Parker Harding and Jesup Green parking plans are moving forward.
On March 6 (7:30 p.m., Zoom), the Flood & Erosion Control Board meets to consider the 2 riverside lots.
Forty-two additional spots are proposed for the Jesup Green (lower Westport Library) parking area. Work includes restriping, minor grading, the removal and relocation of some trees, and a new retaining wall.
The new spaces will replace those lost in the Parker Harding renovation, as it is brought into compliance with ADA and safety standards.
The site plan is below. For a larger version, and other material related to the Jesup and Parker Harding lot project, click here.
Click on or hover over to enlarge.
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After Tuesday’s “06880” Roundup report that Dunville’s closed suddenly last week, several readers noted that the Riverside Avenue’s Facebook page said: “Hi everybody, we’ll be closed for a little spring cleaning and then some vacation until Friday, March 1st. BRB!”
The post was accompanied by a photo of a Jimmy Buffett-style beach scene.
Usually, owners howl directly when I get something wrong. I reached out to Dunville’s owner before posting the story, but still have not heard back from him, or any representative.
Meanwhile, rumors are rampant in town that the popular, 40-year-old bar has been, or will be, bought by Little Pub.
I contacted the Little Pub owner for comment, but also did not hear back.
Dunville’s
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Parks & Recreation Department spring and summer programs are now viewable online (click here).
There are 2 online registration dates.
Tuesday, March 5 (9 a.m.) if for Camp Compo and RECing Crew only.
Wednesday, March 6 (9 a.m.) is for all other spring and summer programs. Registration also continues for Camp Compo and RECing Crew.
If a program is full, names can be added to the waitlist. There is no charge at that time.
Parents should click here to access their account.
Log into your profile and choose “Manage Family Member” on the bottom right. This brings you to the “My Family Members” page. Click on the first name in the column. In “Family Member Information,” verify date of birth, and make sure that children’s grades are correct (it is the grade going into as of September 2024). Hit “Save” at the bottom. Complete the process for every family member.
For address changes, email recreation@westportct.gov. Problems? Email recreation@westportct.gov or call 203-341-5152. Office hours are weekdays, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
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Sons of the American Legion Squadron 63 have elected Andrew Colabella as squadron commander, and Mark Shornick as treasurer.
Both honor the legacy of family military service. All male descendants of US veterans who served honorably are eligible for membership,
Sons of The American Legion Squadron 63 is part of VFW Joseph J. Clinton Post 399 on Riverside Avenue.
Mark Shornick and Andrew Colabella, at their Sons of American Legion Squadron 63 swearing-in.
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Want to be the next Stephen Sondheim?
You may not write “West Side Story,” “Gypsy” or “Into the Woods.” But — if you are at least 20 years old — you can do what Sondheim did when he was at Williams College: become a Westport Country Playhouse intern.
Applications are open through March 8 for the Joanne Woodward Internship Program. Interns work closely with Playhouse staff each summer — as they’ve done ever since the 1940s.
Opportunities are available in marketing, development/fundraising, general production, and community engagement. Interns also attend weekly seminars with guest speakers, including Playhouse staffers, visiting designers and artists, commercial producers and more.
This year’s program runs from May 28 through July 31. The stipend is $630 per week. Housing is provided, if needed. For more information and to apply, click here.
Stephen Sondheim (crouching, top of photo), during his 1950 apprenticeship. Also in the photo: future film director Frank Perry (front row, left) and Richard Rodgers’ daughter Mary (2nd row, 4th from left).
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Westport Police made 2 custodial arrests between February 14 and 21.
A man was arrested for unlawful restraint, following an investigation into a domestic abuse complaint.
A man was arrested for threatening, after a complaint that the 18-year-old would kill his former partner.
Police also issued these citations:
- Traveling unreasonably fast: 5 complaints
- Operating an unregistered motor vehicle: 3
- Failure to obey stop signs: 3
- Failure to obey traffic control signals: 3
- Distracted driving: 2
- Failure to remove snow/ice from roof: 1
- Improper use of markers: 2
- Failure to comply with dog ownership requirements: 1
- Permitting a dog to roam at large: 1
- School zone violation: 1
- Operating a motor vehicle under suspension: 1
- Operating a motor vehicle without a license: 1
- Failure to insure a motor vehicle: 1
- Operating a motor vehicle without minimum insurance: 1
- Unreadable plates: 1
- Failure to register a commercial vehicle: 1
So cute! But you can’t let dogs roam! (Photo/Helen Martin)
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Maple syrup season is near.
And Dasha Horton, Natalie Glidden and Sean Fitzpatrick are ready.
On February 24 and March 2 (10 a.m. to 1 p.m., Wakeman Town Farm), they’ll talk about tapping and producing syrup, answer questions about how to tap trees at home, and show off WTF’s homestead-sized evaporator.
They’re all-weather farmers. Soo they’ll also answer questions about summer gardens.
The Maple Sugaring Days are free; go any time during the 2 sessions.
People of all ages love maple syrup — and making it.
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David Waldman discussed local real estate, at Tuesday’s Westport Rotary Club lunch.
The lifelong Westport, and founder and president of David Adam Realty, addressed 2 controversial projects: Glendinning Place, and Parker Harding .
David Waldman, at the Westport Rotary Club. (Photo/Ellin Curley)
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Hark! A hawk!
Johanna Keyser Rossi spotted this “Westport … Naturally” beauty at the Westport Weston Family YMCA.
(Photo/Johanna Keyser Rossi)
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And finally … Jimmy Van Eaton, Jerry Lee Lewis’ pounding drummer on “Great Balls of Fire” and “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On,” died earlier this month in Alabama, of kidney complications. He was 86.
Click here for a full obituary.
(Goodness gracious! Come along baby! Please click here to support “06880.” Thank you kindly.)
Does anyone else understand why we are
spending so much time and money to add 42
parking spaces to
a riverside location (and removing trees) only to
remove 42 spaces (net net zero new spaces)
from another riverside location-PH which is much
closer and more convenient for shoppers and
restaurant patrons including the
elderly and families with young children?
Would this not deter people from quick
stops into town to grab what they need and
support local downtown merchants?
Does anyone know why exactly is the proposed
green space and
immense boardwalk in the middle of Parking
Harding is such a necessary trophy and to who??
Great questions!!
More parking for the police station, Library and Levitt.
Less parking for the merchants, shoppers and diners.
And less mature trees.
Expensive way to keep the same number of parking spots!!
Does not compute!!
Chris, and Steve, it was made very clear to us at the DPIC meeting last week that the merchants really do not make the cut in terms of any pecking order or importance as stakeholders.
When they proudly announced that they are spending 250k on a system which will stop anyone from outstaying their 3 hour Westport welcome,by reading licence plates, and of course primary goal is to stop staff from filling up parking spots, merchants asked where the town would suggest that the staff of the downtown stores and restaurants should park, we were told by Randy Herbertson in an ever smug tone that parking is not about the merchants, it is about the residents and visitors. May I remind Mr. Herbertson I own 3 businesses in the downtown. I am also a 22 year town resident. Many of the owners of businesses and staff employed in the downtown are also residents.
When we suggested that in order to open our businesses doors, the same businesses the residents and visitors come to town for, our staff do need to park somewhere, we asked them to show us where they would like 1000/1200 staff to park.
Pete Ratkiewich and then Randy assured us they will show us where all of the merchants and their staff in the downtown will be able to park for the entirety of their shift. I do look forward to seeing these spots shown to us. At the moment there are 100 all day spots in the Baldwin lot and that’s the only parking staff can use. It is also the only parking anyone wishing to eat and shop in Westport can park.
I suppose the inference was if anyone is coming to the downtown to eat, they will have 40 minutes left on the clock to shop.
We suggested that it would be prudent to start working on the imperial lot first as it is off the beaten track and while construction is going on there the chaos will be less than it will in the downtown.
It will also reassure merchants that the imperial lot is going to in fact happen in a timely manner and not be a long finger deal.
I have walked from the imperial lot to the Talbots end of Main Street. It is a 17 minute walk.
I do not think it is reasonable to expect residents or merchants to have to walk that far to their destination or their job. I asked about a shuttle bus I did not get an answer.
I also asked where the farmers market would be moving to once merchants and staff are forced to park at imperial.
I got no answer.
Last I checked every restaurant and shop in downtown is open on a Thursday.
And before I get attacked we do all love the farmers market, however, if imperial is the parking lot of choice to move the staff to, then we need to know what is going to happen on a Thursday between 8-2 pm. And where is the shuttle bus ?
On the question of renovating imperial first after a lot of waffling we were told that there may be a pavilion built there( it’s on their plan) and that because it sits on reclaimed land there would be a need to do some kind of special digging amounting to the supports a dock in the water gets.
It sounded all very expensive along with toilets etc..
the DPIC plan mentions a permanent home for the farmers market during “off peak hours”. I’m not sure how Thursday between 8-3 is off peak, it’s when the staff of downtown all need to park.
So, enlighten us, are we getting a shuttle bus and parking 7 days a week or we are not ? Again no definitive answer, except we were told in a dismissive fashion that the very important stakeholders who would be asked to collaborate on plans and all design aspects of the imperial lot are the library, levitt, and the farmers market. It’s either aparking lot or it is not.
This when the merchants were not even asked for their opinion on the downtown parking lots, design etc..
It was fascinating.
Last I checked the merchants of downtown Westport contribute tens of millions of dollars by way of the property taxes on those buildings via their NNN( triple nets- all property taxes and maintenance expenses are paid for NOT by landlords, but by the merchants on NNN LEASES.
In other words the real stakeholders in the downtown are not landlords but the lessees or merchants.
It was patently clear that absolutely ZERO consideration was given to even ask the merchants their opinion at the design of planning stage of this disaster. Instead landlords were consulted.
I’m not sure what the library, and levitt contribute by way of property tax dollars to the town, if any, and I know the farmers market doesn’t contribute a dime. The merchants pay for everything.
So it seems incredulous that the merchants were never consulted.
No transparency and no regard whatsoever for the colossal damage which will fall on every merchant in the downtown.
I should expect a fairly mass exodus should this plan come to pass. And perhaps that is exactly what this administration wants.
It sure seems so.
The death of Westports downtown businesses.
SMH
Spot on about the stake holders, triple net leases, and smug attitude. Ive been a resident for 55 years, i dont understand any of these plans, or who comes up with them. Makes no sense.
Bottom line: first select person is charged with authority over lots downtown. Pic is just a political smoke screen muck about for ideas to be bandied.
Now if they want to build the walking bridge, that would be helpful.
Taking away the jesup parkland to put parkland in parker harding is …. how shall i say it… lacking observational awareness.
But whateves… i dont think i care anymore… i dont go downtown anymore.
Downtown used to be for westport youth—no more–now it is for snooty out of towners– the charm is gone.
I actually do all of my shopping in Norwalk and Fairfield. I dont even get coffee downtown, which i did for decades, it was my favorite thing.
When the y was downtown there was soul down there. Talk about strip mining–the new y probably removed 3000 trees. What a disgrace.
What can you do, things change. I always look at the positive side of things and avoid the ugly commercialism–solitary walks at calf pasture. You cant walk around downtown unless you want to be hit by a car– oh well, probly live another 56 years– some other country will probably be running things by then .. i will be a foreigner in my own land— complaining on some blog about how great it was in the 70s
One thing i will never forget– my chilhood in westport, wow it could be a book…
If Little Pub will be opening at the old Dunville’s spot, I’m psyched!
Has the police chief explained the strategy of issuing so few tickets, such as only three tickets each week for failure to stop at a stop sign? One can see 10 violations in a few minutes at most stop signs in Westport, Weston, et al. Must one also be in an accident to receive a ticket? Is it a lack of officers? Wouldn’t one randomly located hour of greater enforcement per day make us all safer? Are more stops happening than are reflected in citations, with officers allowed to issue warnings instead, to some drivers but not to others at the officer’s discretion, with the effect of keeping the door open to favoritism and profiling? What’s the strategy?
There is a lot more that goes on in town than reported that does NOT end in a citation or arrest.
Officers have the utmost power of judgement and through verbal reconciliation amongst the two or more parties, is easily resolvable most of the time.
Majority of police departments in Fairfield county are aware of the major after effects an arrest or mark on one’s record can do. Majority of calls are largely during day shift, as the towns population doubles with visitors, travelers, workers, etc.
There is no favoritism or profiling. I know plenty of people, elected/appointed and even family relatives who have received infractions due to their mistakes in the past and recently. This is discussed throughout our RTM Public Protection meetings chaired by Jimmy Izzo.
Extreme transparency, but with the utmost respect to the public’s identity and sensitive topics such as overdoses, suicides, domestic disputes, family/marital instances are protected because of identity but also, the details.
Officers can really only traffic citations IF they see the citation. You can call in a speeding vehicle, a car that ran a stop sign, erratic behavior—but once that vehicle has left the area, and even with license plate confirmation, it’s very hard to discover WHO was driving and prove it once it is parked and sitting.
Last week, I had a black Hyundai Elantra sedan doing donuts at the beach, speeding, running stop signs, and tailgating me after I left the beach. I called, gave the plate (BB•###77) and direction vehicle was going. They left the area, and could not be found. Even if they go home or travel to another town, hard to prove.
Also, officers are restricted in many instances for what they once could pull drivers over for, such as:
Obstruction of license plate
Object hanging from mirror
Tints
Broken/defective vehicle lighting equipment
(https://www.courant.com/2024/02/18/advocates-ct-lawmakers-must-address-roadway-racial-profiling/)
It’s not profiling at all when the officer is doing their job notifying operators of faulty or illegal equipment they may or may not be aware of. Unfortunately, these and many other laws did discover other large felonies on these calls and prevented so many larger instances from occurring.
Andrew, thank you. Does any of your reply address the question: Is there any doubt that a single officer observing a random busy intersection, and writing a citation for every offense, violations that the officer witnesses, ones that the officer is allowed to write citations for, for even one hour per day, would result in many more citations than are tallied in this list in a week, for failure to stop, failure to signal, etc., and would make the roads safer for drivers and pedestrians? If so, then why choose not to do it?
Or is my assumption wrong? Have the police departments in our area studied the cost/benefit, and said, here’s a copy of our study, and we choose not to do such routine, minimal traffic enforcement, because it wouldn’t deter the behavior of those drivers who never seem to stop or signal, or would be unpopular and undermine public support for our department or town leaders, or would be beyond what the towns could afford, or some other reasons I haven’t considered?
As recently as 15 years ago the WPD would make approx. 7000 mv arrests (tickets) a year..You can look it up. That roughly equates to ONE ticket per shift per patrol officer. Now the mv arrests per week are what was written daily back then. I’m not sure why this is. I always believed in compliance thru enforcement, and it worked. Recently when I was bitching about it to the Police Chief I was told that “this isn’t your 1970’s policing anymore Dave”. Oh well. (I retired from WPD in 2005).
Andrew – I live close to the corner of Post and Maple. Terrible intersection in terms of people running red lights. I often see a cruiser sitting in the Hartford Healthcare (former Blockbuster) parking lot facing the road. Honestly, I have no idea what they are waiting for there, because nobody ever gets pulled running the red light (maybe they’re waiting for the next shoplifter from Ulta!). If they are only targeting westbound speeders, they aren’t addressing 95% of the problem at that intersection. I’m not sure why enforcement is so difficult. (It has also, more and more, become a magnet for accidents.)
The Post Rd/33 intersection after the bridge is another one. This “if the person ahead of me went through the intersection, the light must be green” nonsense leads to the box being blocked routinely. And traffic is going slow, so it isn’t like it is difficult to catch the scofflaws. We simply need some enforcement.
Me too Valerie Ann, and so will my 92 year young mom Jeanette. #littlepubforthewin✨
Me too! Little Pub is a step up from Nomade. And a much more friendly environment.
I get the enthusiasm over the Little Pub – although TBH it’s kind of a chain now and shows that you’re new to town. It’s painfully generic.
I lived within walking distance of Dunville’s for 17 years. You’ll never replicate the soul this place represents – the Festival Italiano ran out of steam I think in 2011.
Keith Richards hung out there.
The transformation of Saugatuck will be both exciting, but also very sad. This move if true, is very sad.
Little Pub is way overrated. It’s a greasy spoon.
Cutting down three beautiful 100 year old trees and destroying green space at the heart of downtown to accommodate more cars is the most absurd, least environmentally friendly idea I have heard and I am appalled.
What do you expect in this Town? They want to destroy the Community Gardens and Long Lots Preserve for the purpose of an unnecessary “staging area” for school construction. People seem to think that temporary problems require ruinous solutions.