Commission tables Spinnaker plan for 108 Water Street after preliminary technical questions

Spinnaker Acquisitions asked the Norwalk Harbor Management Commission on July 22 to find its proposal at 108 Water Street consistent with the city's harbor management plan; commissioners voted to table the consistency determination until the commission can review DEEP comments and additional technical details. The project team described a mixed‑use development on about 2.72 acres in the marine commercial zone on the water side of Water Street that would add a boardwalk, approximately 14 proposed boat slips (final number subject to DEEP approval), a public realm of roughly 1 acre, office space, retail and 59 residential units. The applicants said the site currently provides no public waterfront access and lacks formal drainage systems, and that the redevelopment would add public access, green space and stormwater improvements. Developer Adam Blank said the ownership is a joint venture with the Gersten family and described the applicant's goals: "We're creating public access to the waterfront, and we're promoting sustainable economic growth on an underutilized site," and added the team would seek as many slips as DEEP permits. Project architect Silan Pathanga said the design emphasizes permeability from Water Street to the waterfront, a grand stair entry, a continuous boardwalk and a series of elevated building levels to meet flood requirements. Engineer Vincent Hines said the existing site is largely paved or compacted gravel with no formal drainage and described proposed mitigation: a decrease in impervious coverage of about 12,000 square feet; roughly 11,650 square feet of green roof; and two underground infiltration systems that would treat the majority of on‑site runoff. Hines said the systems are sized to reduce runoff volumes and peak flows, and that, when combined with permeable surfaces, the plan would treat about 79% of the site area. Coastal engineer Azure Desleiter said the shoreline contains irregular, deteriorated structures and the applicant proposes a new straightened sheet‑pile bulkhead landward of the existing irregular condition. She said docks were sited to avoid the federal navigation channel and that the team identified a configuration of floats and slips that they believe will not require dredging. Commissioners and other participants repeatedly pressed the team about flood resilience and coordination with city drainage projects. Hines said the lower garage elevation has been designed to Elevation 9 to match recommendations in the city's Resilient South Norwalk report and that the team planned a meeting with the Department of Public Works to discuss a potential backflow preventer at the 130 Water Street discharge that could reduce tidal backflow into the storm system. Concerns raised included the loss of existing on‑site marine services: Deputy Harbormaster Owen (last name not specified) and others noted the site currently supports boat storage, hazardous‑materials staging for island residents and storage of fireworks for city events. Ownership acknowledged they expect some relocation of existing users and that site remediation will likely be required; Henry Conroy of Spinnaker said "we anticipate we'll have to clean up some soil, do some additional testing prior to beginning full construction activities." After discussion, Commissioner Jeff Mangels (vice chair) and others said they would like to see DEEP's written comments before making a finding. The commission voted to table the application until the next month so the team can submit to DEEP and return with any DEEP comments and further detail about flood‑risk mitigation, dredging/dredge avoidance, boat slip counts and relocation plans for existing marine businesses. The tabling is procedural: the commission did not reject the project but postponed a formal consistency determination pending additional technical review and DEEP feedback. The project team said they plan to submit a pre‑application to DEEP within four to six weeks and to return to the commission with those materials.