The Port Is Ready to Listen — This Is Your Chance to Be Heard
After months of crowded city council meetings and yard signs and a petition with thousands of signatures, the Port of Ridgefield — the entity that actually owns the waterfront and controls what gets built there — is holding its first open community meeting Wednesday, June 17. Here's what to know before you go.
If you have been following the waterfront debate — and if you live anywhere near Ridgefield, you almost certainly have — you've probably noticed something: a lot of the community's energy has been directed at city hall. The packed April 23 Ridgefield City Council meeting, the public comments, the petitions being circulated at the door. All of that passion, largely aimed at the wrong address.
As Councilmember Judy Chipman said plainly at that April meeting: the city council and the Port of Ridgefield are two separate entities. The Port has its own elected board of commissioners. It owns the 41-acre waterfront property. It controls the development plan. The city's formal role comes later, once an actual application is submitted — and the current zoning already allows for what's being proposed.
Wednesday, for the first time since the community backlash began, the Port is holding an open public forum specifically on the waterfront. This is the room where the conversation actually belongs.
Why This Meeting Is Different
The Port's regular Commission meetings happen monthly at 3 p.m. on weekday afternoons — not exactly peak attendance hours. The May meeting was canceled outright due to lack of quorum. This evening meeting is specifically designed for community input, at a time when people can actually show up.
According to the Port, the June 17 meeting will focus on listening and hearing public input, as well as sharing foundational information about the waterfront property and the proposed redevelopment. That includes clarifying what is and is not on the table, and laying out the ongoing opportunities for community input throughout the summer and fall.
The Port has also published a summer engagement schedule that goes well beyond this single meeting — more on that below. But June 17 is the main event and the first real forum, and it matters whether people show up.
Where Things Stand
The conceptual plan that has drawn so much attention includes a 58-room boutique hotel, residential apartments, commercial and office space, light-industrial makerspace buildings, a new Port headquarters, and a roughly 9-acre park with trails and an amphitheater — all on the 41-acre site that spent decades as a contaminated industrial facility before the Port invested over $90 million in cleanup.
No formal development application has been submitted, and no official construction timeline is set — though early infrastructure work could potentially begin as soon as 2027. In November 2024, the Port entered into an agreement with Palindrome Properties Group to begin development planning. At full build-out, the project is expected to support around 335 permanent jobs and generate roughly $1.3 million annually in property taxes.
Opposition has been vocal. There are yard signs around town, a petition on Change.org that has collected over 2,400 signatures, and a consistent presence at city council meetings — even though, again, the city council does not control the waterfront property. The concerns raised include traffic, impacts to the Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge, the density of the housing component, and whether the community's aquifer can support new development.
Support has been quieter but present. Former city councilmember Rob Aichele spoke in favor of the project at the April council meeting, noting the long history of planning conversations and the Port's design work to preserve view corridors. Plenty of residents who appreciate the economic case for the development haven't felt compelled to wave signs about it — that's just how this usually goes.
More Chances to Weigh In This Summer
Wednesday is the headliner, but the Port has scheduled a full slate of community touchpoints through August. A few of the smaller-group events are already full — both the Golf Cart Tour in June and the July Walk with Executive Director Ethan Perry filled up quickly. But several opportunities remain open.
How to Stay Plugged In
- Wednesday, June 17: Show up in person — 101 Mill Street, upstairs, 6–8 p.m.
- Attend a future Port Commission meeting — held at 3 p.m. on the second Wednesday of each month at the Port offices. Public comment is accepted. See portridgefield.org/public-meetings for the calendar.
- Email the Port directly: [email protected]
- Sign up for email updates — email the Port at the address above to be added to their list.
- Review the waterfront project page: portridgefield.org/ridgefield-waterfront — includes the full Q&A document, the 2023 business plan, and the summer engagement schedule.
- RSVP for the September Golf Cart Tour — still open, Sept. 16, 4–6 p.m.
The petition, the signs, the packed city council chambers — they've made clear that people feel strongly about this. Wednesday is when that energy can actually reach the people making the decisions. Whether you're in favor of the development, opposed to it, or still making up your mind, showing up is how the Port learns what the community actually wants from this process.
