Planning commission approves 108 Water Street mixed-use project with conditions, including backflow work

The Norwalk Planning and Zoning Commission voted to approve a coastal site plan for a 4½‑story mixed‑use development at 108 Water Street that includes office space, apartments, a restaurant, a boardwalk and up to 14 boat slips, subject to conditions including public access easements, streetscape modifications and coordination on a backflow preventer at an existing outfall. The applicant, Spinnaker Acquisitions (a contract purchaser working with the Gersten family), presented the project at a public hearing and revised conditions based on staff and departmental comments before the vote. The commission’s action followed lengthy technical presentations on site engineering, coastal structures, stormwater treatment, parking and traffic, and architecture. Applicant and project team members described site changes intended to reduce stormwater runoff and improve water quality, to provide over 1 acre of public realm and boardwalk access to the harbor, and to place habitable floor elevations above local and FEMA base flood elevations. Commissioners and several public speakers pressed the applicant on flood preparedness, pedestrian access to the boardwalk, the displacement of an existing waterfront operator, and guarantees for long‑term public access. Why it matters: the site is in the Marine Commercial (CAM) zone and in the AE/VE flood overlay. The project replaces an existing boat‑storage yard that currently offers no public waterfront access. The development team proposed public realm, a substantial…