The Planning and Zoning Commission adopted a 5-year affordable housing plan last night. The bipartisan vote was 5-0, with 2 abstentions.
Highlights include:
Creating a new affordable community designed specifically for families.
• The formation of a town-funded Affordable Housing Trust Fund to direct resources towards future development of affordable housing.
• The immediate development of location specific plans for town-owned land to meaningfully expand and/or renovate existing rental housing/structures to create affordable housing, and potentially partner with nonprofits engaged in this work.
• Allocation of the approximately $1,700,000 in the town’s Real Property Fund to acquire land for future development of affordable housing.
• The deed restriction of existing town-owned rental properties so that they are affordable and remain affordable to renters.
• The adoption of a new zoning district at Powell Place to ensure that existing deeply affordable housing (40% State Median Income or less) can be more intensively redeveloped with flexible parking requirements reflecting the availability of public lots nearby.
There is much more in the 5-year plan. Click here for a full “06880” report.
Part of the 5-year affordable housing plan envisions a “model pocket neighborhood/cottage commons” design. (Courtesy of Ross Chapin AIA)
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You’d think by now everyone would have gotten the message.
Nope. Here’s the latest Groundhog Day news from the Westport Police Department:
On Saturday, several cars were broken into. All were unlocked. Go figure.
This often happens at night. However, these crimes occurred in late afternoon and early evening.
The WPD once again reminds Westporters to lock your cars and bring your keys or fobs inside. And never leave valuables — cash purses, wallets, electronics — in your car.
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The Police Department also offers this advice, for the June 30th fireworks:
Spectators should arrive early. Traffic delays are inevitable.
Compo Beach closes at 4 p.m. Only vehicles with fireworks passes can remain. Parks & Recreation staff will collect passes. The beach should reopen to ticket holders by 5 p.m.
Vehicles with tickets can access the beach through South Compo Road only. Hillspoint Road south of Greens Farms Road will be open to residents who live south of that intersection.
Firework attendees should display their ticket prominently on the dashboard. It will be collected at the parking gate.
All ticket holders must be inside Compo Beach by 9 p.m. No beach traffic will be allowed south of the Minute Man monument after that time.
Vehicles without tickets will not be allowed any further toward Compo Beach than the Minute Man.
Uber, Lyft or taxi users will be directed straight past the Minute Man, on Compo Road South. They can be dropped off at Soundview Drive. Return service will not be available until after 11 p.m., due to 1-way traffic leaving the beach.
When the fireworks end, there will be 2 lanes of 1-way traffic only on Compo Beach Road and South Compo, to the intersection of Greens Farms Road. Residents of that area returning from elsewhere should expect a delay of 1 hour or so.
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The fun doesn’t end with the fireworks. On Saturday, July 9, Westport Sunrise Rotary’s Great Duck Race returns. There’s a new location — Jesup Green — but the same family fun.
The day begins with a 10 a.m. Fun Fair in the Westport Library parking lot. Activities include a Nerdy Derby, face painting and bubble machines.
At 1 p.m. on Jesup Green, 3,000 plastic ducks will slide down a 160-foot sluice course. Each wears a number, matching a $20 raffle ticket. The first 10 ducks down the course win money for their ticket holders. First place is $5,000. Second place wins $1,000. The next 8 finishers get $500 each.
The event is a major Sunrise Rotary fundraiser. Proceeds support charitable endeavors in this area, the state and around the world.
Click here for tickets, and to learn more about Sunrise Rotary.
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When Dick Lowenstein received his 2022-23 tax bill yesterday, he was surprised to see that the gross assessment had risen on his 2 vehicles. The dollar amounts were not huge, but the percentages were: 29% higher for his 2002 Lexus, 11% for his 2014 Honda CRV.
He called tax assessor Paul Friia. The immediate response: Gross assessment is based on standard information provided to the assessor. “Presumably, because of supply shortages, new car production has been delayed. Many people are instead buying used cars, which has driven up their value,” Dick reports.
I wonder what this Maserati will be assessed at next year. (Photo/Jerry Kuyper)
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Yesterday’s rain postponed the Remarkable Theater showing of “Caddyshack.” The new date is Monday, July 11 (8:30 p.m.; gates open at 7:30 p.m.).
Click here for tickets, and more information.
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Our “Westport … Naturally” feature is open to everyone. We run photos of anything “natural” in town: animals, birds, flowers, trees — you name it. If it lives, we want to showcase it.
We are especially interested in images from young readers. Today we welcome 15-year-old Benji Porosoff, who captured this scene:
(Photo/Benji Porosoff)
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And finally … on this day in 1969, the Stonewall riots began in New York. The uprising — sparked by a police raid on the Stonewall Inn gay bar — is considered the start of the LGBTQ rights movement.
Ten years later, Diana Ross commissioned Chic founder (and current Westporter) Nile Rodgers to create material for her new album. One song was inspired after he saw drag queens dressed as Diana Ross at a New York club. It is now considered an anthem of the LGBTQ community.
(“06880” is supported solely by readers. Please click here to contribute.)
The Maserati has left the building … Aka it’s been moved , and the debris has been cleared too!