Tag Archives: 122 Wilton Road

Roundup: Wilton Road, Weston History, “06880” Book Launch …

Posted on April 26, 2023 | 12 comments

The latest Westport clear-cutting project took some Westporters by surprise,

In fact, it’s part of an 8-30g project approved before the moratorium took effect.

122 Wilton Road — the 1.16-acre parcel bordered by Wilton Road, Kings Highway North, the Saugatuck River and Taylortown Salt Marsh — will be the site of a 3-story, 19-unit,  20,078-square foot apartment complex..

In 2018, the state Appellate Court denied a plan by Garden Homes of Stamford to build a 7-story, 48-unit apartment complex.

The developer returned with the smaller, 19-unit proposal, which included an 8-30g component.

Again the P&Z rejected the request. The scale was still too big; there were still traffic and fire safety issues.

But Garden Homes appealed, and a court overruled the P&Z. According to 8-30g, affordability trumps traffic and safety concerns.

COVID pushed back the schedule. But eventually the Conservation Department, Water Pollution Control Facility and Building Department issued permits.

This was the scene Monday:

And yesterday:

(Photo/Chris Tait)

==================================================

Bill “Mr. Memorial Day Parade” Vornkahl notes that many organizations have not yet replied to invitations to participate in the Memorial Day parade.

So, organizations: If you want to be in Westport’s best parade of the year, contact Jamie Boone at the Westport Parks & Recreation Department: jboone@westportct.gov; 203-341-5091.

Don’t be left out of the Memorial Day parade!  (Photo/Jodi Harris)

==================================================

MoCA’s Spring Thursday evening “Cocktails and Conversation” series has begun. It features compelling speakers, within the context of MoCA’s current exhibition.

The current show — “Rainbow in the Dark,” with works by German contemporary artist Anselm Reyle — runs through May 28.

“Cocktails and Conversation” includes:

April 27 (6 p.m.), “Creativity and Climate Action”: 4 Bridgeport artists show (and offer for sale) the projects they’ve created.

May 4 (5 p.m.), “The Wellness of Style” with Gayle Perry, exploring “the noise that our clothes and spaces create for us, with 15-minute style sessions.

May 11 (6 p.m.), Iraqi multi-instrumentalist Ameen Mokdad.

May 18 (6 p.m.), Conversation with “Rainbow in the Dark” curator Emann Odufu, followed by a concert by rock band Darling.

May 25 (6 p.m.), Barbara Sallick of Waterworks and Shari Lebowitz of Bespoke Designs on female entrepreneurship, home design trends, and the blending of function and style.

Most events are free for MoCA members, $10 for non-members. For more information click here, or call 203-222-7070.

Emann Odufu

==================================================

Time for a church barn dance!

‘The Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Westport sponsors its 4th one on Saturday, April 29 (5 to 9 p.m.). Billy Fischer is the caller, accompanied by Wry Bred.

All ages are invited. There’s pizza and cake too. Donations ($5 per person, $15 per family) are requested. Questions? Call 203-227-7205, ext. 10. Swing your partner ’round!

===========================================

Speaking of concerts: The Weston History & Culture Center’s outdoor summer concert series “Music at the Barn” returns for its 8th season. Concerts are set for June 4 and June 25, July 9 and July 23, and September 10.

Doors open at 5 p.m. for food, history, crafts and fun. Music starts at 5:30 p.m., and ends at 7.

The bands are from throughout Fairfield County. Kids will enjoy the crafting table, historic games and a walk through the sculpture garden. Adults can explore history with tours of the Coley House and “Penned, Painted & Sculpted: Weston Artists 1900 – 1965” exhibit.

Music at the Weston Historical Society.

==================================================

Reminder: The launch party for “Pick of the Pics” — the “06880” book highlighting over 100 of our blog’s best Pics of the Day — is this Sunday (April 30, 2 to 4 p.m., Savvy + Grace, 146 Main Street).

Books will be available for purchase at a special price of $20 (regular Amazon price: $24.95).

I’ll sign copies; so will Lyah Muktavaram, my “06880” intern who did 99% of the work on it.

Photographers featured in the book can pick up a free book at the launch party too.

Can’t wait? Click here to order!

================================================

Totally random, but interesting:

Alert reader Jim McKay writes: “In 1982, when the Saugatuck train station rain shelters were installed, the Ukrainian flag colors were used. Long before Ukrainian independence.”

(Photo/Jim McKay)

=================================================

Last week, Amy Schneider captured — on camera, that is — today’s “Westport … Naturally feature: a snowy egret, perched over the Saugatuck River.

(Photo/Amy Schneider)

==================================================

And fiinally ,,, Harry Belafonte, whose life was defined as much by his work on civil rights as by his popularizing of calypso music in the pop realm, died yesterday in New York of congestive heart failure. He was 96.

Belafonte attended fundraisers here, during the civil rights movement in the 1960s. Click here for a full obituary of this remarkable man.

(If you enjoy our daily Roundups, please support “06880.” Just click here — and thank you!)

12 Comments

Posted in Arts, Entertainment, Local business, Real estate, Transportation, Weston

Tagged , , , , ,

Wilton Road Apartment Approvals Begin

Posted on November 14, 2022 | 19 comments

In March, Westport’s 8-30g moratorium ends.

Four months from now, developers may again apply to include “affordable housing” in their plans. Some believe in it. Others use it as a ploy for approval of projects otherwise too big to pass zoning muster.

(8-30g is a state statute requiring at least 10% of a community’s housing stock to be “affordable,” according to a state median income formula. Westport would meet that standard if all affordable units were included. However, only those built after 1990 — when the regulation was adopted — are included.)

Meanwhile, an 8-30g project approved before the moratorium is moving through Westport’s approval pipeline.

122 Wilton Road — the 1.16-acre parcel bordered by Wilton Road, Kings Highway North, the Saugatuck River and Taylortown Salt Marsh — is the planned site of a 3-story, 19-unit,  20,078-square foot apartment complex.

122 Wilton Road is the site of a planned 3-story, 19-unit apartment complex.

In 2018, the state Appellate Court denied a plan by Garden Homes of Stamford to build a 7-story, 48-unit apartment complex.

The developer returned with the smaller, 19-unit proposal, which included an 8-30g component.

Again the P&Z rejected the request. The scale was still too big; there were still traffic and fire safety issues.

But Garden Homes appealed, and a court overruled the P&Z. According to 8-30g, affordability trumps traffic and safety concerns.

COVID pushed back the 122 Wilton Road schedule. But last month the Conservation Department issued a permit. Still ahead are permits from the Water Pollution Control Facility and Building Department.

But with the court’s okay, the project moves steadily ahead.

19 Comments

Posted in Economy, Local politics, Real estate

Tagged , , ,

8-30g Affordable Housing: More Proposals On The Way

Posted on January 31, 2019 | 65 comments

For Westport, this has been a winter without much snow.

But a blizzard of 8-30g proposals continues to swirl all over town.

8-30g is the official name of Connecticut’s affordable housing statute. It mandates that municipalities make 10 percent of their housing stock “affordable” (according to a state formula). Though Westport has a variety of such units, many were built before 1990 — the date upon which the standards are based.

Which means that developers now eye all kinds of property. Incorporating 8-30g housing helps ease the legal path toward approval.

This week, a plan was submitted for 5 residential buildings on the Roger’s Septic Tank site at 1480 Post Road East. It includes 18 1-bedroom apartments, 14 more with 2 bedrooms — and would be 30% affordable housing, as defined by 8-30g. (Click here for the complete application.)

Roger’s Septic Tanks, Post Road East

The property — between the Rio Bravo/Julian’s Pizza strip mall, and a gas station — is a throwback to the days before the Post Road was greened and cleaned. Roger’s was there for decades; before that, it was Bob’s Welding.

Several years ago, a private agreement was reached between the owner of the commercial site and homeowners on Cottage Lane — which runs behind — stipulating that no housing could be built on the property. The agreement did not involve the town. A legal battle is sure to ensue.

Meanwhile, a couple of hundred yards east, there’s talk that several properties are being gathered together for at least one 8-30g proposal. These includes Redi-Cut Carpet, Innovation Luggage and Pane e Bene restaurant; houses behind it on George Street; the now-shuttered Sono Baking Company and adjacent A&J’s Farm Market, and the Westport Tennis Club behind it.

Those properties are not all contiguous, so there could be more than one proposal. No applications have yet been filed.

The former A&J Farm Market.

Next month, another proposal — much more concrete, in the works for far longer, and at the opposite end of Westport — comes (again) before the Planning & Zoning Commission.

Felix Charney will be back with yet another plan to construct 187 units on Hiawatha Lane. The narrow road is accessible by West Ferry Lane off Saugatuck Avenue, between I-95 exit 17 and the railroad station parking lot. The developer hopes to create a “medium density housing opportunity zone” there.

The P&Z is up to its eyeballs in 8-30g issues. Still on the docket: 20-26 South Morningside Drive (where discussions continue about the historic Walter and Naiad Einsel property), and on-again, off-again 81-unit Lincoln Street/Cross Street/Post Road West development (it’s back on).

The fate of 20-26 Morningside Drive South — on Walter and Naiad Einsel’s former property — remains in doubt. (Photo/Anna DeVito)

But wait! There’s more!

This week, a legal challenge was filed after the commission turned down an application for 122 Wilton Road. That’s the 1.16-acre parcel at 122 Wilton Road — at the Kings Highway North intersection, adjacent to the Taylortown Salt Marsh and wetlands. A developer wants to build a 19-unit, 3-story, 20,078-square foot rental complex there.

“Complex” is the right word, for all these proposals.

Though it’s easy to see why developers look at the 8-30g statute, and see a cash register.

And why they’re filing a blizzard of applications and lawsuits now. As of April — thanks to recent construction like 1177 Post Road East, opposite Greens Farms Elementary School — Westport may qualify for a 4-year moratorium on affordable housing proposals.

Like shoppers stocking up on bread and milk before a snowstorm, developers race to beat the clock.

65 Comments

Posted in Local business, Local politics, Real estate, Restaurants

Tagged , , , ,

Wilton Road/Kings Highway Apartment Proposal: It’s Back!

Posted on August 13, 2018 | 37 comments

Just over a year ago, the state Appellate Court denied a plan to build a 7-story, 48-unit apartment complex at one of the busiest, most environmentally sensitive spots in town.

The ruling was based on grave concerns about safety, and damage to wetlands adjacent to the 1.16-acre parcel at 122 Wilton Road — right at the Kings Highway North intersection.

Undeterred, the owner has come up with a smaller plan. Garden Homes of Stamford wants to build a 19-unit, 3-story, 20,078-square foot rental complex. With 31 parking spots at grade, that would total 4 stories.

There would be 4 1-bedroom units, 8 2-bedroom units, and 7 with 3 bedrooms.

The site plan for 122 Wilton Road. Wilton Road is at the left; it intersects with Kings Highway North (Willows Medical Complex location) at the top.

The project is being submitted to the Planning & Zoning Commission with 2 affordability plans. The default sets aside 30% of the units as “affordable,” according to state 8-30g regulations. An alternative plan offers 60% as affordable — “if certain conditions are met by the P&Z and other Westport town bodies and staff.”

The goal of the project, Garden Homes says, is “to enable low and moderate income families with children the opportunity to live in Westport and have access to its excellent public schools and amenities.”

The developer submitted a traffic impact study. It included 2 proposed roadway improvements: lengthening the westbound left-turn lane for Kings Highway North by 50 feet, and adjusting the traffic signal at that intersection.

“With these improvements,” the report said, delays there “during the critical weekday peak hours will be shorter than those under the 2015 existing conditions.”

Traffic concerns were only part of the opposition to Garden Homes’ previous proposal.

Another reason was the location: abutting the Taylortown Salt Marsh.

Safety was another major issue. Westport Fire Department officials worried about access to the site.

Former fire chief Andrew Kingsbury reviewed the new proposals. Many concerns remain.

Access is still a major issue: The emergency fire lane is not wide enough, has a tight turning radius, and can only be approached from the south. The access driveway on the east side is also too tight to accommodate Westport’s aerial apparatus.

Kingsbury adds that congestion in the area during rush hour hampers firefighting efforts.

The developer no doubt hopes that a scaled-down version of the previous proposal — and inclusion of 8-30g housing — will carry the day.

“Garden Homes” is a bucolic-sounding name. But I’m betting the reception to this new proposal will not be all peaches and cream.

(Hat tip: Wendy Pieper)

37 Comments

Posted in Local politics, Organizations, Real estate

Tagged , , , ,

Final Court Denies Wilton Road Affordable Housing Appeal

Posted on July 31, 2017 | 15 comments

The corner of Wilton Road and Kings Highway North will not become clogged with traffic. The fire department will not have to worry about access to a potentially dangerous site. The Saugatuck River wetlands are safe.

Those are 3 direct consequences of a judicial decision, announced today by Westport town attorney Ira Bloom.

Connecticut’s Appellate Court has denied a petition by Garden Homes. The Stamford-based developer contested a May decision in Hartford Superior Court that dismissed their appeal of a unanimous decision by Westport’s Planning & Zoning Commission. In February 2016, the board denied Garden Homes’ application to build a 6-story, 48-unit apartment complex on one of the busiest, most environmentally sensitive corners of Westport.

The Superior Court judge’s decision noted grave concerns about safety, and damage to wetlands adjacent to the 1.16-acre parcel at 122 Wilton Road.

“I am very pleased with this decision from the Appellate Court,” Bloom said.  “The Trial Court’s decision upholding our denial of this application now stands.  The Planning & Zoning Commission, its staff, First Selectman Jim Marpe,  our consultants, and all the citizens who participated in the hearing deserve our thanks.”

122 Wilton Road — site of the proposed 6-story, 48-unit apartment building — sits at the corner of Kings Highway North. The property abuts the Taylortown Salt Marsh.

15 Comments

Posted in Environment, Local politics, Real estate

Tagged , , ,

Affordable Housing: Westport By The Numbers

Posted on February 7, 2016 | 12 comments

We’ve all heard a lot about 8-30g — the state’s “affordable housing” statute.

But what is “8-30g”? And what does “affordable housing” really mean?

At last Thursday’s Planning and Zoning Commission meeting — where members voted unanimously to deny an application for a 6-story, 48-unit apartment complex (including 15 affordable units) — P&Z member Catherine Walsh entered into the record a report on that topic.

She noted that Westport currently has “a diversity of housing stock for low income groups, special needs, the homeless and the elderly.”

Canal Park offers affordable housing for seniors, near downtown. Because it was built before 1990, it does not count for points under 8-30g standards.

Canal Park offers affordable housing for seniors, near downtown. Because it was built before 1990, it does not count for points under 8-30g standards.

However, 8-30g counts only units constructed after 1990, and those that are deed-restricted for 40 years. Most Westport units that serve lower-income groups do not fall into either category, she said.

But they do exist.

According to the 2010 census, 10,399 dwelling units are used for calculating 8-30g “points.” Of those, 9,860 are single-family homes.

Among “single family” units, there are 1,069 documented apartments. Only 7 are deed-restricted, to comply with 8-30g.

She included other figures, including group homes and approved-but-not-yet-completed units, as well as low-income units that do not fully comply with all aspects, yet still serve low-income citizens.

“Westport has always believed in and encouraged increasing the diversity of housing stock while maintaining our small town character,” Walsh said.

Hales Court was built in the 1950s. A recent rebuilding effort added twice the number of lower-income housing units.

Hales Court was built in the 1950s. A recent rebuilding effort added twice the number of lower-income housing units.

In recent years the P&Z took action to “further encourage diversity of housing,” and comply with 8-30g requirements. Members enacted legislation covering mobile home replacement units, and created a variety of zones. These range from 15% affordable, to 100%.

Westport has also encouraged legalizing existing apartments in private homes. Over 1,000 units would benefit lower-income residents, but do not comply with the statute. (Most homeowners oppose 40-year deed restrictions.) Over 200 in-home apartments have been legalized.

The old Saugatuck School on Bridge Street has been repurposed into low-cost housing for the elderly. Those 36 units do not count toward 8-30g.

In 2010 the P&Z passed text amendments to allow affordable housing in 8 split commercial/residential zones. There were no applications until 2014. The Geiger project (Post Road and North Morningside) is currently under construction.

In addition, the town — through its Housing  Authority — has upgraded low-income housing units at Hales Court and Sasco Creek. Hales Court (built in the 1950s) now has twice the number of units (78). Sasco Creek also increases the number of affordable units.

The original Saugatuck Elementary School on Bridge Street is now elderly housing. Built (way) before 1990, it is not included as "affordable" by 8-30g regulations.

The original Saugatuck Elementary School on Bridge Street is now elderly housing. Built (way) before 1990, it is not included as “affordable” by 8-30g regulations.

In other affordable housing news, RTM member Matthew Mandell sent “06880” a link to an equation he developed (with help from Staples High School teachers Bill Walsh and David Rollison). Click here to see it.

Inputting a few figures lets you know how many units must be built to reach the 10% affordable figure mandated in 8-30g. It works for any town — not just Westport.

Mandell takes his math one step further. Start with a round figure of 10,000 housing units in Westport. Approximately 270 are deemed “affordable,” by 8-30g standards.

To get to the statute’s target of 1,000 units, you’d think we’d need to build 730 more.

Wrong, Mandell says. It’s more like 3,650.

What?!

Mandell notes that the affordable units being proposed now in Westport are part of bigger complexes. Every unit in a new proposal is not “affordably” priced.

So a developer who builds a 150-unit building with 45 affordable apartments has also built 105 that are not. And the town’s housing stock has increased by 150 as well — meaning more, not fewer, affordable units now must be built. The end number keeps moving further away.

“If we built 3 buildings with 250 units each — all of them affordable — we could do it,” Mandell says.

“But that’s impossible. We can’t get to 10% without destroying the very fabric of our community.”

 

12 Comments

Posted in Local politics, Real estate

Tagged , , , , , ,

Online Petition Plea: No Wilton Road Apartments

Posted on February 1, 2016 | 42 comments

An online petition opposing the proposed 4-story, 48-unit apartment complex at the corner of Wilton Road and Kings Highway North is picking up steam.

In its first 2 days, nearly 200 Westporters asked the Planning and Zoning Commission to deny an application to build on the environmentally sensitive, heavily trafficked site.

Petition organizer Adrian Little — a 19-year Westport resident — lives a mile away. He says, “People in Green’s Farms and Coleytown should be just as concerned about this as those who live nearby. We have only one town.”

Little notes that most residents signing the petition also leave comments. They cite 3 overwhelming concerns: traffic, the environment and aesthetics.

The fact that some of the units will be deemed “affordable housing” is not an issue, Little notes.

“No one is troubled by the notion of affordable housing,” he says. “The problem is the location, bulk, and sheer lack of concern for our environment.”

(To see the petition, click here.  For more background on the proposed apartment complex, click here.)

The Taylortown Salt Marsh abuts the proposed apartment complex at 122 Wilton Road.

The Taylortown Salt Marsh abuts the proposed apartment complex at 122 Wilton Road.

42 Comments

Posted in Local politics, People, Real estate

Tagged , , ,

Downtown Salt Marsh Threatened By Development

Posted on January 20, 2016 | 17 comments

Last Sunday’s photo challenge showed a sign for “Taylortown Salt Marsh.” Though the 3.2- acre preserve sits in the heart of Westport — the Saugatuck River, off Wilton Road and Kings Highway North, opposite the “Fort Apache” medical complex — it’s unknown to many Westporters.

That will change soon.

Tomorrow night (Thursday, January 21, 7 p.m., Town Hall), the Planning and Zoning Commission discusses a proposal for a 45,796-square foot, 5-story, 48-unit apartment building planned for 122 Wilton Road.

122 Wilton Road -- site of the proposed 6-story, 48-unit apartment building -- sits at the corner of Kings Highway North. The property abuts the Taylortown Salt Marsh.

122 Wilton Road — site of the proposed 6-story, 48-unit apartment building — sits at the corner of Kings Highway North. The property abuts the Taylortown Salt Marsh.

The developer — Garden Homes Management — is using Connecticut’s Affordable Housing Statute. Known as “8-30G,” it allows developers to add “affordable units” that override local zoning regulations, in towns where less than 10 percent of the housing stock is considered affordable.

In this case, 30 percent of the units — numbering 15 — would be “affordable,” as defined by state housing law.

Th3 8-30G regulation was part of a 2014 plan to build 200 apartments on the site of the Westport Inn. First Selectman Jim Marpe and P&Z chair Chip Stephens instead found a local buyer who understood the importance of maintaining the lower-impact inn on that small-footprint, already-crowded stretch of the Post Road.

The Aspetuck Land Trust — which owns the Taylortown tract, and spent the last 3 years saving the marsh from invasive weeds — is not pleased.

An email from the organization warns of negative environmental impacts to the marsh and river, as well as destruction of views of the estuary.

Garden Homes believes that development of the site will not impact the wetlands.

One view of the Taylortown Salt Marsh...

One view of the Taylortown Salt Marsh…

Interestingly, the Aspetuck Land Trust itself is a direct result of a struggle to save the salt marsh from being filled and developed in the 1960s.

Back then, there was no legal protection of tidal marshes. Inland wetlands were thought of as boggy areas to be filled for level building lots, the Trust says.

When Barlow  Cutler-Wotton learned of plans to build a geriatric hospital on the Wilton Road/Kings Highway North corner, she contacted attorney Leonard Schine. He based his case on traffic congestion. The P&Z denied the application.

...and another.

…and another.

Cutler-Wotton went on to form the Aspetuck Land Trust, for Westport and Weston. The Trust buys, or receives as gifts, property that it then preserves in natural states as open space. The organization acquired Taylortown Salt Marsh in 1987.

The Trust will have to work hard now to keep it. 830G is a powerful state statute. It overrides most local rules and regulations — except those related to the environment or safety.

Let Westport’s newest battle begin.

(Tomorrow’s Planning and Zoning Commission evening meeting is open to the public. So is a P&Z field trip tomorrow morning to examine the property. It begins at 8:15 a.m., at 122 Wilton Road.)

17 Comments

Posted in Downtown, Environment, Organizations, Real estate

Tagged , , , , ,