Property transfers as reported by the Town Clerk’s office for the period March 7-14, 2004:
Norton M. and Rosalind Luger to Stone Ridge Builders LLC, 9 Riverfield Drive, $400,000.
J. Brooks and Joyce Colburn to M & R Development LLC, 54 Maple Ave. South, $830,000.
MBMVest LLC to Frank J. and Arlene L. Avellanet, Lyons Plains Road, $97,500.
Tracey A. O’Connell to 190 Wilton Road Holdings LLC, 190 Wilton Road, $485,000.
Doc’s Cafe opened for business Tuesday at 570 Riverside Ave., three weeks after leaving its home in the former Peter’s Bridge Market. Owner Yvonne Dougherty, a Westport resident whose native Texas drawl is part of many Westporters’ morning routine, says her new 1,950-square foot space, a former garage, “is a dream come true.” Doc’s opens weekdays at 5:30 a.m. and serves coffee (gourmet and straight), tea, home-baked goods and fancy desserts. See additional photo on community page. (CLICK PHOTO TO ENLARGE) Emily Laux Roche for WestportNow.com
The Westport Representative Town Meeting (RTM) tonight initially by unanimous vote—and then with one member opposed—approved an appropriation of $150,000 to help clear up a backlog of building permits that led the town to seek a one-year postponement in implementing its controversial 2003 property assessment.
Several moments after the vote Helmut Krause, District 5, infomed the secretary he wished to go on record as opposed to the appropriation.
There was no objection to his request by his fellow members, who had to approve a change of vote after the fact. That changed the vote to 31-1 for approval.
Westport’s acting assessor has outlined steps his office will take to prevent future permit backlogs similar to the 1,700-permit backlog that has caused the town to seek a one-year delay in implementing its 2003 property assessment.
The memo from Kevin Murowsky was sent to members of the Representative Town Meeting (RTM) in advance of their meeting Tuesday at which they will consider a $150,000 request to hire a firm to help clear the backlog.
Murowsky is acting assessor in place of assessor Glenn Werfelman who was placed on 30-day leave Thursday for unspecified reasons by First Selectman Diane Goss Farrell. (See WestportNow March 4, 2004).
In his March 5 memo, which was addressed to Farrell, Murowsky said he would take the following steps:
Property transfers as reported by the Westport Town Clerk’s office for the period Feb. 23-27:
Seiler Lu E. to Terence J. Brannigan and Laurie Cizek, 1 Blue Coat Lane, $679,000.
Nicholas and Elisabeth R. Lombardo to Willys D. Devoll Jr., 2 Vineyard Lane, $672,500.
Brian Slater and Lourdes M. Fuentes to John A. and Jeffica Swanciger, 361 Wilton Road, $720,000.
Arturo Guillermo Massa and Maria A. Torti to Victor Teicher and Heidi Ann Liebermanvict, 81 Easton Road, $10,000.
Duskin Jasper to Christoper Kaminski and Valerie Vernay, 7 Sue Terrace, $569,000.
John J. and Patricia J. Horrigan to Linda M. Durakis and William R .Green, 27 Greenacre Lane, $905,000.
A revised 2003 Westport property assessment list was completed over the weekend and notices went out today to about 900 residents informing them whether any changes were made in their property’s valuation, according to Assessor Glenn Werfelman.
“I signed off on it Saturday in the Town Clerk’s office,” he said, completing a review of assessments that had sparked controversy since the original list was published in mid-January.
Werfelman said “900 plus or minus” notices were sent to all residents who had raised issues with J. F. Ryan Associates, the firm hired to do the assessment. The list contains more than 10,000 properties.
He said notices also were sent to those whose assessments had changed, up or down, as a result of the review but who did not personally come forward.
Property transfers as reported by the Westport Town Clerk’s office for the period Feb. 16-20, 2004:
Kimberly M. Hynes to Christopher M. and Carla P. Baylis, 17 Davenport Ave., $550,000.
Leon C Hirsch to R. and J. At Michele Lane LLC, 1 Ford Road/Michele Lane, $865,000,
Leonard and Sara Beth Egol to Lisa and Franklin Canosa, 3 Sandy Hill Terrace, $739,000.
A survey by Coldwell Banker Real Estate Corp. found Westport ranked 22nd in the nation last year in the sale of luxury homes valued at $1 million or more.
An announcement said Westport sales in the category for the company totaled $172.3 million.
The only other Connecticut community in the top 75 was Greenwich at No. 31 with $153.18 million.
In 2003, Coldwell Banker affiliates sold 13,816 luxury homes priced over $1 million, up 24 percent from 2002, the company said.
Los Angeles led the list with $629 million in luxury sales, followed by San Francisco, Malibu, Newport Beach, Pacific Palisades, and Santa Monica.
California towns and cities accounted for 18 of the 25 top luxury home markets on the list. Only Boca Raton, Fla., Boston, and Chicago among non-California locations bested Westport.
Full text of the news release is available here.
Property transfers as reported by the Westport Town Clerk’s office for the period Feb. 9-13, 2004.
Theodore Krieger to Ilse Stephanie Krieger, 164 Long Lots Road, trusteee deed, $267,000.
Theodore Krieger to Ilse Stephanie Krieger, 164 Long Lots Road, quit claim, $267,000.
John W Schoenfeldt Jr. to John E Clark Jr., 167 North Ave, admin deed, $175,000.
Estate of Claire L. Clark to John E. Clark Jr., 167 North Ave., $575,000.
James S. Davidson and Lyn M. McHugh to Lawrence E. Janes and John W. Williams Jr., 64 Bayberrry Lane, $785,000.
The Westport Board of Finance today approved a special $150,000 appropriation to help clear a backlog of building permit work in the assessor’s office that could yield the town as much as $2 million in additional tax revenue.
But approval came only after intense questioning of Assessor Glenn Werfelman and his assistant, Kevin Murowsky, produced the revelation that the backlog problem had existed for at least five years.
First Selectwoman Diane Goss Farrell earlier in the day had told her weekly citizens brown bag luncheon, which was largely devoted to complaints about the 2003 property revaluation, that she had only learned of the backlog difficulty a week ago.
She said the permit backlog problem was “separate and distinct” from what the J. F. Ryan firm was doing in carrying out the revaluation.
Enter your email address to get WestportNow.com delivered to your inbox:
Powered by FeedBlitz
Support a classroom.
Build a future.
Suggest a Westport-area blog by sending email to: editor@westportnow.com
