Two-decade Westport project fight rages on in court

Twenty years has not proven to be enough for Summit Development to build anew on Hiawatha Lane, where neighbors and the town of Westport have clashed at every turn.

The proposal at 31 Hiawatha Lane was back this week in the court as an attorney for neighbors argued that the project was now allowable on the site, CT Post reported. The latest lawsuit comes two years after Summit settled a dispute with the town, which should’ve allowed the 157-unit multifamily project to go forward.

In the eyes of the neighbors, there is a common plan in place that blocks the development on the lots from anything besides single-family homes. It’s the same argument they made last year, claiming only one single-family home can be built on each available lot.

The defendants have cried foul, saying such a plan does not exist. A court even agreed, leading the neighbors to appeal in July. An attorney for the plaintiffs say the court didn’t address the claim that a common plan was created within the subdivision lots in the development zone.

There was a map created in the 1950s, that identifies 22 lots in Norwalk and Westport, half of which are in the latter and restricted to single-family homes as of the 1960s, according to a brief from the plaintiffs. Their attorney argued the restrictions are “enforceable by the individual lot owners who acquired land on Hiawatha Lane.”

The developer’s attorney pushed back on that point. Tim Hollister said a uniform common plan would apply to an entity that owned all of the lots in question, which doesn’t apply to Summit. Hollister further claimed there were seven reasons the appeal was without merit.

The Village at Saugatuck in the Hiawatha Lane Extension section of the town remains in limbo as the case drags on without a date for the next hearing. Even though houses have already been demolished to make way for the project, it’s been halted while the case plays out.

— Holden Walter-Warner