House lots possible on Devol Pond shore

Family seeks Westport planners’ input on seven-lot proposal

By Bruce Burdett
Posted 10/24/19

WESTPORT — A preliminary proposal to develop house lots along the west shore of Devol Pond south of Route 177 in Westport went before the Planning Board late last month.

The purpose of the …

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House lots possible on Devol Pond shore

Family seeks Westport planners’ input on seven-lot proposal

Posted

WESTPORT — A preliminary proposal to develop house lots along the west shore of Devol Pond south of Route 177 in Westport went before the Planning Board late last month.

The purpose of the pre-application hearing was to get early Planning Board reaction to the ideas and the board did offer some reactions.

Steve Gioso of Sitech Engineering, speaking for the landowners, said the land had been owned and cared for by the late Sidney Kaplan and now his heirs are trying to decide what to do with the property.

While the land could support division into 14 or more lots as a conventional subdivision, he said, their present preference is to divide it into seven long lots, each running from Devol Pond Drive east down to the pond shore.

The idea, he said, is to provide some revenue from selling the lots while preserving a good portion of the land.

He said they intend to provide a 40-foot right of way at the top of the property along private Devol Pond Drive and would also require nitrogen removal septic systems set well back from the pond.

Asked if the property owners might be able to put docks on the pond, Mr. Gioso said that docks might be feasible on some of the properties. Several lots, however, have sizable protected wetland areas by the pond’s edge where restrictions might prevent a dock.

Several board members said they hope the owners would consider language of some sort to prevent owners from clear cutting their lots and transforming them from forest to “lawns clear down to the water.”

Lawns, with maximum fertilizer, would defeat any benefits from nitrogen removal septic systems, said board member John Bullard, and, “That’s it for Devol Pond.”

“We don’t want to see the forest that was so important to the Kaplan family destroyed” and don’t want clearcutting or a checkerboard effect,” he said.

“If this results in 28 acres of clear-cutting, you’ve lost us.”

Board Chairman James Whitin said that it is his experience that placing restrictions on what can be done with lots increases their value because it gives the abutters comfort over what could happen next door.

Mr. Gioso said he would discuss that with the owners and suspects they would be supportive of some sort of limits.

The engineer also said that the lightly used private gravel road might have to be widened to 20 feet to allow space alongside fire engines and other emergency equipment.

But Mr. Bullard hoped that might not be required, at least for the entire length. He said he dislikes the notion of “taking down stone walls that have been there for 200 years, trees that have been there for a couple hundred years … You’d be giving up everything that you’ve been fighting for. I’m very concerned about preserving the character of the road.”

“I’ve been down to this site and that is a very pretty roadway” with stone walls and trees, Mr. Whitin said.

Mr. Gioso thanked the board for its input. No date has been set for presentation of a formal application.

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