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The What

The What: This Week in Coastal Connecticut

The What is your look around southwest Connecticut for the week of June 6.

The What: This Week in Coastal Connecticut
Happy first full week of June! Photo by Kelly Prinz.

Monday, June 6

Apologies for the delay in sending The What this week! It was a busy weekend for the founders of Coastal Connecticut Times and we were a little behind schedule.

ICYMI: We did a full series on the mental health crisis in southwest Connecticut and how providers are trying to meet the needs of the community. Across the state, a battle over putting a mental health clinic in schools in Killingly, Connecticut has been taking place. The Connecticut Mirror has documented the issue for the last few months and this past weekend, The New York Times published its own piece on the debate.

Now let’s take a look at what’s happening across our area this week.

Stamford

The Zoning Board will meet on Monday, June 6 at 6:30 p.m. Members of the public can continue to weigh in on the proposal from First National Joint Venture, LLC and Canal Street Fund LLC to build 401 apartments, ground floor retail space, amenity spaces, and 429 parking spaces at Canal and John Streets. There will also be a public hearing on the Housing Authority’s plan to redevelop the existing Oak Park property to create larger units with more amenities and improved drainage infrastructure. The redevelopment also proposes to improve onsite parking ratios, streetscapes, and usable open spaces. The new development will maintain the 166 apartments that currently exist at the site.

The Board of Finance will vote on Thursday, June 9 at 7 p.m. on an agreement for Crescent Housing Partners LLC to purchase 35 Crescent Street and redevelop it as affordable housing. The Board will also hear a presentation from Sustainable Strategies, a lobbying firm, on federal funds the city could apply for in the next few years, and vote on a $120,000 contract with the company for federal lobbying services.

Other meetings this week include

Norwalk

The Common Council is hosting a special meeting on Monday, June 6 at 7:30 p.m. to approve “any and all agreements” related to the purchase of 1 Meadow Street Ext., which the city is planning to use as a home for its new South Norwalk School. The council will also vote to increase the overall projected budget for the project to $76 million.

Other meetings this week include

Fairfield

The Affordable Housing Committee will meet on Wednesday, June 8 at 7 p.m. to discuss the next steps for implementing the affordable housing plan, now that it's been approved by the Board of Selectmen. The committee will also review and discuss town properties that could be potential affordable housing sites.

On Monday, the Charter Revision Commission held a special meeting to discuss the public hearing sessions on the proposed changes to the Fairfield charter and planned to vote to transmit the updated charter to the Board of Selectmen. The Board of Selectmen will host one final public hearing on the revisions before the board votes on the recommendations. The revisions would then be placed on the ballot for the November election for the voters to decide.

Some of the proposed revisions include:

  • Reorganizing the charter itself to make it more user-friendly and readable
  • Keeping its existing form of government, but reducing the number of Representative Town Meeting members from 40 to 30 members. It would also add a minority party representation requirement that other Town boards and commissions follow. This means that no more than 2/3 of the representatives from a district can come from the same political party.
  • Adjusting the budget process so the committees of the Board of Selectmen, Board of Finance and Representative Town Meeting can have joint budget hearings to allow for discussions among elected officials and ideally, cut down on repetitive questions.
  • Requiring a five-year capital improvement plan for the town.

First Selectwoman Brenda Kupchick outlined all of them in her newsletter.

Other meetings this week include

Greenwich

The Planning & Zoning Commission will meet on Tuesday, June 7 at 4 p.m. and host a public hearing on Greenwich Communities’ plan to construct 52 one-bedroom apartments of senior independent living at the McKinney Terrace campus, which is located at Western Junior Highway and Vinci Drive.

Other meetings this week include

  • Monday, June 6: FS Re-Imagine Greenwich at 3 p.m.
  • Monday, June 6: Representative Town Meeting Committees: Education Committee at 7:30 p.m. | Finance Committee at 7:30 p.m. | Legislative & Rules Committee at 7:30 p.m. | Public Works Committee at 7:30 p.m. | Land Use Committee at 7:45 p.m.
  • Tuesday, June 7: Planning and Zoning Commission Executive Session at 9 a.m.
  • Tuesday, June 7: Representative Town Meeting Committees:  Health & Human Services Committee at 7:30 p.m. | Town Services Committee at 7:30 p.m. | Transportation Committee at 7:30 p.m. | Parks & Recreation Committee at 8 p.m.
  • Thursday, June 9: Board of Selectmen at 10 a.m. | Board of Selectmen Special at 11 a.m.

Darien

The Board of Selectmen is hosting a special meeting on Thursday, June 9 at 7 p.m.  which will feature a presentation on the proposed purchase of Great Island. There will also be an opportunity for the public to weigh in on the proposal at that meeting.

Other meetings this week include

Westport

The Planning and Zoning Commission Affordable Housing Subcommittee will be meeting on Wednesday, June 8 at 12 p.m. to discuss the town’s five-year proposed affordable housing plan. Some of the proposed action items in the plan include:

  • Creating a new affordable community designed specifically for families on land located in Greens Farms (note: The town has already committed ARPA funds to do a feasibility study and preliminary work at this site.)
  • Forming an affordable housing trust fund
  • Deed restricting existing town-owned rental properties so that they remain affordable
  • Developing plans to potentially build affordable housing on town-owned sites and/or renovate existing housing there to meet the needs of the community.
  • Exploring the creation of “pocket neighborhoods,” which are described in the plan as small cottage/small home clusters.

Members of the community can continue to provide feedback through this survey, which is open until June 23.  

Other meetings this week include

Please note: All of these agendas and information here are current as of Monday morning. Meeting times and agendas may get adjusted throughout the week.

Thank you for reading!

Coastal Connecticut Times will be out on the road soon to meet with community members. If there’s an event, meeting, group, or fair you think we should be at, shoot us an email at coastalconnecticuttimes@gmail.com. We’d love to start meeting many of you in person.

Hope you all have a safe and healthy week, and as always, feel free to leave us some feedback using this short survey, which will help inform our work.

Have a great week,

Kelly Prinz

Founder, Reporter at Coastal Connecticut Times

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