Politics & Government

UPDATE: Corwin's Request For Lawsuit Funding Not Submitted to Town

The letter dated Monday is only in a draft form.

Planning and Zoning Commission Chairman Ron Corwin has prepared a draft letter to First Selectman Gordon Joseloff  for $19,500 to pursue legal action against the Representative Town Meeting.

The previous version of this story incorrectly stated that Corwin had already sent the letter.

Planning and Zoning Director Larry Bradley said Wednesday morning that he had only prepared the letter for Corwin to review. The draft letter dated Monday was obtained by Westport Patch through a Freedom of Information Act request. It was one of 1,000 pages of information asking for e-mail exchanges over the potential lawsuit.

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In the draft, Corwin wrote:

"On behalf of the Westport Planning & Zoning Commission, I respectfully request the following appropriation in the Planning & Zoning budget account (185). On January 21, 2010, the Planning & Zoning Commission passed the attached resolution stating their intent to seek legal counsel for an appeal in Superior Court of the RTM decision rendered on January 13, 2010 whereby the RTM overturned the P&Z's approval of Text Amendment #601. We are pursuing this action for all of the reasons stated in the attached resolution."

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The P&Z voted 4-3 Thursday night to pursue legal action against the RTM in a 15-day timeframe.

The adopted resolution stated the P&Z felt the RTM did not follow land use rules and standards and deprived the commission of due process, which "resulted in a process that was illegal under CT statues."

Corwin's draft letter asks for $19,500 to be used for "fees and services." In the draft, he also asks Joseloff to forward his request to the Board of Finance for consideration at its next meeting, which is scheduled for Feb. 3.

Corwin met Monday with Joseloff, town attorney Ira Bloom and RTM moderator Hadley Rose. They met to discuss the possible litigation as well as ways to resolve — outside of a courtroom — the concerns some commissioners had in the process the RTM took to review the controversial text amendment the P&Z approved in December. It would have allowed offices on the first floor of buildings in the Historic Design District, located at Wilton and Post Roads. 

After the Monday meeting, Joseloff issued a statement saying he had asked the Town Attorney's Office to draft "suggested rules" for the RTM to consider when reviewing P&Z actions.

In a phone interview Tuesday, Rose said while the meeting was productive he thought the P&Z lawsuit was an option "still on the table."

"I think people are trying to dissuade them but ultimately it's their call," Rose said.

He added that once the town attorney drafts the suggested rules, he will discuss them with deputy moderator Jonathan Steinberg and RTM P&Z committee chairman Matt Mandell. Then he said he would bring it forward to the RTM Rules Committee, where the suggestions would be discussed and debated before going to the full RTM.

"No one is imposing anything on anyone," Rose said.

If the First Selectman sends Corwin's request to the Board of Finance, chairwoman Helen Garten said Friday the board would certainly consider it.

"Anyone who's been watching us the last year, can see that we are being extremely careful with money, and lawsuits are extremely costly propositions," Garten said. "I would like to know essentially, for me, I wonder about the likelihood that the suit would even be heard. We shouldn't really be spending money on a lawsuit that maybe has no basis. I suspect my board would scrutinize this very closely."

As for two commissioners who voted against pursuing the lawsuit, Michael Krawiec and Catherine Walsh said they've been kept out of the loop regarding how or when the commission will move forward with legal action.

Both said they support the RTM's right to review P&Z decisions, as the law allows, and they consider the recent actions of some commissioners to be about "power and egos."

"This is an attempt at a power play," Krawiec said. "This is an attempt to bully."

"The bottom line is they do not like the fact the RTM can overturn (a P&Z decision)," Walsh said. "They need to drop the suit, have a public meeting and issue a public apology."

Both Walsh and Krawiec said the commissioners who voted in favor of the lawsuit should apologize to the public for "wasting their time, for bad behavior, for unnecessary posturing and for giving a negative appearance to Westport."

Westport Patch attempted to contact all commissioners Tuesday either by phone or e-mail. Some did not return phone messages or e-mails requesting an interview, and others said they would be available today or later this week or deferred comment to the chairman.

 


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