By Thane Grauel
WESTPORT — Old Hill Road property owners have appealed a denial of their application for a pickleball court.
The property at 63 Old Hill Road is at the corner of Side Hill Road is owned by James and Diana Coyne Trustees. Last year, in an application to the Zoning Board of Appeals filed by LandTech, the landowner sought a variance to build a pickleball court in the property’s front setback.
It was denied by the ZBA in October.
Pickleball, for the uninitiated, is a fast-paced, wildly popular paddle sport. A cross between tennis, ping pong and badminton. Its equipment is louder and so can be the excitement of the players. It’s loved by enthusiasts and eyed cautiously by people living nearby potential courts across the country.
In Westport, meanwhile, applications for variances of all kinds are frequent. Some are approved, others denied.
Appeals of denials are not so common. Deputy Planning and Zoning Director Michelle Perillie said Wednesday that only happens about every two years.
The applicant for the appeal, filed May 17, is Eric Bernheim of FLB Law.
The disagreement gets down to a nitty-gritty level, appearing to be over where the setbacks lie and how property lines, town right-of-ways, paved portions of roads and private roads are treated.
“The front setback along Side Hill Road is measured from the edge of the Right of Way of Side Hill Road …” Zoning Officer Laurie Montagna recently wrote to Peter Romano of LandTech, who had requested an explanation of the October denial.
“Per the Westport Zoning Regulations, the area of Side Hill Road that is on 63 Old Hill Road, is removed from the lot area,” she continued. “As such, P&Z has decided it is consistent to measure the setbacks from the edge of the Right of Way, as this area has been removed from the lot area.”
Bernheim wrote back to the Planning and Zoning Department.
“It is the Applicant’s position that the Application was improperly denied due to the misapplication of the Westport Zoning Regulations and Subdivision Regulations,” he said. “Throughout the entire process detailed below, the Applicant diligently worked with Zoning Staff to address all questions and concerns associated with the Project and took action to proceed with the Project in accordance with the Regulations, only to be ultimately denied the zoning permit despite the Zoning Staff (“Staff”) and the Town Attorney representing that the analysis of the Regulations was correct and the permit would be issued. Accordingly, the Applicant requests that the Zoning Board of Appeals overturn Staff’s denial of the Application.”
The original application had the backing of neighbors. The appeal has a comment from a Joe Jackson, who does not list an address. The writer said the appeal should be denied because a residential neighborhood is not appropriate for pickleball and causes obnoxious noise pollution.
The appeal does not yet appear on a ZBA agenda.
Typically, if an appeal to such a denial is unsuccessful, the applicant can change the plan, drop it, or challenge the decision in court.
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.
Pickleball, a popular sport for active seniors, is anethema to residents of the NIMBY archetype. Recall that two residents of Hunt Club Lane, including an RTM-7 member, thwarted pickleball plans for the Hunt Club. Hue and cry over pickleball ensued at Longshore as well.
Pickleball is dead. Long live pickleball.
I am a huge pickleball enthusiast that plays 3-4 times a week. I hope and expect that the game/sport will continue to grow, just not in residential neighborhoods. The loud noise may bother neighbors, create tension and invite lawsuits. Hop in the car, or take a walk, and have fun at a public or private facility. Respect other people’s right to enjoy peace and quiet.
Set backs are setbacks and they don’t discrimminate based on the type of usage like pickleball.
If this is regranted without actual changes to setback rules, the floodgates of all uses will be summarily approved.
If the majority of Westport property owners want to change the rules for uses in setbacks then do so. Otherwise live by the rules all of us do!
Winner, winner! Chicken dinner! This right here.
Pickleball courts were allowed at Birchwood CC after P&Z approved the setback from neighbors. 500′ was the distance Birchwood wins approval for pickleball courts | Westport Journal Why would this not be the definitive P&Z distance for any Pickleball courts placement in Westport? Unless it is in an area that noise decibel levels are similar. If one is in a place of peace and quiet, introducing Pickleball will certainly ruin it. I certainly think that Pickleball is a relatively new sport and those that have taken to it, seemingly as a new religion, are being a bit myopic in their pursuit of where they should congregate.
As I recall, this issue turned on the requested location of the item (PB court) on the property and had zero to do with the usage being requested. This application was unusual in that it included both a a front setback and a separate side road.
This court could have been placed in a couple of other areas on the property, but that would have caused an undue and expensive hardship to the property owner – including destroying a line of beautiful mature buffering trees or the impossible relocation of existing equipment. The ZBA began suggesting where else to position the PB court on the property as if these hadn’t been already considered.
At the hearing Mr Romano of Landtech was knowledgeable, appropriate, and under the circumstances that he faced remained polite, Someone on the ZBA, not so much.
Where to begin the measurement of the side road setback boundary became the determining factor. Considering the many variences they approve, to me the ZBA seemed callus, and perhaps prejudicial, in this denial.
It will be interesting to see how this appeal is treated.