fines.

The online retail giant has paused its expansion into the brick-and-mortar grocery business. “Zombie stores,” unfinished Amazon Fresh locations, where the plan was for people to choose what they want and walk out without the hassle of actually checking out, dot the country.

Work stopped at 1076 Post Road East, the former Barnes & Noble, around late summer.

But that’s not the issue.

The problem is that two Volta electric vehicle charging stations with large advertising screens — specifically not allowed by the Planning and Zoning Commission — were installed in the freshly repaved parking lot.

A zoning violation was issued months ago.

Fast forward to Monday’s Planning and Zoning Commission meeting, when the contractor for the supermarket overhaul wanted a $92,924 performance bond back, and the unallowed EV stations remained in place.

The discussion highlighted the limitations of local zoning enforcement, and the frustrations of officials who want to hold someone accountable for wrongdoing without harming the wrong party.

Planning and Zoning Director Mary Young noted the permit for the performance bond was different than the permit allowing the charging stations. The criteria to return the bond in question had been met.

Still, she said, staff was well aware the charging station violation had not yet been remedied.

Young said Planner Amanda Trianovich had been in contact with the applicant involved in the unallowed charging stations. They were to have been removed in March.

“She then got an update, ‘So sorry, things came up, can’t get to it,’” Young said, adding that another 30 days was requested. That was granted.

Should the town ‘buy it again?’ Not likely.

“By the end of April, if it’s not gone, we can ask them to compensate the Planning and Zoning Department at $150 a day zoning citation fines,” Young said.

P&Z members wanted to hold someone responsible. But who, exactly, was a puzzlement.

Commission member Patrizia Zucaro said she understood the $92,000 performance bond was under a different zoning permit than the one that includes the charging stations.

“But that’s really the only leverage we have,” Zucaro said. “You don’t know that assessing a zoning violation might be the cost of doing business for them, and they don’t care, they’ll just continue to pay the fees.”

“This bond,” she said, “they want that back. And we know they want it back. So that’s really the only leverage we have.”

Commission Chairwoman Danielle Dobin also noted that the work required under the permit was completed.

Member Neil Cohn pointed out that Volta, the EV charging station installer, is owned by Shell.

“It’s not a small company,” he said. “I also think there has to be a conflict between Volta and the unnamed supermarket.”

Member Michael Cammeyer asked why the property owner, the landlord, shouldn’t ultimately be held responsible.

“If that owner is not responsible for their building … how can we ever enforce anything in this town?” he asked.

“There are Amazon Go’s and Fresh that are vacant … over 70 percent that were built over the last 48 months are now cold,” member Amie Tesler said. “They’re built, they’re done, they paid rent for a year or two and then they have no intention of moving in.”

Young said that the various applicants were not actually Amazon, but contractors.

Tessler said the contractor seeking its bond back shouldn’t be punished for the actions of another.

Member Paul Lebowitz agreed.

“When one child does something you don’t penalize the other,” he said.

And he said the town attorney has reminded the commission many times “that a bond is not a weapon of penalty, it is not a tool for us to use when an actor is doing something bad with the left hand, and we want to stop it by tying up the right hand.”

The commission voted to release the bond.

Thane Grauel, executive editor, 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.