Change In Zoning Regulation Sparks Lawsuit, Public Hearing

The owners of a two-story commercial building on Post Road West hope a public hearing or a lawsuit will result in a reversal of a decision by the Planning and Zoning Commission changing permitted uses of buildings in the town's National Hall Historic Design District zone.

Monday evening, the Planning and Zoning Committee of the Representative Town Meeting will hold a hearing on the issue. The lawsuit was filed last week in state Superior Court in Bridgeport.

"It's terrible. We're not lawsuit-type people," said Christy Savignol Thursday afternoon.

Savignol owns the store L'Antiquaire at 18 Post Road West. Her parents, Michael and Paula L. Savignol, own the building it's in, and Paula is the plaintiff in the lawsuit.

The Savignols' building lies within the town's National Hall Historic Design District zone. The zone consists of five buildings bounded by the intersection of Post Road West (Route 1) and Wilton Road (Route 33) to the south and west, respectively, the Saugatuck River to the east, and a group of commercial buildings to the north.

Aside from the Savignols' property, the other four buildings have been owned since 2006 by Antares NH LLC, a real estate firm based in Stamford. The company that sold Antares the buildings, Greenfield Partners in Norwalk, intends to repurchase them, assuming the amended zoning regulation approved by the P&Z Commission stands.

Following a public hearing Oct. 1, the amendment, approved by the commission on Dec. 3, changed the permitted uses of buildings in the Historic Design District zone, or HDD.

While the HDD originally was pictured as a location for restaurants and retail stores, the zoning amendment permits offices to be installed on the building's ground floors and expands the total amount of office space they can contain. The amendment also stipulates that at least 20 percent of the ground floor area in HDD buildings be reserved for retail and/or restaurant use.

The change requested by Greenfield Partners was approved based on the firm's argument that attempts to operate retail stores or restaurants in the HDD have repeatedly failed. In an "Explanation and Statement of Need" prepared by the law firm representing Greenfield, Halloran & Sage of Westport, it also was argued that the existing luxury hotel in one of the buildings, called The Inn at National Hall, has been operating at a loss and is "no longer a viable business."

The statement says the buildings in the HDD have an 82 percent vacancy rate.

Christy Savignol said L'Antiquaire has been in business at its current location for 11 years. She said the amended zoning regulation means the town is "turning its back on mom and pop" retail businesses.

The hearing before the Representative Town Meeting's P&Z Committee is required because a petition signed by at least 20 Westport voters requesting the commission's approval of the amendment be overturned was submitted to the Town Clerk's office. Dina Berger, owner of the store The Age of Reason, and C.C. Wong, owner of the store Mandarin Collection, led the effort to create the petition.

Meanwhile, in her lawsuit, Paula Savignol argues, among other points, that the change in the use of space in HDD buildings is not authorized by Connecticut statutes; that the commission engaged in "contract zoning," thereby providing Antares and Greenfield Partners a "special privilege" not available to the town's other property owners; that the adopted zoning amendment "Is out of harmony" with Westport's Plan of Conservation and Development; and that Paula Savignol "will sustain a severe decrease in the fair market value" of her property.

Savignol is being represented by the law firm Cohen and Wolf, P.C., of Bridgeport.

The chairman of the Representative Town Meeting's P&Z Committee, Matthew Mandell, said on Thursday that whatever decision his committee reaches will be passed on to the full RTM for action. He said two-thirds of RTM members would need to vote in favor of overturning the commission's decision on the zoning amendment for it to be reversed.

The P&Z Committee's hearing will be held on Monday in the Town Hall auditorium, beginning at 7:45 p.m. The committee's decision will be presented to the full RTM on Wednesday, Jan. 13, in the auditorium at 8 p.m.