P&Z Ponders Too Many Westport Banks

A proposed Planning and Zoning amendment paints banks as an obstacle preventing a vibrant nightlife in Westport. But some property owners say that's a small price to pay when banks make great tenants and give back to the community in charitable donations.

"The general sense of the Town Plan is that we need to bring more nightlife and activity to Westport and also to provide opportunities for those other than national businesses," Lawrence Bradley, director of Planning and Zoning, said at a public hearing Thursday night.

The proposed regulation would essentially prohibit any new banks from coming to most sections of town. A number of existing banks would be defined as non-conforming, which would discourage expansion. The reasoning behind the regulation is that since banks close early and often don't operate on the weekends, other businesses would do more to enliven the town, according to P&Z.

No action was taken at the meeting, but the amendment will be discussed and possibly modified in the future before it's voted on by the seven-member commission.

Some property owners said they don't understand why the P&Z Commission would want to drive out viable businesses.

"Will this amendment really add to the foot traffic that this commission seeks to get?" said Robert Haroun, owner of the Old Town Hall building on 100 Post Road E. "Maybe we should think about - and I'm being facetious here – prohibiting… offices because they close at 5 o'clock, they're not open on weekends, they don't have any special sales to draw people to town."

He said that the best way to draw new businesses to town would be to modify regulations in order to allow business on the second floor in the downtown area. By doing so, he said, independently-owned stores could move in since the rents would likely be lower.

"I don't think it's right to chase out viable businesses that want to be on Main Street," Haroun said. "Specifically, businesses that do a lot for our community…they are a pillar and element of this community."

Banks in Neighboring Towns

When drafting the proposed amendment, [P&Z] compiled statistics about other towns. According to their stats, there are 30 banks in Westport, or one for every 320 people. Fairfield has one bank per 656 households; in New Canaan one bank per 554 households; in Darien one bank per 467 households; and in Wilton one per 508 households. 

New Canaan and Darien implemented restrictions on new banks, according to Bradley. New Canaan passed a six-month moratorium on new banks, which was then adopted permanently for their central business district. Darien passed a regulation similar to what has been proposed in Westport.

"Essentially, to coin a phrase, it would appear Westport is…'over-banked'," Bradley said.

Opposition

Michael Calise, who owns the building on 215 Post Road W. that houses a branch of the Fairfield County Bank, said that statistics were misleading since they included some banks that did not actually exist. He also said that the majority of Weston – which only has one bank - use Westport's. This makes the bank per person ratio more in line with other towns.

"What makes banks so bad?" asked Calise, citing the charitable work and sponsorships that banks often do.  "I think you really need to give some thought to this. We're probably at this point maxed out on banks. I don't think we're going to see any more banks coming into Westport for quite a while."