BLT's Harbor Point Project Issued Cease-and-Desist

According to the , it didn't need to come to this, they just wanted to see some plans. (BLT), well, they haven't said much of anything.

According to city officials, South End developer BLT hasn't responded to repeated requests to review proposed plans to remedy a boatyard at the Harbor Point project site. They haven't responded to the city and they didn't return calls seeking comment for this article.  

Without comment from BLT or its vice president and general counsel, John Freeman, it's difficult to ascertain what the holdup might be for a seemingly simple and innocuous addition to an otherwise complex and expansive project.

"If they wanted to, they could’ve drawn up plans much sooner, I don’t think time’s been an issue," said Thomas R. Mills, Chair of the Stamford Zoning Board. "I can’t answer for why they are not doing what they’re not doing. We told them at one of the hearings we’d give you 120 days—which we thought was very gracious to begin with—and they didn’t comply so that’s why we have to move on to the next step."

That step was a cease-and-desist letter sent to Harbor point on Monday. No more work was to be done until the city has had a conversation with someone from Harbor Point. For every day BLT did not comply with the city's requests, it would be fined $250 daily. If they remained non-compliant beyond 10 days, those fines would jump to $2,500.

It's not the first time. If this current situation is the lingering effects of previous uneasiness, the Zoning Board isn't guessing. They wouldn't pretend to understand the motivations behind BLT being intentionally dismissive. They can only guess there is a method to the madness and wait, like the rest of the public, to find out what it is.

"[I've] thought about this for a long time. I have no idea why BLT or (Chief Executive Officer) Carl Kuehner would take this approach unless there’s something in the woods I don’t know about. But there’s a hell of a lot I don’t know about," Zoning Board member Harry Parson chuckled.

It doesn't make much sense for a company about . A company revitalizing the South End of the city into a premeire destination for Stamford residents. A company that's invested the resources into redeveloping over one million square feet of industrial space and created another million of retail and office space.

There's also 2,000 jobs riding on the smooth operation of the Harbor Point project.

Parson said while it may not make much sense to the board, it probably makes sense to someone, somewhere.

"I think it was a dumb decision [to ignore the board,]" Parson said. "[But Kuehner's] no dummy, he’s a smart guy. He’s got a lot of great financial advisors on his team. He must be getting some sort of logical argument to do what he’s done, but I have no idea what that argument is. I just decided it’s one of those things I can’t be worried about. I’m not going to sit days and days on edge, waiting."