WESTPORT — After more than a decade and countless hours of discussions at town meetings, a controversial plan to build a two-story professional office building at 715 Post Road East was approved by Westport's Planning & Zoning Commission.
The plan, which was submitted by a local attorney, is to build a 4,220-square-foot, two-story professional office building with 21 parking spaces.
"I bought this property in 2010 so I think I've been through a lot ... I would have liked to have it up 10 years ago," said Laurel Fedor, the applicant.
At Monday's Planning & Zoning Commission meeting, the plan was approved by a vote of 6-1, with Michael Calise as the lone commission member who voted no. At a prior public hearing, Calise said there should be an elevator in the building, which would connect the upper level to the lower level. There is a second-floor entrance from the outside.
"If by mistake, a driver parks on the lower level and they then recognize that (the place they need to get to) is actually on the second floor, the only way they have to access that second floor parking lot is through that exterior staircase," he said.
However, Commission member John Bolton said he's glad the plan is finally being approved after so much time has passed since the original proposal.
"I know we don't give approvals out on perseverance but my God, they've been at this for a long time and refining it and refining it. I think that it's good use. It's a good project. It's a modest building. I think it's an upgrade for that corner," he said.
Next steps to getting the building built include getting a driveway permit, Water Pollution Control Authority approval, a sanitary sewer connection, a road opening permit, and a snow removal plan.
Log storage
The property at 715 Post Road East, owned by attorney William Taylor, is being used as an arborist’s and landscaper’s lot to store trucks, equipment, landscaping material, and wood.
But many locals know of the property, at the corner of Post Road East and Roseville Road, by sight, since for many years, dozens of logs have been stored there, piled high on top of one another.
The logs, which are owned by Roberto Porzio of Bert’s Tree Service in Westport, have been the source of many complaints in town.
Residents had previously written to town officials about the pile, and, more recently, posted about it on local social media sites, saying it's an eyesore, it's dirty, and it's a safety issue. Some say they worry the logs will roll onto the road and damage cars and hurt people while others questioned if there is a better and cheaper storage option.
Michelle Perillie, Westport's Planning & Zoning director, said the previous landowner was approved in 1988 "to stockpile fill and related materials" on the site.
However, in response to the complaints that town was receiving, in early 2020, the town conducted several zoning inspections and in April of that year, Taylor received a Notice of Zoning Violation from Westport’s zoning official, for “unpermitted operation of a commercial business-tree service” ….operating on the property, according to documents shared with Hearst Connecticut Media Group.
The town asked Taylor to remove the "violations" but he refused, saying he's in compliance with the existing zoning permit.
A citation hearing officer said the operations at the business are outside the scope of the previous site plan approval and zoning permit. The officer wrote, "the huge logs on the property seem to fall outside" of the permit.
A cease and desist order was later issued to Taylor from the town for continuing to operate the commercial business without a permit.
Porzio acknowledged the complaints from the town and residents but he also said many people support him, since he recycles the logs. He said timber is made from the wood, which is shipped out to other states. It gets reused and repurposed, he said.
However, since the plan for the office building on the property was approved, Porzio will be required to remove the logs. At Monday's meeting, Fedor said she plans to have Porzio remove all the logs within three months. She said as soon as all the permits are in place, construction can begin and completed within a year.
Planning & Zoning Commission members as well as an RTM member, expressed relief that the logs would be removed.
"It's time to get the logs off the property," said Neil Cohn is the Vice Chairman of the Westport Planning and Zoning Commission.
Westport RTM member Candace Banks said the property is within her district, and the current use of the logging operation is among the top three complaints she gets from residents.
"I hear about (the logs) from people all the time on this ... it baffles most of the public, my neighbors," she said.
She also said the pile of logs causes rubber necking.
"People stare at it when they're sitting at that intersection. The current application is a much infinitely preferable use to what's going on now. And I have not talked to a single Westporter who disagrees," she said.
Professional office plan
The property at 715 Post Road East, which Taylor purchased in 2010, is about a third of an acre, and is across from the McDonald’s.
In a letter to the Planning & Zoning Commission, Taylor gave Fedor permission to represent him in the application for the property.
"This is a new office building being proposed with first floor medical use and second floor healthcare professional use," said Fedor, at a public hearing.
She said she plans to leave the first floor unfinished in anticipation of a medical client. The second floor will be for professional offices, she said. She plans to run her law office out of the building as well. Her office is now at 1071 Post Road East, in Jennings Plaza.
The plan for an office building at 715 Post Road East has had a long history with the town.
Fedor first submitted the plan to the town in 2012 but it was denied by the Zoning Board of Appeals. She submitted another plan in 2014, and while it was approved by the Zoning Board, the Planning and Zoning Commission denied it, saying it was incomplete.
Taylor appealed the denial in court.
"In November of 2021, the appeal of the denial of the site plan application was dismissed in the lower court, and there was an appeal to the appellate court, which reversed the decision of the Superior Court based on failure to allow the applicant to present their application," Perillie said.
The case is pending.
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