We’ve already seen the first couple of artists’ drawings of Spinnaker’s plan for the Minute Man Cleaners’ parcel in Saugatuck.
The Norwalk-based developer hopes to build 157 market rate units of rental apartments on the 1.5-acre parcel at the corner of Riverside Avenue and Charles Street. Another 18 would be deed-restricted as affordable. There would be 283 underground parking spaces.
The view from the corner of Railroad Place (left) and Riverside Avenue.
The view down Riverside Avenue; train station is far left. Charles Street is on the right.
Now they’ve released architectural plans.
Level 2 (ground level)
Level 3
Level 5 (level 4 was not posted)
Level 6
Parking garage – level 1A
Parking garage – level 1
The Planning & Zoning Commission will hear a pre-application of the proposal on Monday (June 1, 6 p.m.; Zoom).
The Architectural Review Board discusses the pre-app the next night (Tuesday, June 2, 7:30 p.m., Town Hall Room 201).
Click here for all pre-application materials.
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Meanwhile, Westporters are getting their first look at the new Long Lots Elementary School.
The initial renderings have been released. Below is a computer-generated aerial view.
The new school (right) is north of the current school, which will be replaced by a parking lot (center). An athletic field (left) replaces the former Community Gardens.
The renderings also show the front entrance (below), as viewed from the parent drop-off lane …
,,, and the “Main Street” corridor. This view is from the Stepping Stones/after hours/weekend entrance, heading to the gymnasium …
… as well as the cafeteria.
They are drafts only. Architects are still working on those, and other renderings. More may be available next week.
The projected opening of the new school has been pushed back to January 2028 — after winter break. The previous plan was the beginning of the 2027-28 school year.
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The “ugliest building in Westport” (aka 21 Charles Street) seems to provide the permission structure for these developers to parlay our neighborhood into a cityscape. It ought to be leveled as a first step towards reinventing Saugatuck as the “seaside village” it deserves to be.
Start a lawsuit to stop this ridiculous waste of taxpayer money. A building built in 1953 and refurbished 40 years later can’t be saved. Just as a side note, when I lived in Spain, I walked across a bridge that was 2,000 years old!!
By the way, if I remember correctly, Dan Woog was born in March 1953, so Happy Birthday, Dan!! You’re as old as Long Lots School.
Dan IS as old as Long Lots School, (but he’s currently in much better shape). Rather than wasting tax dollars on LLS, why not send the money you don’t need to 06880? You’ll feel better and you will contribute to someone who has “given back” to Westport every day since 1953. Your accountant can advise on whether your contributions are tax deductible.
Long Lots School:
Very Late, well over budget and still no community garden.
Anyone remember when we were supposed to get “shovels in the ground” by Fall 2024?
Remember when the LLS building committee promised to rebuild a community garden displaced by a 280’ x 395’ multisport field (ultimately intended to be turfed and lighted). There is no longer funding in the $110 M budget for such a promise.
Anyone notice the increase in the town’s legal budget included undisclosed “Long Lots issues?” I asked for details and got none. Our attorneys say the town is not required by law to answer citizen questions, then sent a bill for that opinion.
The ubiquitous celebrations for a job “well done” couldn’t be more ironic.
Remember my prediction? Less families with school aged children will be moving into Westport! It peeked during Covid, and if you bought during Covid, your house will be sold for less in the future!
Westport’s single family housing stock has remained pretty static since the 60’s. That’s the good part of P&Z. Population relatively unchanged since 1970.
Building a bunch of apartments might entice more empty nesters and seniors to sell their single family homes since they can remain in town, close to family, friends, and familiarity.
And once those houses finally hit the market, new families will come to town with children to fill the schools.
This is all actually a sign of a vibrant local economy, not something to wring your hands and bemoan.
Burr Farms School closed for good. Greens Farms shut down for a period of years due to not enough students in town. I’ve seen this for 7 decades; it’s like a roller coaster ride. We’re heading back down as far as the student population is concerned.
Oops.. mistake.. since 1952 so I think I should say 8 decades.
Maybe the CG folks can get with the Alliance folks and once again Bully the P&Z folks into using the Spinnaker folks’ “Courtyard” area as the Community Garden. Just make sure they excavate the “unexcavated” areas first, as tomato plants don’t do well in dry‑cleaner and gas‑station soils. Unfortunately, the five‑ and six‑story structures might block the sunlight, but on a brighter note with only 10% affordable you wont have those underprivileged apartment renters taking your coveted plot, but you will have the 500+ rush hour cars trips dumping directly onto Riverside ave. F.A.F.O. is in full effect here.
Whatever all that gibberish means. What you are really saying is perhaps we could all help you monetize your family’s property.
When your specialty group tries to remove the kids from the baseball fields on Burr Farms, keep in mind the 500+ new rentals in Saugatuck, and now Greens Farms Rd., that will want a gardeners plot and will also force a new KHS building. Make sense now?
Claude agrees with me and says, “ The cost of living for a family of four in Westport runs about $7,051 per month in 2026, which is 29% above the national average and 145% above Connecticut’s state average.” Claude says we’re heading lower slowly!
Something is way off. There is no way the national cost of living is so much dramatically higher than Connecticut’s.
In this case, it’s called ‘loser error’.
Make it stop Dan.
The cost of living in Westport is between 58-121% higher than the national average. The state of CT averages about 24% higher than the national COL average.
Claude has a message to the Westport community, “ Fix what’s broken, not what isn’t. Spend taxpayer money on teachers and programs, not on a building we don’t need.” I agree with Claude!
Jack,
I thought we were going to “lay low” for a while.
Give them a chance to heal.
I was using Claude, made by Anthropic, the AI safety company formed in 2021 and worth close to a trillion dollars. It can make mistakes, but rarely does. Dan, this will be the last comment.
Jack,
You don’t have to spell everything out for Westporters. They know what the “A” stands for (Authentic). Westport’s authentic is everyone else’s artificial. You know, like the Bizarro characters in the old Superman comics that YOU hid in your textbooks at Staples (while everyone else was getting smarter).
If new apartments are allowed by the train station, someone In charge is going to have to consider traffic control …
definitely concerned about that !
This is amazing! The school is going to be a wonderful place for the children of Westport to learn and flourish! A new building was so needed. I love that they are making the building look nice for a neighborhood!