Westport’s Representative Town Meeting (RTM) tonight approved an ordinance which would allow a 180-day delay on demolition of homes deemed to have historic value.
Proponents hailed the measure as helping to preserve Westport’s character while a few RTM members voiced concerns that a six-month delay could impose a hardship on a homeowner anxious to sell.
Maggie Feczko, chair of the Westport Historic District Commission, said it was urgent to pass the ordinance because she said Westport has more teardowns per capita than any other community in Connecticut.
She said the commission maintains an inventory of historic homes and while admittedly incomplete, it does provide guidance to residents seeking information about whether their property is historic.
Supporters of the ordinance, which had been authorized by state statute, said extending the current 90-day delay to 180 days would give more time for a buyer to find someone who might preserve a property rather than tear it down.
Feczko said while the ordinance permits a 180-day delay in demolition of a house more than 50 years old, the commission has the ability to waive the delay period and does so in most cases.
In other action, a “sense of the meeting” resolution urging town departments and school administrators to enhance efforts to reduce energy costs and report detailed energy use by Sept. 30 was withdrawn by its two RTM sponsors.
The withdrawal of the nonbinding resolution followed a lengthy discussion in which town and school officials outlined conservation efforts already under way and said they were already keeping detailed records of energy use.
Several members suggested that energy use figures and costs be broken out separately in the annual budget.
The RTM also approved $188,000 to repoint the bricks at Greens Farms Elementary School. During the debate, several members expressed concern that the appropriation was being bonded rather than paid out of operating funds.
John Kondub, whose appointment as Finance Director was announced to the RTM at the start of the meeting by First Selectman Gordon Joseloff, said bonding was appropriate as the repointing was a capital project expected to last 15-20 years.
