A Westport garden center will be shifting its roots and making way for a mixed-use commercial and residential development.
Geiger”™s Garden Center on the corner of Morningside Drive North and Post Road is selling its 2.5-acre property and seeking a larger headquarters in Fairfield County.
The garden center, at 1135 Post Road E., also has a location in the town of Fairfield.
The buyer, Morning Glory L.L.C., was represented recently before the town Planning and Zoning Commission by Westport attorney Lawrence Weisman. Final terms of the sale have not been finalized or disclosed, though a contract has been signed between the two parties.
Weisman outlined a proposal for a mixed-use commercial and residential development. The property would be the first to take advantage of the newly passed Text Amendment 619, which allows mixed-use commercial and residential development along Post Road but requires 20 percent of the housing to be affordable.
“Our plan offers a lot to Westport; it”™s going to provide affordable housing and housing for young people and seniors who want to live in Westport,” said Weisman.
He said the plan includes a 10,000-square-foot commercial property and up to 14 two-bedroom apartments in a separate structure behind the commercial building. Three apartments would be set aside as affordable housing, he said.
In order for the project to move forward the property will have to be rezoned as a General Business District from a Business Preservation District.
According to the town Planning and Zoning Department, there is an appeal pending in Stamford Superior Court against the amendment by town resident Michael Calise.
Calise, who owns property at 215 Post Road W. within the Business Preservation District, unsuccessfully challenged the amendment when it was passed in December 2010.
It’s very exciting to see a mixed use development coming to Fairfild county. AS these types of developments expand and become more popular, our hope is that they will foster a greener, less stressful living space for their residents, and this new urbanism will lead to a higher standard of living for all.