By Thane Grauel

WESTPORT — The Planning and Zoning Commission on Monday approved a text amendment that would allow a large new building while preserving a century-old structure at 215 Post Road West.

That’s the only property that would benefit from the amendment to the Business Preservation District. Among the items sought in the amendment were a larger footprint for a building (12,500 square feet), increased height, more uses for a drive-through (which has an existing approval for banks), and preservation of the building that sits past a large lawn.

The 2-acre property lies between the Schuloff Animal Hospital and the Westbank Shopping Center. It has a 7,690-square-foot building from 1903.

The vote was not an approval of a new building, but an update to the zoning that would allow such a site plan to be filed.

Calise said he wanted to see the existing building, which is office space, mostly vacant, preserved. He envisions a new building to the left of the existing structure.

“I see my proposal as a fairly reasonable proposal in an area that’s under a great deal of stress,” he told the commission.

“I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been approached by cowboys who want to buy my property and knock my building down and put up a couple of 40,000-square-foot buildings,” Calise said. “And when I say to them, ‘It doesn’t work, this is the Business Preservation District,’ they laugh at me. And a lot of them have been local attorneys who have been before your commission.”

“So, this property is destined for destruction,” Calise said. “This is not threats, I’m just in a position where I’m trying to pay my bills and save a building. This is what I feel I need to make it happen.”

Calise asked for a height of 40 feet for the potential new building. The current zoning allows 30. Commissioners debated whether to allow more in exchange for concealed parking.

“Parking behind the building would be terrible for the neighbors who live right behind it,” member Michael Cammeyer said.

“I would incentivize below-grade using the concealed parking requirements that we have,” member Paul Lebowitz said. “If he meets the concealed parking requirements, he gets an extra five feet.”

The commission ultimately allowed 30 feet, but 35 if underground parking was used.

The building has an existing approval for a bank drive-through. Calise sought to have the drive-through expanded to other uses.

Commission Chairwoman Danielle Dobin and member Patrizia Zucaro disagreed on that point. Dobin is not a fan of drive-throughs, Zucaro said some people need them for reasons other than laziness.

“Limit the drive-through to the bank use,” Dobin said, “because, I totally trust Mr. Calise, but I don’t know who eventually will develop or tenant the property.”

“There are parents that need the drive-through,” Zucaro said. “And it’s not simply because somebody is lazy and not able to get out of the car. You have parents who are with their children, and they might have difficulty getting a child out of a car. So, there is a need for some parents to do that.”

“I think it’s something we should explore,” Zucaro said.

Dobin also insisted on a “100 percent perpetual preservation easement on the property, which he really seemed comfortable with.”

Protecting the century-old building, Dobin said, is something she, the commissioners and Calise all want to see happen.

Cammeyer said one thing he wanted to see was Architectural Review Board involvement.

P&Z Director Mary Young said that was already built into the process.

The commission eventually voted unanimously to pass most of Calise requested, but with modified height limits, with a preservation easement, and restricting the drive-through to bank use only.

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.