By Andy Brophy

The creation of a document meant to guide land-use decisions in Westport over the next 10 years was unanimously backed by two Representative Town Meeting committees Tuesday night.

The RTM’s Finance and Environment committees voted a total of 10-0 to approve a $185,000 funding request from Michelle Perillie, director of the town’s Planning and Zoning Department, to hire BFJ Planning to create a new Plan of Conservation and Development (POCD) for Westport.

The state requires the POCD be completed by October 2027, and the full 36-member RTM also must vote on the funding request.

Municipalities must update existing POCDs, or create new ones, every 10 years under state law. Westport’s last POCD was adopted in September 2017.

Perillie said topics to be covered in the new POCD include the need for affordable, workforce and senior housing and where new housing could best be built; changes in sea levels, past and anticipated; flood resilience; impacts from new developments on town infrastructure; and how to achieve Westport’s goal of being a “net zero community” by 2050.

A “net zero community” has reduced its greenhouse gas emissions to zero on an annual basis through the use of renewable energy, energy efficiency and carbon offsets.

Town officials received proposals from, and interviewed, three consultants to create a new POCD, Perillie said.

BFJ Planning, based in New York City, has done work in Fairfield County for 40 years and initially wanted $250,000 for the job, but its fee was reduced to $185,000 through negotiations, Perillie said.

She said the firm recently updated New Canaan’s zoning regulations and Norwalk’s village district regulations. BFJ Planning also completed a POCD for Newtown, a master plan and form-based code for Wilton Center and a parking plan for downtown Westport, according to its website.

One major difference between the 2017 POCD, which was done by Planimetrics in Simsbury, and the one to be completed by October 2027 is that BFJ Planning will solicit feedback from residents by going to where they are, such as farmer’s markets, community events and neighborhood meetings, instead of soliciting input at forums in The Westport Library or Town Hall, Perillie said. She said BFJ Planning, over the next 11 months, would reach out to communities and neighborhoods in Westport.

“We really felt that this type of engagement would meet people where they are,” she said. “Public engagement is such a huge part of this process.”

Joseph Carson, a member of the RTM’s Public Works committee, questioned how the town fulfilled the framework of the 2017 POCD and whether that POCD was based on input from residents.

Perillie said the 2017 POCD focused on preservation, not implementation, and did not have “anywhere near enough public engagement.”

“The view of [Planning and Zoning] at the time was to keep everything standstill,” she said.

Efforts to create the POCD due in October 2027 would also include a dedicated town website, surveys, two townwide workshops on a vision for Westport over the next 10 years, five neighborhood events and four or five public events, Perillie said.

Another major difference is the upcoming POCD would focus much more on flood mitigation and resilience, which came to the forefront in Westport on Sept. 13 when a major storm flooded the town’s roads, homes and businesses and wrecked a bridge on Jesup Road.

Wendy Batteau, a member of the RTM’s Environment Committee, said groundwater rise and flooding was not adequately addressed in the 2017 POCD.

Perillie said her department uses POCDs on a daily basis, particularly when developers look at different properties they could build upon or when they want to amend town zoning regulations. “It’s vital for my office to have something that truly reflects the vision for the town,” she said, adding that was especially important as pressure to build more housing increases.

First Selectman Kevin Christie said he viewed the POCD as “foundational to our land-use bodies and others” and “a key aspirational and planning document” for Westport.

Perillie said town officials didn’t want to simply update the 2017 POCD. “We felt the best option was to do a robust plan that took into account the current issues we’re dealing with,” she said.

One such issue, in addition to flood resilience and mitigation, is a proposal to demolish one of two office buildings at 55-57 Greens Farms Road and build a 250-unit residential development in its place.

That project is currently before the town’s Conservation Commission and also must be approved by the Town Planning and Zoning Commission before construction can begin.

Andy Brophy

Andy Brophy is an experienced Fairfield County journalist. Andy was a staff writer at The Connecticut Post for 10 years. He also wrote for the Norwalk Hour, Fairfield Minuteman, Fairfield Patch and weekly newspapers in Westport, Fairfield and Norwalk. When not reporting, Andy enjoys playing chess and listening to pianist Art Tatum. ^_.