By Thane Grauel

WESTPORT — A plan to build 14 houses on a portion of the Glendinning Place office complex has neighbors and Conservation Director Collin Kelly concerned.

The 16-acre property, formerly home to hedge fund Bridgewater Associates, was sold in September to Glendinning Westport LLC for $10.6 million.

Under the new owner’s application to the Planning and Zoning Commission, 10 of the homes would be sold at market rates, and four would be deed restricted as affordable under state criteria.

The houses would be built on a 3-plus-acre portion of the property at its northern end. The project will need a text amendment to the town’s Design Development District regulations, which currently apply to the corporate campus.

One of the principals of Glendinning Westport LLC is David Waldman of David Adam Realty in Westport. With partners, he developed Bedford Square and the Bankside House condos on Wilton Road.

“This is truly a one of kind, never to be replicated property which we are all very proud be working on,” Waldman told the Westport Journal in September. “The property provides a rich and colorful history and quality pedigree. We are excited to take it to the next level and bring it to market.”

Three weeks after the application was filed, Conservation Director Colin Kelly submitted a memo detailing concerns.

“The Conservation Department is concerned with the proposed plan’s management of onsite subsurface sewage disposal systems (i.e., septic systems),” Kelly wrote. “As noted in your transmittal, the anticipated flow of effluent from the 14 proposed 3-bed residences, coupled with the existing office flow, will exceed 7,500 gallons a day. Exceeding 7,500 gallons per day requires approval from CT DEEP Subsurface Sewage Disposal Program. Conservation Department staff would hope to see review from the DEEP and what specific system requirements will be required in order to review potential impacts to onsite watercourses and inland wetlands.”

Seven neighbors so far also have submitted letters expressing concern.

An eighth letter, from the Aspetuck Land Trust, does not take a stand, but details, at length, the environmental importance of the area, and urges caution. The land trust protects several properties bordering the site.

“Of paramount concern is the protection of surface and ground water quality, as the site lies at the confluence of three separate drainages — the Aspetuck River, the Saugatuck River, and the West Branch of the Saugatuck River,” wrote David Brant, executive director of the land trust.

Neighbor Adam Frey of West Branch Road worried about the environmental effects.

“The developers propose to add to the flood zone and protected water supply area additional septic systems to accommodate the 14 new homes, with the potential of leakage or other damage to the water supply, wetlands, and/or river,” he wrote.

“Moreover, the additional septic systems — when added to the existing system for the office building currently on the property — would exceed the allowed flow of 7,500 gallons/day and require review and approval by the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection,” he continued. “Amazingly, the developer’s solution is to subdivide the residential development from the office building so that neither lot exceeds the allowed flow. But of course this is a simple shell game, since the total septic flow for the entire property would remain the same.”

Barbara La Joie and Ken Smart of Sipperleys Hill Road cited several concerns.

“Open space is at a premium and it is prudent to do what we cant to preserve what little open space still exists in Fairfield County … ” they wrote. “I advocate for embracing the chance to preserve open space and pass on developing this property. The impact of reducing current open space and replacing it with 14 homes will result in traffic congestion and water runoff while make the Lois Shine Preserve less effective as a harbor for honeybees who fertilize our plants and foxes who hunt mice responsible for the spread of Lyme disease.”

“Certainly, the four affordable housing units proposed are of value,” they wrote. “If there is no other place for the affordable housing units to be built, build them here. But take the remaining 10 off the plan.”

“This proposed text amendment represents a huge departure rom prior treatment of the ecologically significant DDD No. 4 and stretches well beyond the permissive regulations that Westport has put in in place to encourage development of affordable housing,” Jennifer DeLeonardo of West Branch Road wrote.

“It seeks to write into the Westport zoning regulations a highly specific and defined development plan that has not yet passed muster with the governmental health authorities or environmental agencies.”

Mark and Joan Norbom of Pan Handle Lane worried that word of the project hadn’t reached the public.

“This project appears to be ill-thought, under communicated, motivated solely by commercial interests and will potentially create damage to the environment and quality of life that we value, and the zone designations were designed to protect,” they wrote. “The text amendment would open a can of worms for others to design projects that meet the minimum standards of the revised text, so they benefit the commercially with little regard to the environment or other factors considered by us when we chose Westport as our home.”

Ralph Sharkis of West Branch Road wrote that the application was rushed and the community has not been made aware of its impact on the environment.

“The community is extremely upset about dense construction being proposed adjacent to one our few designated open spaces in town and these other special areas,” he wrote. “Designated open space no longer feels like true open woods is you are next to 14 homes on less than four acres.”

Maura Mitchell of West Branch Road wrote that she and her husband have lived in their home 25 years, and that they are the closest abutter to the proposed development.

“I think the Conservation Department memo clearly articulated the impact this could have on the environment, especially water quality,” she wrote. “This property is one of only five in Westport given this environmentally sensitive designation. I don’t see any good reason to change it.”

Becky Ruthven of Pan Handle Lane worried about a specific zone created to protect fragile environments.

“The reasons then were to carve out and hold from normal development, large pieces of land that could be designed for corporate uses while also saving a large part of the parcel from residential development, sometimes because it was environmentally fragile, while helping to create a corporate tax base for the town …” she wrote.

“I am concerned that a Pandora’s box may be opened, and ask that you proceed very cautiously, especially considering the wetlands and river that encompass this property.”

The corporate campus was created in the 1960s by Ralph Glendinning, and later was home to the world’s largest hedge fund, Bridgewater Associates, which has since moved to Nyala Farms.

Waldman said the 48,000-square-foot office building on the property would be transformed into a “premier” multi-tenant facility.

The P&Z is to meet at 7 p.m. Dec. 4. The agenda is not yet posted.

Thane Grauel grew up in Westport and has been a journalist in Fairfield County and beyond for 35 years. Reach him at [email protected]. Learn more about us here.