By Kerri Williams

WESTPORT — For the homeowner, it’s a plan for a “modest” addition for a growing family. 

But for neighbors in the Compo Beach area, a proposal for expanding a historic home on Norwalk Avenue would mean jeopardizing their property values and views.

The Planning and Zoning Commission last week denied the application to add to the back of a house at 21 Norwalk Ave. after several neighbors spoke out against the project. The application also called for raising the house to create a garage under the dwelling that could accommodate up to four vehicles.

In a 5-2 vote, commissioners struck down a special permit application for the project.

Commission member Michael Cammeyer and Chair Paul Lebowitz, the two holdouts, said they would have liked to strike a compromise with neighbors, who vehemently opposed the plan.

“The precedent this would set is very disturbing,” said Stanley Crouch, who lives in the Compo Beach area. “This is a pretty big house as it is.” Crouch is one of 14 property owners who submitted letters opposing the plan.

The 2,155-square-foot house, with four bedrooms and two and a half baths, last sold for $2.4 million in 2022, according to listings on realty websites.

Historic character worth saving … and expanding?

Eric Bernheim, the lawyer representing homeowner Steven Warren, told commission members that his client went before the Historic District Commission to get a special designation for the house, a 1920s bungalow-style building. He suggested that by saving the house, rather than tearing down the building, the owner would qualify for changes to the home under a section of the zoning codes that applies to historic structures.

But Lebowitz said he was concerned the changes being proposed to the property “do not raise to the level of historic preservation.

“We don’t often get this many neighbors [opposed to an application],” Lebowitz added.

The proposal would add 575 square feet of living space to the house, including a first-floor sun room and deck and a second-floor bedroom and closet, in addition to the new garage underneath the home. 

Bernheim said the extra space is necessary for the blended family living there. “We don’t think it’s too much of an ask,” he said.

“Threat” of demolition

Bernheim went on to say that the homeowner has considered demolishing the building if the application was denied so a home that meets the family’s needs can be built.

The property owner has already applied for a demolition permit, and a sign is posted at the residence, so that if “this doesn’t work out” they won’t have to wait the full six months required for demolition, Bernheim said.

In voting to deny the application, Commissioner John Bolton said it was “laden with threats from the second it was presented.” 

He asked how the property owners could be concerned with preservation of the home while at the same time saying they might tear it down. “I can’t possibly support this.”

Both he and Commissioner Michael Calise added that they believe the application should rightly have been referred to the Zoning Board of Appeals. “I am perplexed by this application,” Calise said.

Commissioner Neil Cohn, who also voted against the application, said he drove to the area to get an idea about how adding to the back of the building might affect neighboring properties. 

“It definitely impacts other historic homes,” he said. “… Why do they win, and others have to lose? I do my best to do what is right for the town.”

Cohn observed specifically that other houses in the neighborhood do not extend as far back on their properties as this one would with the proposed addition.

Impact of project seen differently

But Bernheim said that his research showed that other homes on the street take up a greater share of their lots than would be the case in his client’s new proposal. He said the application is for “the greater good. What we are proposing is as little change as possible.”

But Ann Gillin Lefever, who along with her siblings co-owns 20 Norwalk Ave., said the extra cars on the property across the street would make it difficult to navigate on the already congested street. She is also concerned how the structure might block sunlight on her front lawn and how that would affect the “gorgeous garden” there. 

She added that she lives in a home that is original to the neighborhood, has been in the family for three generations and has not been expanded.

Others brought up the possible impact on drainage, including Robert Lipira, who lives next door to the property. 

“Drainage is not a problem right now,” he said, but he is concerned the project could create one.

Kerri Williams is a freelance writer who has worked in journalism for years, including as a reporter for the Norwalk Hour and managing editor of the Norwalk Citizen-News.