By Thane Grauel

WESTPORT — A Crescent Park Road homeowner might seek a zoning change so she could replace her modular home with a conventional construction.

Irina Aronson, owner of 1 Crescent Park Road, has requested a pre-application hearing of her proposal with the Planning and Zoning Commission.

A pre-application hearing is an opportunity for a potential applicant to get non-binding feedback from the commission and staff.

Crescent Park Road is off Crescent Road and Post Road East, in the neighborhood behind Fire Department headquarters. It has about two dozen homes zoned in the Mobile Home Park District.

“The existing house on this property was a modular home constructed around 1982 and is at the end of its useful life,” Aronson wrote. “Consequently, it needs to be replaced soon.”

“The lot is located on the outer edge of the Mobile Park Zone and its size and shape are similar to the lots located within Zone B,” she wrote.

“It is my desire to replace it with a conventionally constructed 2½-story house that meets today’s energy and other building standards,” Aronson wrote. “If allowed, the special zone change would permit construction of such a dwelling.”

The existing home is single-story with 1,344 square feet of living space, according to land records. Aronson bought the house about three years ago for $417,000. It sits on 0.15 acres.

Despite the zone name, modular homes are not mobile homes. They don’t have wheels for portability, but are manufactured off-site, and are often placed over foundations or basements.

The item does not yet appear on a P&Z agenda.

Thane Grauel grew up in Westport and has been a journalist in Fairfield County and beyond for 36 years. Reach him at editor@westportjournal.com. Learn more about us here.