Last week, the Connecticut Supreme Court denied a request to review Save Old Saugatuck’s petition for certification. That removes a final roadblock to construction of the 157-unit Summit Saugatuck’s “Village at Saugatuck” project, on Hiawatha Lane Extension.
SOS attorney Joel Green was not surprised. “The overwhelming need for affordable housing in Connecticut appears to be strongly influencing judicial review and the outcome of cases involved in any way with this issue,” he says.
Carolanne Curry, the neighbor who has led the long political and legal fight against the development, says that the decision
quietly ended one of Westport’s longest and strongest efforts by Save Old Saugatuck to stop the abuse and exploitation that Connecticut’s housing law 8-30g provided to developer Felix Charney in his dangerous and disgusting proposal to turn a single-family neighborhood of homes into a chaos of apartment buildings that will be built on fragile wetlands and carry the potential of killer traffic problems.
Artist’s rendering of Summit Saugatuck.
SOS now turns its attention to a new proposal: a 5-story, 42-unit complex at #5 and #7 Hiawatha Lane, just east of the Summit Saugatuck project.
“Zucaro Apartments” is spearheaded by former Planning & Zoning Commission chair Cathy Walsh, and Faustina Zucaro, a relative of current P&Z member Patrizia Zucaro.
Like “The Village at Saugatuck,” it will be filed under 8-30g — the state’s affordable housing statute — meaning there are very few local grounds for denial.
Citing “greed and abuse” in 8-30g, Curry says, “At this point we are left with the feeling that the evil of 8-30g will be a permanent factor in our lives.
“On the other hand I feel strongly that being so victimized here in Old Saugatuck, we must continue to speak out against 8-30g. We must continue to seek an end to this social and legislative nightmare.
“I will continue advocating on behalf of our community, if there is agreement and support from neighbors and the community.”
Artist’s rendering of Zucaro Apartments.
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