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Planning board approves form lease for Latham Weider Community Center tenants
Summary
The Stamford Planning Board approved a standardized form lease the city will use with nonprofit tenants at the Latham Weider Community Center (34 Woodland Ave.), requiring future leases to be forwarded to the Board of Finance and including tenant insurance and 'take‑as‑is' provisions.
The Stamford Planning Board on Feb. 10 authorized a standardized form lease to be used with nonprofit tenants at the Latham Weider Community Center, 34 Woodland Avenue, clearing the way for individual tenant agreements to be executed without repeated board approval so long as the form remains preapproved.
Bridget Fox, a representative from the mayor’s office, told the board the center was closed in January 2025 after a water‑main break and has since been remediated and cosmetically improved. “We are now reopening the building with the tenants that you have listed joining as subtenants,” Fox said, noting the anticipated tenants are primarily youth‑serving nonprofits.
Assistant city counsel Cristela Salva outlined liability protections embedded in the draft form lease. “Each tenant will hold harmless and indemnify the city for any of their careless acts,” she said, and the city will require tenants to carry insurance certificates tailored to their use. Salva also pointed to a draft clause that requires tenants to accept the premises “as is” (identified in the draft as clause 22, page 7) and said structural or capital improvements would require approval from the city’s director of operations.
Board members asked how many tenants are expected. Fox said the city is in conversations with roughly eight groups but that the exact roster remains subject to final negotiations. A member asked whether the city retained liability exposure if a tenant’s property were damaged; Salva replied the lease shifts responsibility for tenant property loss to the tenant and explained the risk‑manager review that sets insurance levels.
Ravi moved to approve the form lease and Jeremy seconded. The board approved the measure by voice/hand vote, passing unanimously. Staff said they will circulate the draft transmittal letter to the mayor’s office and any minor tier adjustments to the capital budget when available.
The approval allows the city to proceed with executing tenant leases under the preapproved form; individual leases must be forwarded to the Board of Finance for information within 30 days of execution.
