High Rent for No Competition vs. A More Vibrant Downtown

The Planning and Zoning commission has made it a priority to enhance Westport's vitality downtown but proposals on how to do that were met with some resistance Thursday night by area restaurateurs.

Two proposed text amendments were on the agenda. The first proposal gave consideration to modifying regulations on the proximity of restaurants and liquor-serving establishments. The second proposal was aimed at streamlining procedures for outdoor events and fundraisers.

Currently, there is a rule that there must  1,500 feet of distance between restaurants and liquor-serving establishments. If the town amends this rule, and changes the distance to 500 or 1,000 feet, it is possible that new establishments will come to the Westport area.

Several restaurateurs were on hand to object to the proposal. Bob O'Mahony of Viva Zapata,  Kevin Burns of River House Tavern and Steve Carpentieri of Dunville's spoke against the idea.

"Every property owner with a liquor license would lose hundreds of thousands of dollars if this is passed,  O'Mahony said. He explained that current liquor-serving establishments have been paying high rents under the guise that they would not have new competition in there designated areas. The proposed amendment, he said, would "give new restaurants a competitive edge" and put existing businesses at a "disadvantage."

Burns agreed that "it's a great idea to revitalize Westport," but criticized the commission's proposals. "The last three years have been tough," he said. "If you pass this resolution, I will suffer. "

He said that many people who open restaurants are "dreamers" and predicted that changing the buffer zone footage will result in "twice as many failures."

"You will have new restaurants come and go," he said. He stressed that the  benefits of the proposal will be "short lived" but in the long run the change would cause irreparable damage to those who are currently in business.

He suggested that instead of adding new establishments to the area, the commission work to help existing restaurateurs and tavern owners to "drive business." Parking is one issue he noted that could be improved.

Gene Girden, a commercial property owner, took to the microphone to disagree with the restaurant operators. "Westport is not doing well. The downtown area is dead. Business is going to Fairfield and South Norwalk. We need to inject life into the downtown area," he said. "Regulations should be relaxed, not tightened."

The second discussion of the evening addressed eliminating the need for some activities to require site plan approval and public hearings to obtain a zoning permit. Nonprofit organizations, Westport merchants, movie production and photographic shoots all require public hearings and legal notices to conduct outdoor events and activities.

According to Larry Bradley, planning and zoning director, these requirements can often cause three- to four-week delays in carrying out such events.

"Encouraging these types of activities will lead to more interesting and varied events as they become simpler and less costly to implement," he said.

No vote was taken on the proposals.