A sound not heard in more than three years echoed through the Town Hall Annex Wednesday after members of the historical commission unanimously approved a long-contested home improvement project at 2015 Main Road — applause from both sides.

Bringing to a close three years of acrimony, local stop work orders and a court case in Superior Court, commission members approved all but a few ancillary details of an ambitious building project begun by homeowner Robert Branca in 2023 but shut down by the commission soon after. Those few odds and ends left — the design of a pergola, lighting and a grilling station — can be dealt with later as drawings become available, members said. The rest are shovel-ready.

“It’s congruous with the neighborhood,” member Deborah Ciolfi said of a new plan for the property introduced Wednesday. “I think it looks great.”

“The difference between where you were vs. here, it’s awesome,” added member Katrina Strozik. “We are all moving forward in incredible good faith at this point and everybody wants it to work.”

Following approval of the most recent plans for the property, board members also voted to rescind two stop work orders they filed in the fall of 2023, allowing construction on the property to resume.

Though the work began three years ago after Branca received two building permits from the Town of Westport building department, commission members ordered it stopped soon after and claimed those permits should never have been issued as commissioners had not vetted the project as required. Months after commissioners filed stop work orders, Branca appealed to the state Superior Court.

The project, to install a pool, retaining walls and a series of other features at Branca's waterfront Westport Point home, was criticized by neighbors and commission members as not fitting with the neighborhood, and residents worried about sight lines, the size of the pool and retaining wall structures, and other design elements.

But over the past several months Branca and neighborhood intervenors started working together on compromises they hoped would satisfy both sides. The resulting design, shown Wednesday, drew praise from commission members who said they were happy that it attempts to soften lines, hides the pool from the water and aesthetically mirrors the greater home property.

Neighbors agreed. Though he said he only spoke for himself, intervenor John Moriarty of 1933 Main Road said the changes satisfy the concerns he once had.

“As intervenors, we feel that this rendition is in complete compliance with what we had agreed to,” he said. “In fact, candidly, it seems much better ... than where we were. So we support this; or, I support this.”

Branca, who clapped along with the rest of the audience as the approval came down, said he is anxious to restart work on the project after three years of legal procedures and architectrual work.

“I think you can rest assured I don’t want to waste any money,” he joked.