Gloria Gouveia: Land Use Pioneer Plans For The Future

In 1978, Gloria Gouveia was hired as Westport’s zoning enforcement officer.

The news made headlines. She was believed to be the first woman in that role, anywhere in Connecticut.

Gloria Gouveia, age 26

She was just 26 years old.

Gouveia was certainly well qualified. She had studied architecture and construction in college; led a planning study that identified every apartment in Norwalk, and worked for the South Norwalk Redevelopment Agency.

In Westport, she did “everything.” She issued zoning permits and certificates of compliance; enforced regulations; followed up on complaints, and testified in court.

Gouveia was particularly adept at spotting — and removing — illegal Post Road signs

She was Arnie Kaye’s nemesis. The controversial arcade owner once chained himself to Town Hall, protesting one of the zoning enforcement officer’s actions.

But Gouveia was also fair. With her encyclopedic knowledge of Westport’s zoning regulations, she knew that a section from the 1950s would aid Kaye through a review of non-conforming uses.

“Why would you help me?” he asked.

“That’s part of my job,” she replied.

For 6 years Gouveia learned all about fire, building, conservation and engineering codes, and how they fit together.

A modernization project between 1978-81 connected 9 separate buildings, into one unified Staples High School. (Photo/Steve Turner)

Because she was the official who released bonds, she learned to identify trees and shrubs — to tell if developers followed the landscape plans they’d submitted.

And she counted parking spaces, to determine whether lots actually conformed to the law.

Her job title changed to “zoning administrator.” She became am ombudsman, advising residents and developers on the many steps needed to obtain a permit.

Gouveia was there during the first modernization project of Staples High School; the construction of the first condominiums (Harvest Commons, Regents Park and Lansdowne), and the first office buildings on Post Road West.

In late 1983 she left Town Hall. Developers worried they’d lost their guide through the regulatory thicket. They asked if she would still help, as a consultant.

On January 6, 1984, Gouveia hung out her shingle. She called her new business “Land Use Consultants.” That’s a generic term now. Back then, it was innovative.

Gloria Gouveia (Photo/JC Martin)

Forty years later, she is still thriving. She advises on any element of construction and land use. Zoning permits, wetland issues, tax assessment appeals … if it involves Town Hall, the Planning & Zoning Commission, Zoning Board of Appeals, Conservation Commission (or anything similar), Gouveia can help.

She’s worked throughout New England and New York. These days — to avoid commutes — she prefers to stay in Westport.

Her office is within walking distance of Town Hall. She feels at home there — and she knows exactly what to do once she walks in.

Today’s regulations are much more complex than when she began, Gouveia says.

Water-related issues are regulated more closely now. Erosion and sediment are major concerns, for example, as waterways silt up and become both shallower and wider.

Back in the day too, no one worried about the impact of lights on the night sky.

As Gouveia has seen many changes in Westport’s attitudes toward development, among town officials and residents alike, her own views have evolved.

After approving a number of large office structures — including the controversial Gorham Island building in the 1970s and early ’80s — the P&Z took an anti-development stance.

The Gorham Island office building replaced a near century-old home.

Gouveia agreed with the new approach.

Over time, she says, Westport administrations became more pro-developer. One major reason: maintaining a strong tax base.

“When I was younger, I was not conservative about anything,” Gouveia says. “Now I see the importance of balance in a community.”

As she looks back at the history of development of Westport, she recalls the 1950s building boom in single-family houses that replaced farmland and open spaces.

“Panicked” at the thought of building so many new schools for new arrivals, the P&Z rezoned many areas. That restricted development by half, Gouveia says.

Then came the rise in gas stations and car dealerships, followed by office buildings and condos.

Today, Gouveia says, we are back to residential development — though this time, in many different forms.

What’s next?

“I see so many empty office buildings in town,” says Gouveia. “Their method of construction and infrastructure was excellent. That’s where we should be looking to build new housing — especially affordable housing.

“We have no more land. But look at Post Road West. It’s a corporate park district. There’s beautiful land, lots of parking, and they’re well built. That could be transformed thoughtfully into apartment use.”

Reflections of 315 Post Road West. (Photo/Amy Schneider)

She envisions the same thing happening at the Greens Farms Road office complex.

Even Nyala Farm. “We could provide housing there, without interrupting the commercial use — and without doing anything to the land around it,” she says.

Similarly, Gouveia thinks housing could be developed at the former Bridgewater office on Weston Road, rather than the current plan of building on the adjacent open space.

“The market for office space was dwindling before the pandemic,” she notes. “COVID just hastened it.”

It’s no longer remarkable to see a woman in her role. It’s no longer innovative to be a “land use consultant.”

For nearly half a century Gouveia has administered, adjudicated and advised Westport homeowners, developers and town officials about every conceivable aspect of land use.

You’d think she’s seen it all.

Nope.

There’s always a new idea, a new use (or re-use), a new controversy, a new regulation.

And for years to come, Gloria Gouveia will be eager to examine, explore and explain them all.

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