By James Lomuscio
A proposed text amendment that seeks fewer required parking spaces for medical providers tonight got both support and push back from the Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) and members of the public.
Attorney Jackie Kaufman presented the amendment. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com
Attorney Jackie Kaufman representing 191 Real Estate LLC, ICP 191, presented amendment 764, which aims to modify the requirement for medical use from one space per 165 square feet, or six per 1,000 square feet, to one space per 200 square feet or five per 1,000 square feet.
Before the meeting, Planning and Zoning Director Mary Young came out in support of the amendment, calling it “ripe for consideration. She said he current requirement had not changed since 1981 and that Westport requires more parking for medical facilities than comparable communities.
Kaufman tonight ran with that comparison, stressing a business advantage to the amendment that “would allow Westport properties to compete on a similar playing field like other communities.”
“Medical space is a new opportunity for vacant spaces,” Kaufman said, adding that such use is “more recession resistant and typically have longer-term occupancy.”
Kaufman said the demand for medical services is expected accelerate over the next decade due to an aging population using Medicare. She said the amendment would allow “well over 150 providers in town to stay and grow in place.”
“This will breathe new life in the ability to stay in the building,” she said.
Though this was a first reading, the P&Z closed the matter by a vote of 5 to 1 and will vote on the amendment at a future date.
Commissioner Chip Stephens was the lone dissenter, asking that the matter be kept open until site visits were conducted at affected properties to avoid “unanticipated problems.”
Earlier, Stephens had voiced concerns that with fewer spaces there could be spillover parking into the surrounding areas.
He also took issue that the amendment would give a pass to new facilities whereas recent medical facilities that took up residence in town, such as one at 333 Post Road West, had to tear down some existing buildings to net parking spaces under the current regulations.
Stephens also had a problem with the fact the amendment was predicated on the needs of property owners, not patients.
“I’d like to see a little input from the AARP, the Senior Center and see how they feel about it,” he said.
Speaking as a member of the public, Dan Katz, who served on the P&Z during the 1980s and early 1990s, decried the amendment as “really nonsense.”
He added that if a landowner’s request for fewer parking spaces were to go before the Zoning Board of Appeals, “financial hardship cannot be a component.”
David Wright, applicant and owner of 191 LLC, spoke only briefly, countering Katz’s remarks, saying, “Financial hardship was not a motivation.”
Commercial Realtor Steve Crowley said Westport’s parking regulations for medical uses are “so onerous, they (medical facilities) had to move on to another town.”
Stephens’ motion to keep the matter open until a future meeting gained no support. It was countered by alternate Commissioner Neil Cohn, who moved to close the matter.
Cohn added that attracting more medical offices to Westport would “make it a more professional town.”
