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The What

The What: This Week in Southwest Connecticut

The What is your look around southwest Connecticut for the week of April 8.

The What: This Week in Southwest Connecticut
Have a great week—temperatures are starting to look like spring this week! (Photo by Kelly Prinz)

Monday, April 8

Happy Monday and happy solar eclipse day! While Connecticut isn’t in the path of totality, Connecticut Public has a piece that features the best times to see the eclipse here and some events happening for those of you interested in checking it out. 

This week, we continued our All Aboard: In and Around Train Stations series, with a look at the Fairfield Metro—soon to be Fairfield–Black Rock—Station. 

It’s the newest train station to come to southwest Connecticut, and it’s also at the heart of Fairfield's plans to create “a cohesive, distinctive district that enhances the Town’s tax base.”

When the station debuted in 2011, it was intended to help “encourage the use of mass transit,” in both Fairfield and neighboring Bridgeport. Because the full-service station is located between the two municipalities, state and local officials announced in March that its new name will be the Fairfield–Black Rock Station. 

“The name change will more clearly indicate to the public the communities being served by rail service,” a statement from CTDOT said. “Along with the name change, additional pedestrian safety improvements will soon be underway at the station.”

Those improvements come at a time when the area around the station is seeing more development, which is part of the town’s plans for this part of Fairfield. In 2019, the town completed a Transit Oriented Development study that looked at the area around Fairfield Metro and Fairfield stations. 

“At Fairfield Metro, transit-oriented development could transform the station area into a mixed-use neighborhood,” the study noted. “Walkable multifamily residential and mixed-use development can create a cohesive, distinctive district that enhances the Town’s tax base.” 

Now some of that development is coming to fruition. 

Learn more about what’s happening around Fairfield Metro or check out our video highlighting the area.

Let’s see what else is happening around the region—it’s looking like a busy week!

Stamford

Budget reviews continue this week with multiple meetings including:

Other meetings this week include: 

Norwalk

The Common Council will meet on Tuesday, April 9 at 7:30 p.m. and vote on the 2024-2025 capital budget, which is the money the city will bond to cover expenses, usually around infrastructure and construction. It will also receive a presentation on the Board of Estimate and Taxation’s approved operating budget. Check out our piece in NancyonNorwalk to learn more about the budget. 

Other meetings this week include: 

Fairfield

There will be the first Representative Town Meeting Budget Hearing on Monday, April 8 at 7 p.m. 

The Town Plan and Zoning Commission will meet on Tuesday, April 9 at 6:30 p.m. and vote on a proposed settlement between the commission and Berkeley Road, LLC. in which, as part of the settlement the Commission will consider approving the Zoning Compliance application for a 40-unit residential development under Section 8-30g of the CT General Statutes. This section allows for developments to avoid certain local zoning requirements, so long as the proposal has 30% affordable housing and it only applies to towns that have less than 10% of their housing stock deemed affordable.

Other meetings this week include:

Greenwich

It’s a busy week in Greenwich, with public meetings for multiple state and local projects. 

On Wednesday, April 10 at 6 p.m., there will be a Traffic & Pedestrian Safety Community Input Meeting for Cos Cob (RTM Districts 2 and 8). This is part of the town’s initiative to” gain valuable community feedback on traffic and pedestrian safety.”

On Tuesday, April 9 at 7 p.m. there will be a Cos Cob Railroad Bridge Public Meeting hosted by the Connecticut Department of Transportation on the mechanical and electrical rehabilitation of the Cos Cob Railroad Bridge, which carries four Metro-North tracks over the Mianus River.

“The proposed project includes refurbishment and partial replacement of machinery that is responsible for lifting and lowering the bridge,” according to CTDOT. “The project further proposes to replace the systems that lock the bridge in place when it is in the closed position.”

And finally, at the Board of Selectmen meeting on Thursday, April 11 at 10 a.m., the board will hear from Greenwich Communities’ Executive Director Tony Johnson and its Board Chair Sam Romeo. According to First Selectman Fred Camillo, they will “discuss the Town’s obligations under the 8-30g law and how Greenwich Communities has been and will continue to be a huge help to us.”

Other meetings this week include:

Darien

The Board of Finance will meet on Tuesday, April 9 at 7:30 p.m. at which time it’s expected to take a final vote on the budget for 2024-2025. Take a preliminary look at budgets from across the region. 

Other meetings this week include:

Westport

Two boards will continue reviewing and discussing plans related to the Parker Harding and Jesup Green Municipal Parking Lots. The Planning and Zoning Commission will continue its review of the project that includes “expanding the parking adjacent to Jesup Green and transforming the Parker Harding parking lot layout… and adding public waterfront access to the Saugatuck River” on Monday, April 8 at 7 p.m. The Representative Town Meeting will meet on Tuesday, April 9 at 7:30 p.m. and vote on spending $630,000 of American Rescue Plan Act funding on this plan.

Other meetings this week include:

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

Thank you for reading! As a reminder, we will be off next week!

If you are interested in being a part of our reporting or just want to share your thoughts, please reach out at coastalconnecticuttimes@gmail.com. 

Have a great week,

Kelly Prinz

Founder, Reporter at Coastal Connecticut Times

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