Appeal filed over Stamford’s OK for boatyard development

Soundkeeper, a Long Island Sound nonprofit preservation group, has filed an appeal of the Stamford Zoning Board”™s decision last week to go forward with Building and Land Technology”™s (BLT) announced Davenport Landing Boatyard development.

In its 5-0 decision, the zoning board essentially agreed to allow BLT to develop and construct facilities beyond a boatyard. The appeal, filed in state Superior Court, alleges that the board acted “illegally, arbitrarily, capriciously ”¦ and in violation of its own regulations and applicable state statutes” in approving the BLT plan.

“While I cannot comment on the pending appeal, Stamford”™s Zoning Board put in significant hours over several years diligently reviewing this and other related applications made by BLT,” said Stamford Mayor David Martin. “The citizens of Stamford should be confident that the Zoning Board exhaustively researched and conducted detailed deliberations before reaching a unanimous decision. We should thank them for their service.

“This has been a contentious issue with many concerns from special interests,” Martin added. “The proposal, approved unanimously by the Zoning Board, isn”™t perfect; no compromise is. However after five years, the approved plan is viable. The harbor needs a working boatyard and we must move forward.”