"The viable future is an operator who comes in with a really site-specific plan and concept that's less seasonal in nature, more year-round in offering." Ian Warburg said that to the Westport Journal in mid-September. He is co-founder of Soundview Empowerment Alliance, the nonprofit that owns the 107-year-old Old Mill Grocery & Deli building at 222 Hillspoint Road. Two weeks later the market went dark. Romanacci, which ran it for three years, held a farewell night on September 29 with food and drinks for dozens of friends and customers.
The timing tells you what the next operator has to solve. Old Mill's next tenant will be judged on months like this one, when Compo belongs to dog walkers and the summer lots stop asking for emblems. Down the road at Longshore, the town's long-term operator has just finished a year-long renovation built around that same problem. On Monday night, the Planning & Zoning Commission takes up the rules that will shape what Old Mill can become.
The shoreline Old Mill has to sell to after September 30
October changes the rules along the water. Dogs came back to Compo Beach on October 1 and have it for the next six months. They must be leashed except in the off-leash area south of the pavilion, which includes South Beach. They are not allowed in the pavilion, on the playground or on the walkways, and failing to pick up after a dog carries a $77 fine.
Getting to the water also costs nothing now. The town's beach emblem season ran from May 1 to September 30. Compo stays open all year, but parking fees and the pass requirement apply only during that window. At Longshore, Lots C and D and the marina's Lot E require emblems only from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day.
| Shoreline fixture | Status as of early October 2026 |
|---|---|
| Compo Beach dog season | Began October 1, runs six months |
| Compo parking emblems | Not required after September 30 |
| Longshore Sailing School | 2026 season over; returns Memorial Day weekend |
| Longshore golf course | Open; closes in January and February, with December and March tee and green closures depending on weather |
| Inn at Longshore and La Plage | Reopened after renovation |
| Old Mill Grocery & Deli | Closed since September 29; owner in talks with new operators |
That table is the market a year-round Old Mill would serve. Warburg told the Westport Journal the site has been a popular summer destination because it sits so close to the beach, and that its history shows a year-round business can work there. "It just takes putting together the right combination of offerings and marketing it well to the community," he said.
Why a corner market needs its own zoning district
Old Mill is a food business in a residential zone, and that has been the legal question for more than two years. The town's staff memo for the current application lays out the history.
In June 2024, P&Z adopted Text Amendment #843. It let retail food establishments that already existed in the Residence B zone sell alcohol for indoor, on-premises consumption, with no sales after 9 p.m. and alcohol capped at 50 percent of gross sales. The applicant named Old Mill as the intended beneficiary. When the planning director later endorsed the market's liquor permit application, the endorsement noted that no more than ten seats were permitted. One of the commission's stated reasons for approving it is useful context for this week: the change could make it less likely that a business serving many people "will be converted into another single-family residence for the benefit of one."
Neighbors appealed to Superior Court the day after the amendment took effect. On February 18, 2026, Judge Radcliffe sustained the appeals. He found that alcohol sales at 222 Hillspoint Road were an unlawful expansion of the property's nonconforming use, and the endorsed liquor permit was rescinded.
The new proposal takes a different route. Eric D. Bernheim of FLB Law filed it on behalf of Soundview Empowerment Alliance. It has two parts: Text Amendment #875, which would create a Food and Beverage Planned Development District, and Map Amendment #876, which would move 222 Hillspoint from Residence B into that district if the text amendment passes. Under the draft language, the district would work like this:
- It would permit grocery stores, delis, retail food establishments, restaurants, cafes and taverns, and keep the old zone's rules except where the new section says otherwise.
- Outdoor eating would be allowed only within 25 feet of the main building. Alcohol for on-premises consumption would be allowed specifically at a retail food establishment.
- Each eligible lot would need the commission's individual approval to join the district, and any later change of use would require a Special Permit and Site Plan approval.
- The only map request currently before P&Z is 222 Hillspoint.
Outdoor tables and a drink with dinner are the tools that help a beachside market earn money after the dogs-only season starts. The vote decides which of them the next operator gets to use.
Longshore already rebuilt for the off-season
About a mile and a half along the shore, the Inn at Longshore shows what a waterfront business looks like when it is built to stay busy all year. Longshore Hospitality group, a Delamar-affiliated company with a 30-year lease from the town, finished a year-long renovation in September. Managing partner Michael Ryan gave 06880's Dan Woog a tour.
Most of the changes are about making the water visible from inside. In the ballroom, the stage and the curtains behind it used to block the view of the Sound. The stage is now off to one side, so the first thing guests see is a line of sight straight out to the water. The room holds 400 for receptions and 300 for banquets. A broad new deck with portable bars links the ballroom to the outdoors, and weddings have moved from beside the tennis courts to the lawn directly behind the building.
The first wedding at the renovated Inn was held September 11. Two days later, 7 inches of rain fell on Westport that morning. The next wedding started an hour late, at 3 p.m., and was still held outside.
The upper floors bring in business on weekdays. All 11 rooms and 3 suites were redesigned, and every third-floor room is dormered. Guests get brass keys instead of swipe cards. The Lewis Suite displays framed photographs from the building's start as Frederick E. Lewis's private mansion. According to 06880, weekend guests are usually wedding parties. Weekday guests include business executives, travelers and former Westporters who come back to relive the Inn.
La Plage, at 260 Compo Road South, benefits from the same work. Its kitchen was completely rebuilt to serve both restaurant diners and ballroom catering, and 06880 noted that diners might not notice many changes. The restaurant has recently reopened. It is one of 21 venues in the Westport Weston Chamber of Commerce's Restaurant Week, which runs from today, October 4, through October 18. Check hours before you go: La Plage's own website lists noon to 9 p.m. daily with later closings on Friday and Saturday, while the Inn's dining page lists dinner from 4 to 10 every night.
At Longshore, the ballroom brings in events, the rooms bring in weekday guests, and one kitchen serves both. Old Mill has one building, a ten-seat history and a beach that empties after Labor Day. Warburg's "site-specific plan" means finding Hillspoint's own version of that mix.
Monday at 6 p.m.
The P&Z public hearing on #875 and #876 opened September 17 and was continued to Monday, October 5, at 6 p.m. The meeting will be held remotely. The public portion on the separate Wakeman and PJ Romano field-lighting question has closed, but the public can still comment on the Old Mill text and map amendments. Meeting materials are on the town's pending applications page under 222 Hillspoint Road.
Whatever P&Z decides, the operator search is moving. Warburg told the Westport Journal that Soundview Empowerment Alliance was in "active discussions with no fewer than four very capable and experienced groups." He said one of them "wants to start like tomorrow," and that the nonprofit would consider every proposal carefully before choosing. Romanacci chose not to renew its lease, said it did not lose money at the market, and is focusing on a new restaurant opening soon in Darien. The owners hope to reopen fairly quickly.
Six months of dog season, free parking and an empty sailing dock: that is the season a year-round Old Mill would have to fill, starting the moment a new operator signs.
For anyone weighing what a Compo-area address means across all twelve months, from the Hillspoint corner to the Longshore lawn, Fatou Niang follows these shoreline decisions closely and is glad to talk through how they shape daily life near the water. Work With Fatou.
