'Radical' Reimagining for Downtown Westport Proposed

With revitalization in mind, a dramatic plan for downtown Westport calls for the creation of paid parking spots, expansion of paths along the river, construction of a small "village" of buildings on Parker Harding Plaza and a total overhaul of existing zoning regulations.

Now, all that's needed is time, money and leadership. In light of the current state of downtown, top town officials indicated they are on board with some of the suggestions presented on Tuesday morning.

"We watched the neighboring towns change around us and here we are in the midst of a recession. We're finding ourselves sitting back and saying 'why does our town look the way it does…and why don't we take some pride in our downtown area and think about how we want to grow," said David Waldman, a developer who will be re-purposing the Westport Weston Family Y building when the organization moves out.

Jonathan Steinberg, chairman of the downtown subcommittee of the Town Plan Implementation Committee, presented the plans and acknowledged that Westport can never go back to the way it was decades ago. He said the area could improve from how it is now.

"It seems like almost every other building has vacancies at this point," he said. "We recognize that we hope those conditions are temporary and cyclical, but some of those trends were evident before the recession took place."

The Plan Implementation Committee is a group appointed by First Selectman Gordon Joseloff, who serves as chairman, to evaluate how to implement the town's 2007 Plan of Conservation and Development. Part of that plan outlines ways to reinvigorate downtown Westport.

According to Joseloff, the ideas proposed were "a revolution in thinking."

"I think it's time for the naysayers to take a backseat," said Joseloff, who is a part owner of the downtown building which houses Restoration Hardware and Matsu Sushi.  "We will publicly invite them to participate. In this town, as you know, there are people who will adamantly say no from the get go without knowing what it's all about."

Joseloff said he isn't afraid to ask the town's funding bodies for money. Steinberg believes the costs can be mitigated through partnerships with private developers and the creation of a town director position. Obtaining grants would be a large part of that job's role and Fairfield has created the position with much success, said Steinberg.

"We're very confident that there are ways to accomplish this without necessarily accessing taxpayer money," he said.

Proponents of the changes believe that boosting the vibrancy of downtown Westport can yield more tax revenues from the area.

The Plans

The presented recommendations range from the modest, such as modifying garbage collection and dumpster locations for beautification purposes, to what's described as "radical" by the subcommittee.

The removal of some - if not most - free parking is controversial, said Steinberg.

"When somebody first raised the question about metering, a lot of eye brows shot up," said Steinberg. "'Free parking in downtown Westport is a god-given right, and over my dead body are you going to take away' [is] a common perception."

While adding paid parking would raise money for the town to pay for projects, such as the possible construction of a parking garage, Steinberg said it was also create turnover, so that store employees wouldn't park in prime spots all day and potentially discourage potential shoppers.

He said it would also create the perception of available spaces, which makes someone more likely to stop and park if they can find a spot. The notion of how to charge is flexible, but Steinberg noted that there could be potential discounts for Westport residents, such as when using Compo Beach.

Steinberg said a proposed parking garage at the Baldwin parking lot on Elm Street would hopefully be different than the prevalent, unattractive ones. He said he would like to see it partially underground, with the top potentially being used for small stores.

A top goal of the plans is to take advantage of the prime riverfront location, which is used almost solely for parking and a small trail. To do so, the subcommittee proposed converted the Parker Harding parking lot as a "2-3 story, brownstone-scale, pedestrian oriented village of buildings with ground floor small retail establishments, and small commercial and residential upstairs."

An overhaul of existing zoning regulations would allow these changes to take place. The Planning and Zoning Commission has already been implementing changes, such as removing the 1,500 foot restriction between bars.

Eleanor Lowenstein, vice chairman of the commission, was enthusiastic.

"This is something I'd probably never even think of, and I think it's terrific," she said. "I really think should certainly go forward and try to do something about this."

A Vision

A lynchpin of the downtown plans was a presentation given by Robert Orr, a New Haven architect and expert in what's known as "greenfield development," to the downtown subcommittee in August. Shifting the focus of downtown from cars to pedestrians is seen as the groundwork for revitalization.

Right now, he said, the primary feature of downtown Westport is parking and pavement.

"It's a low yield use. The taxes are lowered [when there's so much pavement]," he said. "There is incentive to create parking unless you can create revenue with new projects."

He said that hundreds of other towns have changed their zoning regulations a "form-based code," which he said is more fluid and viable for reinvigorating municipalities. The process usually involves a week of hearings, mailed notices sent to everyone in town and encouraged public involvement.

The next Plan Implementation Committee meeting is scheduled to take place in two months. Members of the downtown subcommittee want these ideas move forward as soon as possible.

Harold F. Cobin contributed to this report.