Old Lyme ― Several nonprofit organizations tied to the town’s artistic and natural history continue to push for a zoning change that some argue has the potential to disrupt the residential atmosphere of Lyme Street to benefit a “privileged four.”

An effort spearheaded by the Lyme Academy of Fine Arts to make itself viable again involves an alternative zoning technique that would allow the academy and its three nonprofit neighbors to obtain approval more easily for ventures – including operating a cafe and providing guest housing for artists or scientists – in an otherwise residential zone.

At a public hearing on Monday, leaders of the Lyme Arts Association and the Connecticut Audubon Society's Roger Tory Peterson Estuary Center spoke in support – and as potential beneficiaries – of the academy’s proposal. Florence Griswold Museum Board of Trustees President Deborah Moore, representing the remaining nonprofit organization that currently qualifies for inclusion in the overlay zone, said her group has not yet decided if it would apply to be included in the zone.

The Zoning Commission closed the hearing Monday and will deliberate at a later date.

The application has been under consideration by the Zoning Commission since last spring, with the Historic District Commission emerging as a vocal critic of the move. It argues the change could lead to unintended consequences in the future if the neighborhood strays too far from its residential designation.

“The Lyme Academy proposal initiates the most significant change in zoning regulations affecting the historic district in 50 years,” Historic District Commission co-chairman Diane Mallory said at the public hearing.

The proposal allows science laboratories, living quarters for visiting artists, scientists and students, retail sales, cafes or bistros, and large events. It’s been discussed in zoning commission meetings and documents as a “cultural overlay zone.”

The opposition this week came despite efforts between the nonprofits and the Historic District Commission over the past few months to come up with a plan they could agree on.

Concerns expressed at the hearing included the possibility that a nonprofit could bring in a commercial entity to run a portion of the business, such as a cafe.

“I don’t want to say the Starbucks word, but I just said it,” Mallory said.

The historic district on Lyme Street was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1971. The street, in a stretch that parallels the Lieutenant River, thrived on shipbuilding in the nation’s early years. Later, it welcomed artists who are said to have been lured by a special kind of light resulting from the town’s position at the confluence of the Connecticut River and Long Island Sound.

The technique being used in the academy’s application is called overlay zoning. It creates a layer of opportunity on top of an existing zone, offering more ways for qualifying owners to use their property than are allowed currently. This style of zoning can be used to address specific community goals in sections of town that would otherwise be limited to one type of use – in this case, residential.

Attorney Terry Lomme, representing the academy, acknowledged it would likely be possible for a nonprofit to engage a commercial entity as long as the nonprofit’s tax status is not affected. But he said any property subject to the overlay zone would no longer be eligible if purchased by a for-profit business.

Lomme said the overlay zone is a way to ensure the nonprofits are treated equally under the regulations.

“It’s a real anomaly that these four organizations are in a row in a terrific area, but the underlying zoning is residential,” he said.

The organizations, which either existed before local zoning regulations were established or are allowed to operate in the residential district under special provisions for nonprofit groups, are already able to seek special permits for uses related to their purpose. But overlay zones are intended to streamline the process and make it more uniform throughout.

Old Lyme land use coordinator Eric Knapp described the current regulatory mechanism for the nonprofits as “uneven at best.” He cited an approval granted in 2010 for a restaurant at the Florence Griswold Museum, which was considered a modification to a special permit granted to the museum back in the 1970s.

But the fact that the museum can have a restaurant doesn’t necessarily mean that their nonprofit neighbors can.

“So they’re playing by one set of rules; their next door neighbors are playing by a different set of rules,” Knapp said. “Having to keep everybody’s rules straight is already a challenge for me.”

Michael Duffy, chairman of the academy’s board of trustees, said the organization “is looking for the town of Old Lyme to give us a predictable set of guidelines so we can plan for the future, so we can undertake activities on our campus and know that we’re going to be in conformance with what the regulations say we can or cannot do.”

Claudia Weicker, chairwoman of the Roger Tory Peterson Estuary Center’s Board of Trustees and one of the state’s former first ladies, said zoning uncertainty can be an impediment as the organizations devise and attempt to carry out their master plans.

The estuary center purchased the former Bee and Thistle Inn in 2021 for $1.25 million for use an an educational center.

Weicker said the time spent over the past year and a half trying to figure out what improvements are permitted on the property has resulted in a 20 to 30% increase in the cost of the proposed renovations.

She said different non profits are allowed to do different things.

The Historic District argues there’s no need for what it describes as a vague, confusing regulation with too many holes in it when the nonprofit organizations can get the type of approvals they’re talking about through the current process.

“Until now, requests by individual Lyme Street nonprofits for alterations and additions have been accommodated by existing regulations,” Mallory said. “The long record of past allowances provides a road map for nonprofits to anticipate the approvals they can expect going forward.”

Zoning Commission member Jane Marsh expressed discomfort with the idea that a property owner has to be a nonprofit organization to get the benefits of the overlay zone.

“It’s bothering me a great deal that land use changes are being made based on who the owner is, because we as a zoning commission shouldn't care about who the owner is,” she said. “The land use is either appropriate or not.”

But the zoning regulations already make allowances for nonprofit institutions through provisions for them to operate in residential zones if they secure a special permit.

The special permit process involves more oversight by the Zoning Commission and input from the public than a traditional site plan application.

“If we’re going to have this other regulation that says what everyone else has to do, and then we have these privileged four organizations that can do something else, it's just bothering me,” she said.

e.regan@theday.com