By Thane Grauel

WESTPORT — The town, its Zoning Board of Appeals and a Hillspoint Road homeowner are being sued over the approval a house reconstruction plan at Old Mill Beach.

Ellen and David van Dorsten of 216 Hillspoint Road filed their suit at state Superior Court in Bridgeport. It was received by the Town Clerk’s Office on Dec. 22.

The legal challenge came just days after the Zoning Board of Appeals’ Dec. 13 approval of a plan to demolish and reconstruct a house at 215 Hillspoint Road.

That house, owned by Carol Alexander, sits at the corner of Hillspoint Road and Old Mill Road, on the edge of Sherwood Mill Pond. Land records state it dates to 1930.

The van Dorstens live across Hillspoint in a historic house with ties to some of the town’s earliest families. Land records date it at 1795.

The suit alleges the plaintiffs “are aggrieved and are particularly affected by the approval of the Application and the proposed use that is the subject of the Application by virtue of the impact upon their property in terms of safety and traffic and the resulting negative impact of the proposed project upon the fair market value and the use and enjoyment by the Plaintiffs of their property.”

It also alleges, “The Defendant Applicant failed to meet her burden, and the Defendant Board could not find, based upon the record at the public hearing on the Application and as a matter of law, that a literal enforcement of the Zoning Regulations would result in exceptional difficulty or unusual hardship so that substantial justice would be done and the public safety and welfare secured in varying the application of the Zoning Regulations …”

The reconstruction plan for 215 Hillspoint would shift the new and larger, single-family house 15.4 feet to the north, toward the Mill Pond.

The van Dorstens expressed their concerns during the public hearing process.

In one letter, they said, “The owner has both occupied and sometimes rented the property for over 25 years without making any renovations to the structure, while at the same time having access and utilizing the town right of way property of over 1,000 square feet of asphalt which they have used for parking …”

They said the new, larger structure in a setback “directly faces us and all of Hillspoint Road,” and affects all town residents.

Carol Alexander submitted a petition signed by 40 people supporting the application. It said the new configuration “will in fact be more compliant than it is today.”

And, “The owners plan to remove all the asphalt on the Town property as well as on their own property. The owners want to ADD more trees NOT remove trees and will work with the Tree Warden to accomplish this. The owners want to add grass and additional plantings as well. This project will enhance the lot exponentially.”

Thane Grauel, executive editor, grew up in Westport and has been a journalist in Fairfield County and beyond more than three decades. Reach him at editor@westportjournal.com. Learn more about us here.