Home Care In Westport, CT

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WESTPORT — Connecticut's only Patagonia store will close its doors for the last time at 87 Post Road East on Christmas Eve, after 18 years in business.

"Closing a store is something we never take lightly, but we’re proud to continue partnering with local outdoor gear shops to serve customers in Westport," said Joy Lewis, Patagonia's senior director of North America retail.

Representatives for Patagonia did not confirm why exactly the Westport store is closing, nor what will replace it.

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Patagonia representative J.J. Higgins said the company is now steering customers to local wholesale dealers and Patagonia's three New York City stores, since Westport was its only brick and mortar store in the state.

The Westport location was housed in the former Westport Bank and Trust, an iconic building in town.

The store opened in 2005. Since then, it has given away $456,900 in grants to 35 nonprofit organizations, Higgins said.

"We will continue to support environmental and social justice work in Connecticut beyond the four walls of the store, and, as always, Patagonia Action Works is available for individuals and groups to connect on those efforts," Higgins said.

Westport is not the first Patagonia store in Connecticut to close. On Aug. 21, 2022, Patagonia closed its store at The Shops at Yale in New Haven. It opened there in 2017.

Lewis said they are sad to close the Westport store and appreciate the support of the community. The announcement came last spring that the store would close.

"We have been assisting our colleagues since late summer to find other opportunities within Patagonia and we have been providing resume and interview guidance for those who, understandably, do not wish to leave the Westport community," Lewis said.

Lewis said the store will close on Dec. 24 because all of their U.S. stores, offices and warehouse close for a holiday break from Dec. 25 through Jan. 1. The Westport employees will be paid through the middle of January while the space is vacated.

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Signs have been posted indicating the store would close since May.

Nearby outdoor shops also sell Patagonia products.

This story has been updated to reflect the Westport store was in business 18 years.

WESTPORT — The district will have to change its curriculum by the start of the next school year to meet the Right to Read legislation after the state Department of Education determined Westport doesn't meet its standards.

Westport and other schools across the state were allowed to apply for waivers to the program if they believed their reading programs met the criteria established in the Right to Read legislation, which requires an evidence-based, scientifically proven reading curriculum to be established beginning July 1, 2024, with it fully established by July 1, 2025.

"There is disappointment as a result of the endless hours our faculty and leaders have spent on this waiver process," Superintendent Thomas Scarice said.

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Scarice said it was also concerning since the state referenced a program it said Westport was using in its denial, though the district doesn't actually use that program.

Scarice said the waiver was rejected because Westport's "program had components that did not satisfy the criteria," adding the state wasn't clear in its response what exactly didn't meet the criteria and why.

Over the last five years, the district's literacy program has evolved, adding more explicit instruction around phonics, which has led to performance near or at the top of the state, Scarice said.

Westport was one of 25 school districts to receive a "limited" status from for the waiver, which means its curriculum does not meet expectations set by the state and was not approved.

The Right to Read legislation passed in 2021, which requires the state to oversee all literacy-related efforts, such as setting curriculum requirements for the districts and creating approved reading assessments to track student progress.

The state reached out to the 85 school districts that applied for waivers to this program on Dec. 1 informing them about the status of their waiver for reading curricula or programs for kindergarten through third grade, a media release from Dec. 5 read.

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Districts' waiver applications included evidence to show their reading curriculum models were alternatives to programs approved by the Center for Literacy Research and Reading Success.

According to state data from 2022 to 2023, 54.5 percent of third grade students, or approximately 19,500 students, are not efficient in English Language Arts.

Other area districts that were not approved include Milford and Wilton. Greenwich, Monroe, Darien and Trumbull were deemed "transitional," which were also not approved and "must add and substitute specific programmatic or curriculum components" to be approved.

Scarice said Westport's literacy scores vary annually, but the district is typically near or at the top of the state for the Smarter Balanced Assessments Connecticut testing with 80 percent of the district's students achieving grade-level standards. However, the state test isn't a reading test, but instead assesses some parts of language arts standards, which is more about writing.

"Yet, this is the bar that is being used to speak to student literacy performance," Scarice said. "Like most districts, we employ a variety of assessment methods to ensure our students are reading proficiently."

He said this test is a poor choice to assess reading performance because it isn't designed to be a reading test.

"A test should only be used for the purposes it was designed for," he said.

Scarice said the district doesn't know if they can apply again to have the Right to Read requirements waived. The state does allow an appeals process, which district officials are researching.

The entire process was chaotic, Scarice said. The evaluation rubric changed during the waiver process, but the district was flexible to meet those expectations.

"Communication was sparse and our questions were treated as legal inquiries, as if our questions were (Freedom of Information Act) requests," Scarice said.

He said the district submitted the waiver months ago and learned it wasn't accepted after administrators, teachers and literacy coaches already spent hours preparing the curriculum.

Scarice said there are plenty of opportunities for legislation to have a positive effect on students across the state, but believes this is a "one size fits all" method that "falls far short of the mark."

"Programs do not teach kids. Materials do not teach kids. Highly skilled professional educators teach kids, and that is what we have in Westport," Scarice said, adding the district will regroup and consider its next steps.

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WESTPORT — Though the Westport Community Gardens was just recognized nationally, it's unclear it they'll still be there in the coming years as officials are set to decide if they should move the garden as part of the Long Lots school project.

"You don't move a 20-year-old garden," Westport Community Gardens Chair Lou Weinberg said. "You destroy it, you plow over it and you start over again somewhere else."

The gardens are in jeopardy of being demolished, depending on what plan the Long Lots Building Committee recommends to the Board of Selectwomen. For months, the committee has worked to come up with a plan to build a new Long Lots Elementary School or renovate the current one in an effort to address overcrowding.

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One of the most talked about plans has been to build a new school, with one option removing the current soccer and ball fields and rebuilding them on top of the gardens. Weinberg said the community gardens members have not discussed what they will do if the committee recommends the plan where the garden is removed, but one of the options is moving it to the Baron's South Property.

Jay Keenan, chair of the Long Lots Building Committee, declined to comment ahead of the recommendation, set to happen at the Oct. 5 Building Committee meeting.

The Parks and Recreation Department also released a document on Sept. 22 explaining what would happen if Long Lots no longer had fields, causing games to be played elsewhere.

Jennifer Fava, director of Parks and Recreation, said the loss of any fields in town would have a negative effect on providing field space for the more than 11,000 people who use it.

"There are very limited locations that would be able to fit fields, and all have issues that would need to be considered," she said in an interview.

The discussion comes as the American Community Garden Association recently named the Westport Community Gardens the best community garden for sustainability, recognizing it for "leading environmental stewardship efforts in the care of their garden and the environment.”

Weinberg said the community gardens started when the town bought an undeveloped lot at 13 Hyde Lane in 2001. The group formed in 2003 with 30 people who were interested in gardening on that land. It grew all the way to 120 families in 2010, the same number it has today.

In spring 2022, the Long Lots Preserve was established with the mission to enhance and protect the property, including removing invasive species and establishing a pollinator pathway.

Weinberg said the gardeners consulted with the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection and the Southwest Conservation District, which made recommendations of what could be done to the land to improve its ecology. To complete the projects, the gardens raised $40,000 from the community.

Native migratory birds, moths and bugs have started to come back to the area because of this project, he said.

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Gardeners range from 5 to 95 years old, with each of the 120 families putting in about four to five hours a week on their plots, Weinberg said, adding that totals more than 100,000 combined hours worked there.

Multiple members of the community gardens have been outspoken about keeping the gardens since the Long Lots proposals were introduced. They say there is no way to just move it. Instead, they would completely demolish the current gardens and start all over in a new location, after 20 years of work, Weinberg said.

Weinberg said he believes any other town would celebrate, promote and protect a garden like this.

He said members of the gardens do not understand why destroying it is an option.

"This ball field has zero to do with satisfying education requirements," he said, adding the garden could be used for classes if preserved.

Weinberg said the garden group has also heard from many residents who support protecting the gardens and have complained about drainage issues any fields could cause and the potential for negative impacts from increased noise and light levels.

He said he believes the building committee has gone out of its scope and wants to use the already created flat, open space from the gardens for the fields.

"We've got a school right next door to us," he said. "What is this teaching our kids?"

WESTPORT – Neighbors of a proposed mixed-use development along Route 1 said they are worried about unforeseen environmental impacts and late-night noise from the 3-acre property, which the town is trying to save from large affordable housing projects.

The local developers have applied to convert the aging strip mall at 1620 Post Road East – which houses Redi-Cut Carpet & Rugs, D&D Refuse, Innovation Luggage, Luciano Paving and Pane E Bene Restaurant – into a golf entertainment facility this year, and eventually build 10 townhouses in the southern portion of the lot next year.

At a Monday Planning and Zoning Commission meeting, Rick Redniss, an attorney representing the developers of the proposed project, said a request by town staff to keep affordable housing developers away from the property was the “genesis” of the application.

“When we talked to staff about having it at this location, we were informed that this location was the subject of an 8-30g proposal that never quite made it to be a full application,” Redniss explained.

Under state statute 8-30g, developers can largely bypass local zoning laws as long as 30 percent of the project units are deemed affordable by the state. Planning and Zoning Department Director Mary Young confirmed that the town asked applicants to develop 1620 Post Road East in place of an 8-30g development with “grand density” and “grand height.”

“Guilty as charged,” Young said. “I’ve been working in the P&Z office for more than 20 years and – I won’t say the whole time – but certainly the last 10 years has been a lot of focus on the potential for an 8-30g, affordable housing development application to be put forth at that site.”

But while the town encouraged the development, neighbors on nearby streets – George Street, High Gate Road and the Lansdowne condominiums – have written letters to the department and met with developers in hopes of addressing two key concerns: Potential hazardous waste buried below the proposed townhouses and noise from the commercial facility.

According to a document provided by the applicant, the southern portion of the property – where the developer plans to construct 10 townhouses with at least two being “deed restricted affordable” – served as a town landfill in the 1940s, and contains small quantities of fill from the previous use.

The applicant claimed that tests of the fill by engineering consultants Landtech found no evidence of hazardous conditions, but neighbors emailed Planning and Zoning to express their concerns.

George Street resident Teresa Cuseo said she supports the golf facility but is concerned about the potential construction of townhouses on top of the old landfill.

“Worried about buried toxins being disturbed and causing issues in the area,” Cuseo wrote.

Two other neighbors on George Street – Gail and Americo Renzulli – wrote that they thought the area was “environmentally unsafe,” claiming that previous tests concluded the former landfill is contaminated.

At the Monday meeting, Redniss explained that the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection requires developers of properties containing fill to conduct testing and file results with the town. But commission Chair Danielle Dobin said the environmental concerns called for independent environmental testing at the site.

“It’s not that I don’t check that I don’t trust Landtech, it’s not that I don’t think that they do good work,” Dobin said. “I just feel as though it’s always better for the commission when information comes to us, and it’s independent.”

And because Westport sits along Long Island Sound, Dobin said it is especially important that the site is thoroughly tested.

“A lot of these properties, as we all know, drain into all these other properties and they all drain towards the Sound,” she said. “It’s really important to ensure that before any soil is being disturbed, before anything’s happening, that we have the answers we need in terms of what lies beneath.”

Neighbors said they agreed with Dobin, urging independent testing. High Gate Road resident Elizabeth Zobel asked Redniss to inspect debris beside her backyard.

“The part of the property behind our house is – I believe there is a lot of big debris there,” Zobel said at the meeting. “And Mr. Redniss, we look forward to meeting you and it would be nice if we could show you what’s back there because there is a significant amount back there.”

On Wednesday, George Street residents Linda Hughes and Carla Bowden, sent a letter to the department urging the town to follow up on its request for independent testing and provided photos of the subject property, which seemingly show piles of fill covered with debris and vegetation.

While the proposed construction of the 10 townhouses would come in a later phase of the project, the first phase would be the redevelopment of the 8,550-square-foot strip mall into a state-of-the art golf entertainment facility – The Clubhouse Westport.

Redniss said that the applicants, Westport residents Emily and Tim Zobl, plan to continue to lease the space to Redi-Cut Carpet & Rugs and develop the rest of the building into multisport simulator bays, private rooms for events and karaoke, and a restaurant with a rooftop deck to open in 2024.

While most neighbors supported the new business, many residents of the nearby Lansdowne condominium complex – which would abut the townhouses – wrote the department to say they worry about noise from the rooftop deck.

“The proposed ‘rooftop patio’ could be a source of disturbing noise, especially if it is in use during evening hours,” Lansdowne resident Sybil Steinberg said .

Another Lansdowne resident, Myles Seiderman, wrote he had “deep concerns” about the noise and lighting from the proposed rooftop deck.

But after meeting with the attorney for the Lansdowne Condominium Association, Redniss said the applicants agreed to push the project 50 feet away from all residential houses and 30 feet from multifamily developments like the condo complex.

The application also included a sound barrier system along the edges of the rooftop deck, which they said reduces noise to properties within 100 feet of the deck. Redniss said the deck would not impact Lansdowne condo owners.

“It’s almost 700 feet to the closest unit here in Lansdowne,” Redniss said. “So, this noise level here is a whisper.”

But commission Chair Dobin said neighbors have “every reason” to be concerned about noise.

“I don’t care how far away it is, Rick, that you showed on the map,” Dobin said to Redniss. “The people in Lansdowne are going to hear it. And the difference, of course, people can always have a party at their house, but they usually don’t have them every Friday, Saturday, Thursday night.”

Dobin said she would be paying close attention to any possible noise nuisance throughout the application process.

Joel Green, the attorney with Lansdowne, confirmed on Monday that the condo association and applicants have almost finished negotiating terms of agreements to satisfy condo owners’ concerns.

Green asked that the commission keep the public hearing open beyond the Monday meeting to finish negotiations.

“I think it would be in the best interest of all involved,” he said.

The commission voted to keep the public hearing open until its next meeting on July 24.

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WESTPORT — After months of work, the Long Lots Building Committee voted this week for a new school to be built on campus, but the location of the Westport Community Gardens remains uncertain.

The committee unanimously recommended "Option C" to the first selectwoman, whose board will be the next to vote on it. This option involves a new school built toward the northern portion of the property, with the entrance directly in front of Hyde Lane.

"The building committee will work with everybody on the site going forward, including the community gardens, parks and rec, baseball, soccer, planning and zoning — mostly the school," Jay Keenan, the building committee chair, said after the meeting. "The main focus of this project, I can't stress that enough, is the school."

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Members said they liked the option for a number of reasons, including it's cheaper, it has a shorter timeline, it meets most of the education specifications, the nurse's office and gymnasium meet the distance requirement for each grade's classrooms and the school has at-grade exits, which are required for new builds.

The committee formed last fall and held its 26th meeting this week. During that time, the committee has reviewed all possible options for the school, including variations of a renovation, a renovation with an addition and a completely new build.

The recommendation now goes before the Board of Selectwomen in the coming weeks. The next steps will be to request money from the town, receive approvals from various boards and move into schematic design, Keenan said. If all goes to plan, they hope to start construction in fall 2024.

The first new build option would put the baseball field and an overlay soccer field on top of the outfield and the gardens would move to the southern portion of the property.

The other option would keep the garden and move the soccer field next to it, and potentially put a baseball field in the southern area of the property for another $2 million. However, this would require the free play area and the 5-through-12 playground to be moved or removed.

The possibility of losing the garden has sparked an outcry from those who use it.

"Any other town in America would celebrate, promote and protect the nationally recognized, award-winning community garden that we have created here in Westport over the past 20 years," Lou Weinberg, Westport Community Gardens chairman, said after the meeting. "What is happening to our town?"

Weinberg said if the school is going to be built where the fields are, then the Parks and Recreation department should find another spot in town to replace the fields, not relocate them to where the garden is.

The fields are currently used by the town's high school and youth sports.

"In that process, do not destroy a 20-year-old community garden, which builds fabric of the community, brings families together, provides passive recreation for seniors, teaches kids how to grow their own food, is an environmental gem and is a nationally recognized model of sustainability," he said.

Keenan said they are looking for this school to last at least 50 years. The current school is in its 70th year.

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"Tens of thousands of students would go through this school," he said.

They also wanted the plans to have sustainable options, as the town has a 2050 net-zero policy in place.

The estimates showed that the renovation and renovation with an addition would be the most expensive options. Renovate as new with enhanced sustainability would be nearly $114.9 million and a renovation with a large addition would be nearly $112.3 million. The renovation is the most expensive because it would require class reconfigurations within the school.

The new build estimates are a little more than $98.2 million if the garden is removed and about $100.5 million if the garden is kept. The added cost is to create a baseball field and relocate a water basin near the southern area of the property.

"The baseball field in the back is a very expensive option," Keenan said after the meeting. "There's a lot of topography issues and a lot of water issues."

A renovation would also mean that the classroom sizes would be 10 percent smaller than the education specifications requested by the Board of Education. It also would not properly fit the amount of students expected to be in the school by then, which could grow by several dozen over the next eight years and currently stand around 600.

Another issue for both renovation options would have been the timing. The renovation would have been 29 months and five phases, while the renovation with addition would be 30 months with six phases. The new build options will take 26 months and two phases, but students will be able to be in the new school by 18 months.

Liz Heyer, BOE vice chair and building committee member, said the new build options would also be less disruptive for students, as the construction noises wouldn't come from the same building in which students are learning.

Marissa Mead, associate principal with Svigals and Partners who are working on the project, said a new build would allow enhanced security to be added into the building. Westport has its own school security regulations in addition to the national and state ones. The actual layout could also include design specifications that could help protect students in the event of an emergency.

Multiple residents asked questions about the project and expressed their concerns about removing the garden.

“Democracy is about compromise, and there is a way to make everyone happy,” resident Joseph Vallone said at the meeting.

He asked the 50 or so people in the room if anyone wants the gardens to be demolished. Nobody raised their hands.

He then asked if anybody would save the gardens, and the room erupted in applause.

"A great leader would find a way around this," Weinberg said about the option to remove the garden. "We are hoping our first selectwoman will do so."