By Thane Grauel

WESTPORT — The Planning and Zoning Commission on Monday gave a positive 8-24 recommendation to the $8 million plan to renovate the Inn at Longshore.

The commission’s vote was unanimous.

The plan was presented by LandTech on behalf of the inn’s operator, Longshore Hospitality. The facility is owned by the town.

The plan still needs Architectural Review Board approval. That board’s members recently asked for several changes in the project.

Peter Romano of LandTech said Monday night that updated plans will be reviewed by the ARB later this month.

In March 2023, the P&Z gave a positive recommendation for an earlier 8-24 request that extended the lease for Longshore Hospitality Group up to 30 years. The lease extension committed the operators to $8 million in upgrades to the town-owned building on the nearly 170-acre property.

The P&Z’s approval last year said the renovation plans should come before the commission when ready.

An 8-24 review is required by state statute when significant changes to a municipal property are proposed. A site plan review by the P&Z will come later.

“The porte cochere is getting shrunk,” Romano told the commission. “The concern was it was a little bit big. We’re shrinking it down so it’s 24 feet wide, allows two cars to pass, also shrinking it, pulling it back toward the building allows us to the save the tree.”

There’s a large, mature tree in a grassy circle now in front of the inn. Some concerns about losing it had been expressed recently.

The patio area will be shifted, he said, and the parking lots brought up to code standards, including the American with Disabilities Act.

A domed area in the rear will be taken out so views of the water will be more expansive. “You can walk into Longshore’s ballroom and not even realize you’re on the water,” Romano said of the existing building.

“We’re putting on about 3,000, 3,500 square feet of patio,” he said. Some of it will be covered with louvers. “On nice days everything stays open, on bad days the louvers get closed,” he said. “And it is heated.”

P&Z members had some questions and recommendations, but all were in support.

Member Amy Wistreich had some questions, but ultimately said, “Thanks guys, I think it’s amazing.”

New member Breanne Injeski thought the plan is fantastic. “I think the investment that you’re putting into the community is great,” she said.

“I love this project,” Vice Chairman Neil Cohn said. “I think that Longshore is a jewel and really special.”

“I’m really excited to see the ballroom and the facility getting back to a state that it should be in,” he said.

“It’s also wonderful to have an 8-24 that we can feel really good about backing,” Cohn said.

“Thank you for not putting parking on the 18th hole or something like that because that would have been very difficult,” he said, an apparent reference to the downtown parking plans, which will carve 40 or so parking spaces into what is now the upper portion of Jesup Green.

“Sorry to make a joke of this,” he said. “It’s been a tough couple of weeks here.”

Just one neighbor, Irmi Streidt, had questions. She was worried about noise from the expanded patio. She also expressed her concerns in a letter to the editor.

“I still see people standing up and everything,” she said Monday. “The loudness, the chaos and the music.”

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.