
Connecting people to enhance community engagement and support.
The Coalition for Westport invites you to connect with us as we work toward building a stronger, more vibrant Westport community. As a ten year old, civic-minded advocacy group and political party, we are dedicated to fostering smart growth and creative planning to preserve our town’s attributes, and ensure a bright future for all who call Westport home.
Because 2025 is an important election year, broad civic engagement is more crucial than ever.
Key issues confronting the town in the near term include:
• Affordable Housing
•Relocation of police HQ
• Cribari bridge
• Baron’s South property
• Long Lots School
• the Hamlet and Hiawatha Lane projects
• Downtown parking
If you would like to learn more about the Coalition, our perspective on these critical topics and to share your own opinion on these and other pressing issues so that we can assure our advocacy takes into account the broadest possible range of opinion and information, please contact us at the following Email address:
Let’s work together to assure the future of our town
We believe that community engagement is key to building strong, resilient neighborhoods.
A kinder gentler P&Z Commission. Despite the best efforts of the P&Z’s dedicated and exceptionally competent members—both past and present—a high percentage of Westport residents who have been through the zoning process have been dissatisfied with the experience and are often angry at how their concerns have been addressed.
The problem, in our view, is the process itself. It is unnecessarily demanding, expensive, and opaque. More often than not, residents and business owners need help from outside professionals to navigate an increasingly complicated regulatory landscape.
In short, the system cries out for simplification and reform, and by doing so, make it more “user friendly” than it currently is.
We strongly support the general findings and proposals of the Downtown Plan. We believe that the RBA Group did an excellent job of resolving the conflicting requirements of earlier plans and that it emphasizes what makes Westport unique—a destination that attracts visitors from across the region for its small town character, picturesque riverfront, upscale restaurants, events, music, cultural actives and high quality shopping.
Even as the world changes, the Plan recommends steps Westport should be taking now to ensure a vibrant and successful future so that once again our downtown thrives as a town center for our entire community to use, enjoy, and share together.
We therefore urge members of the Planning and Zoning Commission, the Board of Selectman, the Representative Town Meeting and the Downtown Plan Implementation Committee to create zoning regulations specifically tailored to realize that vision. In addition, we urge all elected leaders to proactively secure the funding needed to turn a key visions into reality.
Some of our key recommendations include:
More to come
CT Statutes require each municipality to promote housing choice and economic diversity in housing, including housing for both low and moderate income households.
That requirement gives rise to a statutory scheme (known as 8-30g) whereby developers in communities where less than 10% of the housing stock is affordable may essentially ignore local zoning regulations to construct residential projects in which at least 20% of the units are “affordable”.
One of the problems with 8-30g is that the municipality has no control over where the projects are sited, often in a location inconsistent with the comprehensive plan of zoning and the Plan of Conservation and Development (POCD).
Once a community achieves the 10% affordable threshold, it is protected against 8-30g intrusion by a three year moratorium. Westport has achieved moratorium status which makes it all the more urgent that we act during the three-year moratorium period to assure that we continue to meet the statutory goals in a manner consistent with an over-all plan of development.
The Coalition for Westport has long supported planning for “affordable” housing and has consistently urged the P&Z to enact a POCD and to amend its regulations to encourage development of affordable housing inappropriate ( IN APPROPRIATE) locations. To its credit, the P&Z is listening and is considering meaningful steps to meet those goals.
The Coalition suggests the following first principles to guide the work which the P&Z has undertaken:
Planning is the key to a variety of housing choices and to achieving economic diversity. We all need to understand that social and economic diversity is necessary to the health of any community and that we in Westport have an obligation to our neighbors in less affluent communities. If we don’t want to have these responsibilities thrust upon us by legislative action – which leads to haphazard development – we must take control of our own destiny by responsible planning. We are encouraged by the work of the affordable housing subcommittee to believe that the P&Z has come to understand the need for planning in this and other areas and is considering steps to amend the regulations and to correct the failings of the latest POCD.
Senior Housing and the Baron’s South Property. In 2014, the P&Z made what we believe to be a short-sighted—and, in retrospect—costly decision when it rejected a proposal that would have created a senior housing complex on a small portion (3 1/2 acres) of the 22+ acre Baron’s South property. We believe Westport should reopen a community dialogue around the future use of the Baron’s property for senior housing. with the balance of the property reenvisioned as community parkland/open space that connects to both the Levitt and Winslow Park, forming a greenbelt around downtown.
While we support redevelopment of Saugatuck, we think the town can do better than the plan submitted by ROAN for “the Hamlet” which does not answer the need for affordable housing and which lacks a sense of community which we deem to be essential.
The Coalition for Westport (CFW) was founded in 2012 by a group of long-time Westport residents, the majority of whom were current or former members of the Planning and Zoning Commission.
Our founding members—a non-partisan mixture of Democrats, Independents and Republicans— were united in their belief that the P&Z decisions were being based far too often on "preserving the past" as opposed to take into sufficient account the future needs of our town and the priorities and desires of our residents.
The CFW has evolved into a formidable political party that has run its own candidates for the P&Z, has influenced the two major parties to run forward-thinking candidates, proposed new ordinances in line with the goals of the Town Plan, and taken both pro and con positions on major land use and zoning proposals.
The positions the CFW has taken since our inception—and will continue to take in the future—are primarily focused on major zoning and land use decisions that require P&Z approval. Our goal is always the same: to strike the optimum balance between preserving the character of Westport, and responding thoughtfully and proactively to the real world, growth-related challenges that bear most directly on the quality of life in our town.
We gather the information related to each position from a variety of sources, including the zoning application itself, input from town consultants, reports generated by town agencies, feedback from concerned residents as well as from individuals and entities with relevant expertise. We debate and work through each issue and ultimately form a consensus on CFW position, which we then seek to share with the community in our ongonig efforts foster further dialogue.
A kinder gentler P&Z Commission. Despite the best efforts of the P&Z’s dedicated and exceptionally competent members—both past and present—a high percentage of Westport residents who have been through the zoning process have been dissatisfied with the experience and are often angry at how their concerns have been addressed.
The problem, in our view, is the process itself. It is unnecessarily demanding, expensive, and opaque. More often than not, residents and business owners need help from outside professionals to navigate an increasingly complicated regulatory landscape.
In short, the system cries out for simplification and reform, and by doing so, make it more “user friendly” than it currently is.
Ron Corwin, Chair, is a management consultant who was a member of the the P&Z from 2004 to 2012 and was the P&Z chair from 2005 to 2012. The zoning approvals during his tenure included increasing the number of restaurants on Main Street, relocating the Y to Mahackeno, launching the Bedford Square project, and making it possible for homes to include more than one office so that two Westport residents could work from home.
Ken Bernhard, Deputy Chair is an attorney who has been active in community affairs for more than 35 years. Ken was the Wilton Town Attorney for twenty five years, the Weston Town Attorney for ten years, and was the town attorney for Westport for the following four periods: 1981-1985, 1989-1993, and 1997. He has served, or presently serves, as a Board of Directors member of the Westport Public Library; Visiting Nurse and Hospice of Fairfield County; The Westport Chamber of Commerce; the Westport Historical Society; and the Aspetuck Land Trust. In addition Ken has previously served as Westport Third Selectman and a member of the ZBA.
Larry Weisman, Policy Chair is a retired attorney who specialized throughout his 50-year law career in zoning and land use issues. He has been involved (both pro and con) in many significant Westport projects including Gorham Island, the mixed use development in Saugatuck, and the Y. He currently works on a pro bono basis for non-profits including the Westport Library, the Aspetuck Land Trust, and the Fairfield County Hospice House.
Denise Torve, press and public relations is a public relations and community organization specialist who has lived in Westport for 20 years. She has served in leadership and staff positions for a wide range of local and national organizations, including the Westport Historical Society, First Night Westport/Weston, Tiny Miracles, and Stand For The Troops.
Marcia Falk is a speech therapist and real estate professional who moved to Westport 10 years ago after having lived for 20 years in Brighton, NY, where she was a member of the P&Z, and the chairman of the Assessment Review Board and a member of the Genessee Trust. Since moving to Westport she has been working in the public school with children who require speech, language and communication therapy.
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