by Jarret Liotta

WESTPORT — The debate got underway Wednesday afternoon when a Zoning Regulation Subcommittee of the Planning and Zoning Commission returned attention to a long-running debate over the future of the Baron’s South Park.

While Chair Danielle Dobin said it was the fourth meeting on the topic — which centers on a zone change to the property to allow additional construction and parking to augment increased use — recent publicity of the issue through Dan Woog’s 06880 blog brought renewed attention to the matter this week.

In 2015, in what some have argued was a hasty vote, the P&Z zoned the 22-acre parcel as designated open space, preventing a 165-unit senior housing project and assisted living facility from going forward.

Dobin and other committee members, including Paul Lebowitz and Michael Cammeyer, are now actively advocating to have the property, which was purchased by the town in 1999, rezoned to invite physical changes to the property, which is currently passive open space.

“The current zoning is impeding any investment in the site,” Dobin said, noting the topic itself was “political dynamite.”

“The benign neglect is obvious to anyone who visits there … We recognize that the status quo is failing,” Dobin said, citing overgrowth on the property, including the decay of a 60-year house on the property called Golden Shadows that some want to see saved and repurposed.

Dobin spoke about accessible outdoor recreational opportunities, including the installation of bathrooms and other potential amenities.

“We want to keep it minimalistic from a Parks and Rec point of view,” said Charlie Haberstroh, chair of the Parks and Recreation Commission.

“I don’t think anyone wants to build anything of substance in the park,” he said, but agreed more money was needed for maintenance of the grounds, with the $75,000 currently allotted annually not enough.

Lebowitz said the idea of “passive use” for the space excluded a large of number of people, in part because the trails weren’t accessible to people with disabilities.

“It should be something that appeals to a broad range of people and a broad range of uses,” he said, though not necessarily throughout the entire park.

Likewise, Cammeyer said the nature of the space prevented more people from using it.

“I’m not putting my kids in there right now and there are no kids going in there right now … It would be nice to use it,” he said.

Helen Garten, a former selectperson who has advocated for saving the house that the original owner of the property, Baron Walter Langer von Langendorff, a wealthy perfume magnate, called home, questioned whether the zone change would make a difference with saving it.

“If the land is cleaned up, then I think we can find a tenant,” she said, but wasn’t sure how the rezoning would help that.

“The heart of any site plan will have to be the restoration of the open space … Without a rezoning, it’s definitely not happening,” Dobin said.

Former Representative Town Meeting member John Suggs, who has also been active in trying to save the structure, raised questions about the committee’s sudden urgency in trying to push the matter forward.

“I’m concerned by that, that you think that the only way for the property to be maintained in upkeep is by rezoning,” he said. “That’s very disconcerting to me.”

“The reason I’m emphatic that nothing will happen is because we’ve had seven years,” Dobin countered, defending the process.

“Everything’s fully transparent,” she said. “There’s nothing nefarious. There’s no conspiracies.”

Suggs also pointed out that $510,000 has been earmarked for cleanup work at Riverside Park, while Baron’s South remains comparatively challenged.

“Why is half a million going to Riverside Park and Baron’s South is continuing to be neglected,” he said.

Matthew Mandell, District 1, who chairs the RTM P&Z Committee, said he felt the group was “fishing.”

“I think you’re looking for a solution to something that may not be a problem at this time,” he said, noting it’s currently open space and should be accepted as such.

“I’m not sure that this is the right committee to be handling this at this time,” he said.