Newtown Official Pleased About Westport Swing Set Setback Ruling

By John Voket

Newtown Land Use Director George Benson said this week he was pleased to hear zoning officials in neighboring Westport will keep options open when determining if extravagant residential swing sets or playscapes should be installed under the same guidelines as other outbuildings like sheds, workshops, or gazebos.

“It’s great to see this was settled on the side of common sense, instead of tying the hands of zoning enforcement officers over these structures,” Mr Benson said April 11, just a few days after Westport’s Planning and Zoning Commission unanimously rejected a proposal to ease regulations that require swing sets to sit at least 50 feet away from property lines.

Some homeowners say that applying the same standards to swing sets as to sheds and other structures is too draconian, and that hills and wetlands on some lawns limit where they can put the recreational equipment.

The regulation change was proposed by an attorney representing a Westport homeowner who is appealing in court after being ordered to move or dismantle his daughter’s swing set.

Zoning board commissioners there say they consider the regulation appropriate. They worry eliminating it could create noise, privacy problems, and aesthetic concerns.

Mr Benson said he hopes the outcome of the court decision sides with local zoners, because a decision in favor of the homeowner would create a precedent that would make it harder for other communities in Connecticut to selectively enforce setbacks when simple swing sets differ greatly from the sprawling playscapes, once only reserved for community parks, that are now a more common sight dotting the lawns of residential homes.

Today, such play sets might include huge twisty chutes, climbing walls, multiple ladders, hatches, and even clubhouses where one or more children can comfortably spend days or nights holed up camping or just enjoying the illusion of privacy in their own backyard.

These luxury playscapes can often cost upwards of $10,000 and feature forts, enclosed spiral slides, and the occasional turret or penthouse.

In late 2009, a resident complained that a neighbor’s wooden swing set was within 50 feet of the property line. Town officials upheld the complaint and ordered homeowner Cary Moskowitz to move it.

But Mr Moskowitz had no other suitable spot for it because of hills and wetlands on his property, so he asked the town for a zoning variance to let it stay — something Westport has granted to five homeowners and denied five others in the last decade.

Mr Moskowitz was among those denied, and rather than dismantling his 7-year-old daughter’s beloved swing set, he filed an appeal, which is pending in Bridgeport Superior Court.

His attorney, Joel Z. Green, said they have spotted dozens of nonconforming swing sets all over town since then and are just seeking fairness. Mr Green proposed the zoning rule change to resolve the lawsuit and to spare other homeowners from the situation Moskowitz family faces.

It is unclear whether last week’s decision by Westport zoners will have any sway on the court proceedings, and whether the town will appeal an unfavorable court ruling in the case.

“A lot of times, when these matters get to court, we hope that the judge will take common sense into consideration, as we try to do when matters like these come up between neighbors,” Mr Benson said. “The flexibility to rule on setbacks on a case-by-case basis is critical, and prevents zoning officials from having their hands tied by a court decision that is then used to defend similar cases in other communities,” Mr Benson said.