By Thane Grauel

WESTPORT — A plan to change zoning regulations to allow liquor to be served by the new vendor running the Old Mill Grocery and Deli got a mixed reception Monday from neighbors and the Planning and Zoning Commission.

The market at 222 Hillspoint Road, whose latest operator is Romanacci, is owned by Soundview Empowerment Alliance, Inc. That’s a nonprofit started by local people who wanted to keep the century-old corner store open after a previous incarnation, Elvira’s, went up for sale a few years ago.

Recent operators have had trouble turning a profit and the applicant hopes being allowed to serve liquor for consumption on-site might change that.

Land-use consultant Cindy Tyminski, on behalf of the owners, has filed a text amendment application to change the town’s zoning regulations and allow retail food establishments in residential neighborhoods to sell alcohol for on-site consumption.

What might have appeared to some as a slam dunk proved to be more of a rabbit hole of unforeseen zoning consequences and possible missing permit entanglements.

According to the application, only two such establishments in Westport could benefit from the text amendment — Old Mill Market and The Porch, on Cross Highway, formerly known as Christie’s.

Retail food establishments seat 10 or fewer people and are not deemed restaurants.

Member John Bolton recused himself because he’s done legal work for Romanacci.

“We are requesting this text amendment to provide flexibility for the new operators of this historic retail food establishment, so it remains viable,” Tyminski told the commission.

Planning and Zoning Director Mary Young reviewed her staff report and mentioned that a petition had been filed by Robin Tauck, who lives across Hillspoint from the grocery.

If a petition is filed that uses the words “protest petition,” Young said that would then require the text amendment be approved by a supermajority of the commission — five out of seven commissioners — rather than a simple majority, four out of seven.

“She didn’t use the words ‘protest petition,’ ” Young said of Tauck, saying she could clarify that later is she was willing to speak.

Simple amendment or can of worms?

Member Michael Calise had several questions, including whether the deli and The Porch were indeed the only properties where the amendment would be applicable.

“What about the Compo Beach pavilion, which is in an A residence zone, and what about the halfway house at Longshore, which is in a Double A residence zone?” he asked. “And what about the country store up on Wilton Road, which is an A residence zone?”

“Those three places serve food, have no more than 10 interior seats, and in my opinion, qualify as well,” Calise said.

“The country store may apply,” Tyminski said. “And the other ones may have been grandfathered in under that other regulation that allows them to have liquor licenses if they had them in 2010.”

“Mr. Calise has given us yet another reason in my view to make sure the record is complete before it’s closed,” Young said. “To verify the status of those establishments. Again, the criteria in play for consideration this evening is existing ‘retail food establishments located in residential zoning districts.’ ”

She mentioned there may be several establishments in town serving alcohol, including country clubs, that predate the town’s restrictions.

“Before the hearing is closed, I agree we should have answers to Mr. Calise’s question,” Young said.

A couple other questions Calise had were whether a liquor license requires two bathrooms — he said the application states there is just one — and if an outdoor dining area had to be fenced in with access only through the interior so people couldn’t walk off with drinks.

Young said she was not well versed in state liquor law requirements, which evolved quickly since the pandemic, “giving us yet another reason perhaps to go factfinding between now and June 3, if that’s the commission’s pleasure to continue this hearing.”

No outdoor dining permit

Young said that consumption of liquor outside, from what she understands, needs to be looked at.

“I will suggest to you that the question of whether or not any provision for on-site consumption could be made by this business outside is up for question,” Young said. “In my staff report I suggest there is no outdoor eating area approved at 222 Hillspoint as the outdoor dining regulations were rewritten a couple years back in a way that excluded anything in a residential zoning district. And you heard Ms. Tyminski describe in her presentation her desire on behalf of her client to revisit that topic.”

That might take a second text amendment, she said.

“In my view, any consumption of liquor, if this amendment were adopted, would be limited to the interior of 222 Hillspoint and 161 Cross Highway,” Young said. “One permit for inside, one permit for outside.”

She said that if a patio liquor permit were put before her today, even if the amendment was adopted, she would not sign it, “as I don’t have a current approval for outdoor dining at this location.”

“I commend everyone who’s trying to save that,” member Neil Cohn said of the grocery. “It’s a wonderful thing to have by the beach, and good for the neighborhood.”

“Would the applicants be agreeable to a certain time limit?” he asked.

Young said it was a text amendment, not a site-specific application.

“This would not end up as a condition of any approval,” she said.

“I think it makes sense to put this off and not vote this evening,” Cohn said.   

He also said it should be considered how close The Porch is to some schools.

Member Amy Wistreich said her constituents in the neighborhood are very supportive of the application.

“I feel I will be, too,” she said. “But I need understand a few things just a little bit better.”

Member Nicole Laskin said she’s in favor of the amendment, “to the extent that we get more clarity on just what it includes. I want to have a clear understanding of the other properties, as Michael said are likely included in this.”

“And I’m a little concerned with spillover, too, to the outside … I understand neighbors being concerned,” she said.

“From a high-level view regarding the fabric of the community, regarding the obvious enjoyment by people who are down in that area, to me this a home run,” commission Chairman Paul Lebowitz said. “However, obviously there are many considerations and certainly most of the commissioners have weighed in on exactly what I was thinking, so we’re going to definitely need clarification.”

Could pressure lead to another blue house?

RTM member Chris Tait said he lives up the street and doesn’t want to see Old Mill turned into Miami Beach. But he said that other area restaurants that were given a hard time from neighbors led to the blue-wrapped house at 233 Hillspoint, a former site of restaurants converted to a residence that has been the center of years-long disputes.

“What we’re looking for here is an added value,” he said. “We have an establishment that’s been around since 1920 we want to keep, we want to keep these operators in business.”

“It’s not going to be a dance club, it’s not going to be a party place where all the kids hang out,” Tait said. “… Order a pizza, and have a plastic cup handed to you.”

Ellen van Dorsten, who said she has lived 50 feet from the deli for the last 35 years, said, “We have seen what’s happened over the decades in terms of its evolvement.”

She addressed Tyminski, “You referred to this as a simple change. I don’t think this is a simple change at all, this is a very complex change that can dramatically change the limited, grandfathered use of the deli in a residential district.”

“I’m kind of shocked to hear we don’t have approvals for outdoor dining at 222,” she said, calling it a liability risk for the town.

“The neighbors, the abutting neighbors, the close neighbors that we know here, have all the best interests for the deli,” van Dorsten said. “We’d like to see them succeed.”

But, she said, the abutting neighbors have to deal with noise, cars pulling up in the street, vehicles parking illegally.

“That is an issue,” she said.

“We’d like to find a happy solution,” van Dorsten said. “We like Romanacci’s, great service, great food, great people, what’s there not to love?”

“If it’s a business model that’s not working, and that becomes a hardship for the business, that hardship should not become the hardship for the neighborhood,” she said.

Robin Tauck, who lives across from the deli, had several concerns.

“I firmly do not believe liquor should be served on the premises, outside on the premises … particularly in neighborhoods with the level of children and teenagers,” she said.

“This deli is in our front yard,” she said. “My two front doors face it as do my dear neighbors who I have known for 10, 15 years. Many of their bedrooms and their living rooms actually face the lights and noise and the people at the deli.”

Young and Tauck discussed the petition that was filed, as a protest opinion or a petition from people with similar opinions.

“I don’t know the levels of petitions,” Tauck said. “There might be four other levels of petitions.”

Young told Lebowitz he could explore it further, and there are specific requirements for a protest petition.

“Which, in my view, has not been received to meet that criteria,” she said.

The P&Z’s review of the application was continued to the June 3 meeting.

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.