Well, at least the Planning & Zoning Commission is removing it from its regulations.
A public hearing tomorrow (Monday, February 27, 7 p.m.) will address the question of replacing or removing the word “character” through Westport’s Zoning and Subdivision Regulations.
The hearing results from the state’s Public Act 21-29. Effective October 1, 2021, it says that municipal zoning regulations must no longer be drafted with consideration as to the “character” of a district, but instead with consideration as to its “physical site characteristics.”
The act also prohibits denial of any land use application or zoning approval “on the basis of a district’s character, unless such character is expressly articulated in such regulations by clear and explicit physical standards for site work and structures.”
The Planning & Zoning Commission will no longer look at the “character” of a neighborhood like Saugatuck. Instead it will consider “physical site characteristics.”
The P&Z’s Text Amendment #813 would replace or remove “Character” throughout town where it is not accompanied by clear and explicit physical standards, while staying as close to the original meaning and intent of the Regulations as possible. Click here to see the text amendment.
Monday’s public hearing will be held virtually via Zoom, will be livestreamed on www.westportct.gov, and accessible on Optimum channel 79 and Frontier channel 6020. Comments can be sent prior to the meeting (PandZ@westportct.gov). To access the meeting links, view the meeting agenda here.
As chair of Westport’s Planning & Zoning Commission, Danielle Dobin keeps an eye on Connecticut’s state legislature.
There’s a lot going on in Hartford. Here — writing as a private citizen — is what Danielle sees and hears:
On Tuesday (February 28), the Housing Committee will discuss HB 6633: “An Act Concerning a Needs Assessment & Fair Share Plans for Municipalities to Increase Affordable Housing.” (Click here to see.)
This bill would profoundly impact Westport. It is complicated. Here is a brief synopsis, and my thoughts.
Zoning power in Connecticut is derived from the state Zoning Enabling Act, which encourages communities to plan for the thoughtful and ordered development of land.
The proposed bill responds to the statewide housing affordability crisis by requiring almost every town and city to revise their zoning code. It would make development of “affordable and extremely affordable” housing the primary purpose of a zoning code via adoption of a 10-year plan to affirmatively zone for each municipality’s “Fair Share” of their region’s to-be-determined need for affordable/deeply affordable housing.
Essentially, “affirmatively zoning” means providing private developers with an economic incentive to create affordable and extremely affordable units. This would permit a far greater density of market rate units to offset the cost of creating affordable and extremely affordable units with 40-year deed restrictions.
If this proposal is adopted, a community’s failure to adopt an appropriate Fair Share plan (as approved by the state), or failure to meet milestones in the form of actual certificates of occupancy for affordable and extremely affordable units developed every few years, would result in automatic default zoning of as-of-right multifamily throughout an entire town, with 20 units as-of-right permitted anywhere there’s a sewer.
This default zoning would eliminate single family zoning throughout the entire town. The predicted “Fair Share” for Westport – based on the Open Communities Alliance’s website Fair Share map (click here to see) is 1,808 new affordable and extremely affordable units, far more units than required for compliance with state Statute 8-30(g).
A “Fair Share” map. The darker the blue, the more units of affordable housing are needed.
“Interested parties” would be encouraged to sue towns to show a lack of compliance with Fair Share zoning, with towns responsible for all legal fees for advocates and developers.
My personal opinion: This proposal is well intentioned but ill-considered, and would be extremely harmful to the state. If adopted, Fairfield County would be flooded with luxury market rate units, but adoption of this proposal will not result in the development of an impactful number of affordable or extremely affordable housing units in most of the state, or even Fairfield County.
Municipalities all over the state will be bankrupted by legal fees, taking money away from education, public works, and public assistance.
This proposal is reductive. It assumes that lack of development only results from zoning, when the reality is far more complicated.
Although we live in a free market economy, this proposal forces individual towns to be responsible for lack of development, when the real reasons for the lack of development of most market rate — much less affordable and extremely affordable units — often relates to economic factors (high cost of land, materials, money), lack of infrastructure, or lack of any demand for market rate multifamily to offset cost of affordable units.
For example, in Westport hundreds of multiple mixed income units have been approved but not built, for a variety of reasons: developers are busy with other projects, building costs have risen, credit markets have tightened, neighbors have litigated, etc.
1177 Post Road East is a relatively new mixed-used development.
This legislation would require towns to attempt to pro-actively zone based on a needs assessment. But it ignores that development is driven by market considerations, not by whether there is a need for affordable housing. Put simply, this legislation fails entirely to reflect that development by the private sector is driven by profitability.
Under the Fair Share analysis published by the Open Communities Alliance, both New Canaan and Canaan are required to increase the number of affordable units by between 16% and 18% of their overall number of dwelling units.
However, market factors driving development in these towns are very different. Even allowing a skyscraper in rural Canaan (where the average home price is $299,000) wouldn’t result in the meaningful development of extremely affordable units there because a developer could not sell out the market rate units at a cost to make back their money, or earn a profit on the market rate units — much less extremely affordable units.
Legislators should note that there are zero 8-30g applications in most towns in Connecticut, because developing in those towns makes no economic sense. Fair Share does nothing to address this.
Additionally, the formula in HB 6633 specifically prescribing percentages of types of units and level of deed restriction reduces all flexibility for developers to make money even in towns where there are current applications. This will lead to a lack of compliance with a town’s Fair Share plan resulting in litigation.
Litigation is part of nearly every project in Westport that includes affordable housing. The 187-unit Summit Saugatuck development was mired in 8-30g controversies for years.
The Fair Share quotas are unrealistic, and fail to include numerically the massive creation of market-rate units necessary to offset the development of the Fair Share units.
In order to develop 1,808 affordable and extremely affordable units in Westport, developers would need to build approximately 10,000 new units overall over 10 years (80% market rate units to offset the affordable and deeply affordable units), which basically doubles the size of the town. This is an absurd level of densification for towns on every level – infrastructure, traffic, etc.
The Fair Share goal for other towns like Easton and cities like Stamford and Norwalk are similarly unrealistic.
Issues like storm water drainage, retaining open space and massive traffic issues are legitimate issues in Westport and many other towns. Density on this scale would force a town to ignore these issues. It is easy for out-of-towners to decry stormwater issues as exaggerated if they haven’t driven around Westport right after a heavy storm, when culverts flood, brooks became raging rivers and intersections turn into lakes. Thoughtful planning matters.
Legislation attempting to create the missing extremely affordable housing in our state should focus on creating a public funding mechanism for entirely affordable projects. It is this funding, especially for lower density, entirely affordable projects — not the zoning — that is the issue in many towns.
Zoom our Affordable Housing Subcommittee meeting this Tuesday (February 28, noon) to hear how Westport is pro-actively working on creating a low density, entirely extremely affordable plan for town-owned land on Post Road East. Click here for Zoom details,
Click here to sign up to testify or submit written testimony on the proposed state bill. The registration deadline is 3 p.m. Monday, February 27.
Posted onFebruary 25, 2023|Comments Off on Roundup: VersoFest, Staples Basketball, MoCA Open Mic …
VersoFest keeps upping its game.
The 4-day music, media and more festival at the Westport Library has just added a musical oral history with drummer/writer/music historian/label owner/publisher/collector/archivist Miriam Linna.
The founding member of the Cramps, Flamin’ Groovies Fan Club leader, co-founder of Norton Records and Kicks Books, and mastermind of Kicksville Radio, will be interviewed by Queen Bee Christine Ohlman.
Miriam will also DJ the Smithereens concert Friday evening (March 31), and host a Norton Records/Kick Books table at the VersoFest Record Fair. She’ll have the familiar R&B, rock ‘n’ roll, primitive grease on hand, as well as memorabilia from the Norton/Kicks archives never seen anywhere before.
The record fair (Sunday, April 2, 11 a.m.) includes a discussion panel. On hand for the “breakfast nosh”: Kid Ginseng (Kraftjerkz Records), Karen Ponzio (New Haven Independent Arts Writer), Alec Cumming (“Snap Crackle POP!” on WPKN), Dooley-O (hip-hop legend), and Eric Holland (WFUV). The moderator is Dave Schneider of the Zambonis.
The music oral history and record fair are free. For the full VersoFest schedule, ticket information and more, click here.
The date of the next Westport volunteer trash pick-up — on Elaine Road (Compo Road South, between I-95 and the train tracks — has been changed. The new day and time is Saturday, March 4, 11 a.m. — not Sunday.
Elaine Road serves as the entrance to the water sewage treatment plant, and public access for boat and kayak launches, along with Animal Control. It attracts plenty of I-95 trash too, from vehicles and their irresponsible drivers and passengers.
All volunteers are welcome. Bring garbage bags, and dress appropriately.
The Staples High School boys basketball team is enjoying one of its most successful seasons ever.
Today (Saturday, February 25, 5 p.m., Fairfield Warde High School), the Wreckers begin their quest for the FCIAC championship with a quarterfinal match. Ranked #4, they face #5 Wilton. Last month, the Warriors won 69-68, in a thrilling overtime game.
MoCA’s first open mic night in October was a great success.
An encore performance — called “MoCA Some Noise” — is set for April 6 (5 to 7 p.m.). Local (aspiring) performers are invited to share their acoustic music with the community. Cocktails and drinks will be available for purchase.
The cost is $5 to perform, $10 to attend. Both fees are waived for MoCA members.
Click here for information, tickets and an application form.
And finally … writer Anthony Burgess was born on this date, in 1917. He is best known for “A Clockwork Orange.” And the movie version by Stanley Kubrick is best known for …
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This week brings another online art gallery, filled with a wide variety of mediums, colors, themes and more.
As always:
Remember: This is your feature. Everyone is invited to contribute. Age, level of experience, subject matter — there are no restrictions.
All genres are encouraged. Watercolors, oils, charcoal, pen-and-ink, acrylics, lithographs, collages, macramé, jewelry, sculpture, decoupage and (yes) needlepoint — whatever you’ve got, email it to 06880blog@gmail.com. Share your work with the world!
Untitled. Artist Anne Bernier says: “A little delayed from Valentine’s. 💖 Who needs Hallmark when you can make your own cards?”
“Seaweed” (Lis Hisgen)
Untitled (Mona Brown)
“1947 WDX Dodge Power Wagon” (Peter Barlow)
“Boats in Dry Dock” (Kathleen Burke)
Photographer Laurie Sorensen says: “This photo was taken at Mohonk Mountain House stables in New Paltz, New York. Haven’t we all had days when this sign might be appropriate?!”
“Strange Roommates” (Patricia Driscoll)
“Acrylic Pour” (Amy Schneider)
Everglades picture digitally made into a watercolor (Diane Yormark)
“Did You Think You Could Improve on the Chagall Levi Window?” (Steve Stein)
“Day Laborer” (Lawrence Weisman)
Artist Roseann Spengler writes: “Although this is not horticulture, it is nature. I was inspired to do something after listening to Dick Rauh’s incredible talk at the library.”
(Every Saturday, “06880” proudly showcases our many talented artist/readers. Contributions keep this blog going. Please click here — and thank you!)
Posted onFebruary 25, 2023|Comments Off on Ukraine — And Westport — Mark Grim Anniversary
One year ago yesterday, Brian Mayer was working at a tech job in New York.
That day, the Russian army matched across the border to Ukraine. The largest war in Europe since World War II began.
Mayer and his brother Marshall — Westporters, who grew up here — quickly pivoted. They headed to Ukraine, and put their organizational skills to work.
Addressing 2 of the greatest challenges — fundraising, then ensuring that goods and materials reached their intended targets — the Mayers formed Ukraine Aid International.
In one year, the non-profit has achieved astonishing success.
They and their partners on the ground have delivered over 1 million pounds of aid directly to civilians on the front line.
They’ve supported more than 100 communities in liberated areas, and driven over 100,000 miles to provide aid to the hardest-to-reach towns, and most-impacted villages.
Every day, they provide over 125,000 Ukrainians with infrastructural support (electricity, heat and cleaning water).
That’s the big picture. Equally remarkable, Ukraine Aid International has been instrumental in helping Westport partner with Lyman, a town in the Donbas.
The Mayers and Liz Olegov, their COO, worked with 1st Selectwoman Jen Tooker and Lyman mayor Alexander Victoravich Zuravlov to develop an initiative. “06880” helped lead a fundraising effort that, in just 3 weeks during the holiday season, brought in over $252,000.
UAI has put the money to extraordinary use.
The first delivery — at Christmas — was 400 meals, 2,000 loaves of bread, and 491 gifts (one for every child remaining in town).
Christmas in Lyman.
In January they delivered 2 police patrol cars and 2 trash vehicles to Lyman (the Russians had taken them all when they fled), plus printers, laptops, tablets, Starlink communication devices, socks, shoes and sweaters.
This month, a 20-ton truck carried repair materials for 6 apartment buildings, and bulletproof vests and helmets for utility workers near the front lines.
Local contractors are already lined up, to ensure that 2,000 Lyman residents now living in basements and elsewhere can return to their homes this spring.
An apartment building in Lyman.
The Westport town flag now hangs in the Lyman office, and on the sides of the donated vehicles. Lyman’s flag, meanwhile, has been donated to Westport.
Holding the Westport flag (from left): Lyman’s police chief and mayor. With the Lyman flag: Marshall Mayer, Brian Mayer, Liz Olegov.
Much more is on the way — for Lyman, and other devastated areas in Ukraine.
It’s been a brutal year for the war-torn nation.
But it’s also been a very productive one for 2 Westport brothers who saw a need. They thought they could help.
They moved mountains — in the form of countless tons of building material, communication equipment, clothes and more — to make a difference.
Ukraine Aid International continues to raise funds for Lyman, and the rest of the country. To make a tax-deductible contribution, click here. Click the “I want to support” box; then select “Support for the City of Lyman.” Scroll down on that page for other tax-deductible donation options (mail, wire transfer and Venmo). You can also donate directly, via Stripe (click here).
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A Pic of the Day last week showed the Merritt Parkway Saugatuck River bridge by the Westport Weston Family YMCA. Michael Tomashefsky captured an iconic local scene.
(Photo/Michael Tomashefsky)
It’s also timeless.
Compare the photo above — taken in 2023 — with this one by Peter Barlow, from around 1955:
(Photo/Peter Barlow)
Only Camp Mahackeno — not the entire Y — was at the site then.
There was a lot less traffic on the parkway.
But you can’t see any of that from these photos. It’s hard to believe they were taken nearly 70 years apart.
(Every Friday, “06880” takes you back into Westport’s past. To help ensure “06880”‘s future, please click here with a contribution. Thank you!)
The Ukrainian American Club of Southport — adjacent to the I-95 northbound entrance ramp — is the site of a “thank you” party for Westport’s help with our new sister city of Lyman, Ukraine.
In 3 weeks, we raised $252,000. Funds have paid for building materials, communication equipment, trash and police trucks, meals, holiday gifts and more.
The July 9 event will be a day of music, food and fellowship. There will be plenty of opportunities to donate too — the need in Lyman is ongoing — but all are welcome.
The New York Times marked today’s 1-year anniversary of the start of Russia’s war in Ukraine with a retrospective of photos — and the memories of the men and women who took them.
Two Staples High School graduates — both Pulitzer Prize winners — are included.
Lynsey Addario (Staples ’91) stunned the world with this photo, in March:
(Photo/Lynsey Addario for New York Times)
She says:
In war, anything can change in a moment. Leading up to this photograph, mothers were running with their children from the Irpin bridge across my viewfinder toward the relative safety of Kyiv. Mortar rounds were coming in, urgency was in everyone’s step. Pink and blue puffy coats passed with rolling luggage. Surely the Russians wouldn’t target a civilian evacuation route?
But each round came a little closer, bracketing onto desperate people fleeing for their lives. And then I saw a flash, heard the crash and felt the impact from a wave of air being compressed in an explosion that smashed into our bodies as we dived for cover.
The aftermath will stay with me forever. When we stood up, my neck was sprayed with gravel. I asked my colleague Andriy if I was bleeding. “No,” he said. It was dusty and chaotic. We couldn’t see across to the other side of the street, so we didn’t know that a mother, her two children and a church volunteer had been killed. Somehow, we had been spared.
Tyler Hicks (Staples ’88) took this image in November:
(Photo/Tyler Hicks for New York Times)
He writes:
Bakhmut, in the eastern Donbas region, began last year as the home of about 70,000 people. Over the year of war, I’ve watched the fighting chew this city apart, as both sides have thrown masses of troops and weaponry into desperate attempts to control it.
In the earlier months it was always tense, but there were still civilians on the streets; Ukrainians, particularly in the east, have learned to live in the shadow of war. On this visit, it had reached a clear turning point in its militarization.
This armored vehicle passed me as I was leaving a military hospital, and the faces of the soldiers seemed to represent what has taken shape in the city’s shell: a relentless determination to fight.
Click here for all the Times photos, and photographers’ comments.
This Monday, (February 27, 11 a.m.), the Connecticut General Assembly’s Transportation Committee holds a public hearing on Bill #6745. The proposed legislation addresses a statewide plan for the installation of sound barriers. (Click here for the full bill.)
To register to speak about the proposal, click click here. To submit written testimony about it, click here. To watch the hearing, click here. (Hat tip: State Senator Tony Hwang)
Sound barrier under construction on I-95 in Darien.
Last week’s trash pick-up at Westport Animal Control was successful.
But there’s still more to do be done on Elaine Road (Compo Road South, between I-95 and the train tracks).
Elaine Road serves as the entrance to the water sewage treatment plant, and public access for boat and kayak launches, along with Animal Control. It attracts plenty of I-95 trash too, from vehicles and their irresponsible drivers and passengers.
All volunteers are welcome on March 5 (11 a.m.). Bring garbage bags, and dress appropriately.
Speaking of pitching in: Yesterday was Police Chief Foti Koskinas’ birthday.
Westport’s top cop leads a department of 64 uniformed officers. In his spare time, he pitches in wherever he can around town.
Here’s a typical shot: Police Chief Koskinas helping clean garbage from the I-95 hill, in Saugatuck. It was Sunday — his day off. (Photo/Andrew Colabella)
The Y’s Women had a 2-fer yesterday. They enjoyed a pair of Westport treasures: the Westport Public Art Collections and MoCA.
The women enjoyed a private tour of the museum’s current exhibition, “Paul Camacho: El Ritmo y La Unidad” (which closes Sunday). Camacho was active in Westport’s art life in the 1960s and ’70s.
MoCA also shows 20 other abstractionists, including Alexander Calder and Robert Motherwell. All are from WestPAC’s holdings of more than 1,800 works.
Because most of their art is in schools and town buildings — not always available to the public — the Y’s Women were thrilled to see so many outstanding works. (Hat tip: Jilda Manikas)
Sorelle Gallery’s first “On View” feature of the year opens March 3. Artists Ned Martin and Pete Sack will be showcased on the main wall of the Church Lane gallery, through March 25.
Both artists create abstracted work with an emphasis on color and geometric design elements.
To learn more about the artists and the show, click here.
Speaking of art: George Billis Gallery may have moved to Fairfield (1700 Post Road). B
But the upcoming spring show is true to its Westport roots.
Local resident Dala Najarian is one of the 8 featured artists — and it was curated by fellow Westporter Amy Zoller.
Najarian works in a variety of mediums, including watercolor, acrylics, mixed media and oils. A passionate photographer, her Shadow Series merges the realistic quality of a photo with the abstract translation of a scene, to depict a dreamlike painting.
The opening is March 2 (5 to 8 p.m.). It runs through April 16.
Five years ago, Monica Buesser’s husband got a job in Norwalk.
They bought a home in Westport for the usual reasons: lower taxes than surrounding towns, excellent services, beaches, marinas and summer entertainment.
During their 20 years in New Jersey, Monica — who is a master gardener, and earned a master’s degree in biology — had served on the Ridgewood Tree Commission. She wondered if there was something similar here.
Her first week in town, she heard about a tree giveaway at the Lillian Wadsworth Arboretum, near her new home. She walked over, met members of the Westport Tree Board, and — without knowing quite what it did — offered to help.
Chair Dick Fincher and tree warden Bruce Lindsay were happy to have her. Monica interviewed with then-2nd Selectwoman Jen Tooker, and joined the group.
When Fincher resigned as chair in 2021, Monica took over. She continued the work he had begun, earning certification as a “Tree City USA” from the Arbor Day Foundation.
Westport Tree Board member Monica Buesser (left) and Lynne Perrgo celebrate the town’s “Tree City USA designation in October 2021.
Twice a year the Tree Board hands out trees, at places like Town Hall and Jesup Green. They’ve organized “Oaktober” celebrations, and worked with the Wadsworth Arboretum to upgrade its visibility and educational offerings.
Monica has not accomplished all that she wanted. A tree planting program similar to one in Ridgewood is still not off the ground.
The Tree Board’s role, Monica says, is to “support the tree warden, and educate the public about trees and the community.”
Westport Tree Board sapling giveaway.
But working with the town’s bureaucracy can be frustrating. Pages of informational content created by Tree Board member Jim Corley is not yet available on the town website.
A link to report problem trees using photos and GPS coordinates — similar to a link on Fairfield’s website — is also not yet live.
Part of the problem, Monica says, is that Westport’s tree warden is not a full-time employee. In addition, he only handles “street trees” — not those at schools and parks, or on private roads.
Buesser and her husband are moving soon, to be closer to 2 children in Washington, DC. (A third is in Utah.)
Her departure — coupled with the Tree Board resignations of Jim Corley and Alice Ely — means there will be 3 vacancies.
She is excited by the passion and knowledge of members like Dick Stein (“he knows every house, every person and every tree,” she says), and Frank Rosen (the News12 videographer helped produce a feature on oak trees; a new one, on sycamores, is in the works).
The Tree Board is important, she says. As Eversource pursues a controversial vegetation management plan — which included cutting trees 100 feet away from utility lines in Redding — the town will need to be vigilant, she warns.
Anyone interested in learning more about the Tree Board — including how to serve — should email treewarden@westportct.gov.
(Tree stories are some of the most popular on “06880.” To keep them — and all others — coming, please contribute by clicking here. Thank you!)
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The proposed bill responds to the statewide housing affordability crisis by requiring almost every town and city to revise their zoning code. It would make development of “affordable and extremely affordable” housing the primary purpose of a zoning code via adoption of a 10-year plan to affirmatively zone for each municipality’s “Fair Share” of their region’s to-be-determined need for affordable/deeply affordable housing.
Addressing 2 of the greatest challenges — fundraising, then ensuring that goods and materials reached their intended targets — the Mayers formed Ukraine Aid International.
