By Caitlin Emma

www.ctmirror.org

Family homelessness, income disparity and the number of households burdened by housing costs increased in the last year as Connecticut remains one of the most expensive states in which to own or rent a home, according to a report issued today by the Partnership for Strong Communities.

The partnership used data compiled by a number of agencies in forming the report, including the U.S. Census Bureau, the Connecticut Coalition to End Homelessness (CCEH), the Connecticut Housing Coalition, the National Low Income Housing Coalition and the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Economic Analysis.

Christy Rubenstein, a senior policy analyst for the Partnership, said the homelessness data was one of the most striking issues.

“There’s been a change in the demographic of homelessness,” she said. “There are more families attending shelters and a lot of adults pointed out that it was their first experience being homeless. I think it shows how the economic downturn is affecting everyone.”

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By James Lomuscio

Fear of overdevelopment and the loss of a historic building clashed with revitalizing Westport’s downtown at a Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) public hearing at Town Hall Thursday night, as a local developer asked for a zone change on Church Lane.

Architect Mark Herter explains the new owners’s plans for the Church Lane property adjoining the Family Y. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com

Bedford Square Associates, of which David Waldman, Dan Zelson, Paul Brandes and Lance Sauertig are principals, is asking the P&Z to rezone the company’s property at 35 Church Lane from a restricted office retail district (RORD) to a business center district (BCD).

The proposed map amendment 639 to the Westport Zoning Map would permit residential, retail and restaurant development on the half-acre site known as the Gunn property.

The property, acquired last December by Bedford Square for $3.25 million, is also the site of a Queen Anne-style house built in 1893 which is listed on the town’s historic properties inventory. The developers said their plans call for the house to be razed.

By James Lomuscio

Westporter Michael Calise vowed tonight that he is going to pursue his case against the Planning and Zoning Commission’s (P&Z) affordable housing amendments despite a Stamford Superior Court judge’s ruling that Calise’s case “is without merit.”
Michael Calise addresses the RTM last December as the lead petitioner in an unsuccessful effort to overturn the P&Z action. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com

“My position is right and without bias, and I’m going to pursue this until I prevail,” Calise said about his opposition to text amendments 618 and 619 passed by the P&Z during a work session Nov. 1, 2010. (See WestportNow Nov. 10, 2010)

In his decision handed down Oct. 13, Judge David R. Tobin ruled that the suit did not “demonstrate that the text amendments unfairly singled out the plaintiff or his property to bear a disproportionate share of the burden of creating affordable housing in Westport.”

“Taken together, the text amendments were broad in scope and were designed to encourage affordable housing in many zones in the town,” Tobin wrote. “There is no evidence in the record to establish a claim for partial taking.”