Fairfield Neighbors Plan Legal Action After Newport Academy Settlement With Town

FAIRFIELD, CT — Fairfield officials may have settled a lawsuit with Newport Academy to allow the company to open two residential mental health facilities in Greenfield Hill, but it appears the properties’ neighbors are just getting started with their opposition efforts.

“Anything can be a done deal if people don’t fight it,” said Meghan McCloat, one of the leaders of the nonprofit Neighbors for Neighborhood Preservation, at a meeting of Greenfield Hill residents held Sunday at St. Timothy’s Episcopal Church. “The town may think they’re done. The town doesn’t know what’s coming.”

The group, founded three years ago in response to Newport Academy buying a combined 13 acres at 3236 Congress St. and 2495 Redding Road for $5.45 million, has previously spent $150,000 on legal action tied to the project and intends to raise another $100,000 to appeal the settlement.

“All of Fairfield should be very concerned by these recent developments,” James White, another leader of the neighbors' group, said Sunday to an audience of about 30 residents. “Newport Academy has misrepresented itself to the town of Fairfield as a group home.”

The neighbors believe the facilities — with six beds each and intended to serve young adults — were presented as group homes but obtained a certificate of need from the state, which is not required for such residences, according to McCloat.

“Fair housing is intended to protect residential use,” she said. “This is a medical treatment facility.”

The neighbors' nonprofit has dedicated legal resources to the certificate of need process and an ongoing court challenge to the Zoning Board of Appeals decision to uphold the project permits.

Next, the neighbors plan to appeal the settlement, likely by arguing the town lacked the authority to issue a certificate of occupancy to Newport Academy, McCloat said.

Newport sued the town in federal court and complained to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, triggering an investigation into Fairfield's housing practices. The company claimed it was exempt from town zoning regulations under federal law and that Fairfield's refusal to issue a certificate of occupancy was discriminatory, citing the long-term operations of the Center for Discovery, a similar local mental health facility in a residential AAA zone.

Under the settlement, Newport will operate its facilities in compliance with the regulations applicable to family homes in the area and any future applications must go through a special permitting process. The town’s insurer will also make a $1.5 million payment as part of the settlement.

“I understand the community’s frustration with this settlement,” First Selectwoman Brenda Kupchick said Friday in an email to residents, noting the barriers the town faced in the context of federal law.

The Greenfield Hill neighbors remain undeterred. They are reviving a lawn sign campaign against the project, previously active in 2019. Former Representative Town Meeting member Veronica Monahan was so upset about the settlement that she resigned from her seat in District 1.

Neighbors will meet virtually with Kupchick at 4 p.m. Thursday, when she will take questions and provide additional information about the settlement.

A spokeswoman for Newport Academy did not respond to a request for comment about the planned settlement appeal.