Next 8-30g Housing Application: Greens Farms Road?

As director of the Westport Weston Chamber of Commerce, Matthew Mandell hears a lot.

He sends regular updates to an email list, from a SaveWestport.com address.

The one that landed in inboxes less than an hour ago is quite interesting. Matthew writes:

I was informed this week that an 8-30g will be coming to 55 Greens Farms Road. (NOTE: That’s the office building next to Assumption Cemetery, opposite I-95 and near Hillspoint Road.)

55 Greens Farms Road

Our old 8-30g lawyer Tim Hollister (Hiawatha) is bringing us another one. Of the 2 buildings at the office park, the front one will become a 70-foot, 250-unit apartment building (175 market, 75 affordable).

The other will remain for office use, at least for now. The Planning & Zoning Commission rezoned this area for medical use, which made a lot of sense, but this is what is coming anyway.

Aerial view of 55 Greens Farms Road. The apartments would be in the front. The rear building would remain offices.

55 is the one closest to the road, and the new apartment building will be much closer to the road. While the folks in the cemetery to the east probably won’t mind much, it’s the poor folks on Gonczy, Lakeview and Medwell who will get this full impact.

This is besides the increase in use of the roads for that area, and the sheer size of it being out of character. And the state Department of Transportation still would like 18-wheelers to come across the Cribari Bridge and be on this road.

Technically the application has not been filed with P&Z. Hollister is coming before the Conservation Commission to do a wetland modification based on new reports. CC pretty much would have to follow the expert analysis, but they don’t have to, nor do they need to do anything quickly.

Once the application arrives formally then we look for cracks in the application, knowing Hollister it will be pretty clean.

This is coming folks. We have not had an 8-30g since we lost the moratorium 2+ years ago. Once Lincoln Street and Hiawatha Lane come on line we will get another moratorium, but until then we are still vulnerable.

(This is a developing story. “06880” will update it, as more information becomes available.)