Two committees of Westport’s Representative Town Meeting advised on Sept. 15 against joining the Connecticut Municipal Development Agency, a new state agency, the Westport Journal reported.
The RTM’s Planning and Zoning Committee voted 5-2 against joining. Its Transit Committee voted 4-1 against, although it did not have a quorum. Committee votes are recommendations to the full Representative Town Meeting.
“We don’t want to be guinea pigs,” RTM member Matthew Mandell said.
The votes were not unanimous. “Saugatuck is happening to us no matter what,” RTM member Kristin Purcell said during the debate.
Why Saugatuck came up
The vote landed one day after the Planning and Zoning Commission voted 6-0 to eliminate the Saugatuck Marina zone and rezone 14 Saugatuck Center properties for smaller development. Spinnaker Real Estate Partners bought most of the former Hamlet site near the train station in March and has proposed a 165-unit residential development on Riverside Avenue.
The state’s 2025 housing law, Public Act 25-1, already reaches into local zoning in ways Westport has had to accommodate, from parking minimums to streamlined review for small multifamily buildings near transit and on commercial lots. Our explainer on the law covers what changed and how the town rewrote its rules in July.
What comes next
The committee recommendations go to the full RTM. The town is also starting work on a new Plan of Conservation and Development, due in October 2027, which will set the long-range direction for Saugatuck and the town’s other commercial districts.
Sources
- Westport Journal, RTM committees advise against joining development agency, Sept. 16, 2026
- Westport Journal, P&Z eliminates Saugatuck Marina zone, Sept. 15, 2026
- Westport Journal, Spinnaker buys most of former Hamlet site in Westport, March 27, 2026
