Hamlet at Saugatuck would add hotel, housing, retail in Westport – CT Insider

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Rendering of the Hamlet at Saugatuck looking west from the Saugatuck River.
Rendering of the Hamlet at Saugatuck looking south on Charles Street, next to the existing office building at 21 Charles Street.
Rendering of the Hamlet at Saugatuck Farmer’s Market looking south from Charles Street.
Rendering of the Hamlet at Saugatuck looking south from Charles Street.
Rending of the Hamlet at Saugatuck looking south from Charles Street.
The Hamlet at Saugatuck master plan.
WESTPORT — The Hamlet at Saugatuck, a plan to overhaul a section of town by the river, was met with mixed reviews this week when the application was formally introduced.
The proposal has been in the works about two and a half years, developer ROAN Ventures said at Monday’s Planning and Zoning Commission meeting where officials, developers and the community discussed the proposal.
The Hamlet at Saugatuck would have a variety of spaces, including residential properties, stores, a hotel and restaurants. It first needs to be approved as a text amendment and a map amendment. The commission did not vote on the amendments, and it will be continued into another meeting.
“The lens we looked through and the lens we always look through and will continue to look through is through the community,” Dan Suozzi, a partner with ROAN Ventures, said. “This was really looking at what doesn’t exist in Fairfield County or the state of Connecticut in terms of amenities.”
Suozzi said multiple ROAN Ventures members are Westport residents.
The proposed new zone would start at a parking lot next to Luciano Park and continue through Railroad Place and Charles Street to the river, said Eric Bernheim of FLB Law, the attorneys for ROAN.
“People are very disappointed as this being the gateway to Westport, and ROAN heard that loud and clear and is really trying to change that,” Bernheim said.
Martin Purcell, a partner at ROAN, said they wanted to match the design of the Hamlet with the rest of Westport. He called the area a “village-like atmosphere.”
Bernheim said the current regulations in the area do not allow for changes, so a text amendment is necessary.
He said the amendment would invite developers into the town and allow for economic growth, development and “create something really special for the community.”
Bernheim noted that this area would allow for railroad, water and vehicle access.
There are some environmental challenges there. There are leeching contaminants into the surrounding areas that need to be remediated, which the proximity to the river makes more pressing, said Rodrigo Real, a partner at ROAN.
Real said they would fully remediate the land as opposed to capping it, which is more expensive, but more effective.
Brian Cutler, CEO of Loureiro Engineering Associates who will lead the remediation, said they would prepare remediation plans and submit them to the state.
The applicant team said that there are also traffic challenges within this area, with most of Saugatuck’s traffic occurring between 4:30 and 6 p.m., predominantly caused by Interstate-95.
The team has identified seven strategies to mitigate and improve traffic, including building below grade parking, adding lanes to direct traffic flows and incentivizing public transportation.
There were mixed responses among commission members and the public about the proposal.
Danielle Dobin, chair of the commission, brought up multiple points, including the height of the buildings, which she said could create a “canyoning effect.”
One of the proposed buildings is shown to be 76 feet tall in a rendering from ROAN Ventures.
“I can’t imagine being comfortable with addressing the issue of a building that essentially was built outside of our regulations because it’s not conforming by just allowing everything else to then match that height,” she said.
Nancy Kail, a Representative Town Meeting District 9 member, also spoke about the possible traffic.
“This development invites congestion… in non-rush hour times, but that means summers, holidays, weekends, and that’s going to affect a lot of people in the area,” she said.
Sam Levinson, a resident, also worried the plans could change after the text amendment was approved.
“I’d like to have an understanding of whether or not the applicant can get the text amendment passed and then sell the rights to some other developer who can come in with a completely different plan,” Levinson said.
kayla.mutchler@hearstmediact.com

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