Old Mill Grocery Is Dark Again. What Decides How It Comes Back?

On the night of September 29, dozens of friends and regulars gathered at 222 Hillspoint Road for a farewell. Graziano and Maurizio Ricci, the brothers behind Romanacci, served food and drinks. Representative Town Meeting member Jimmy Izzo caught up with former 2nd selectwoman Andrea Moore and former 1st selectwoman Jen Tooker. The next morning, Old Mill Grocery & Deli was closed.

That date has come up before. The last operator also left at the end of beach season, and the one before that never made it to the next spring. Each time, the explanation has been about money rather than popularity. A store that does well from June to Labor Day has to get through October to May, and the rules on what it can sell have been in court for most of the last two years. Both problems come up again on Monday night.

Four Operators, One Calendar

The building at 222 Hillspoint Road dates to 1919, and groceries and related goods have been sold there ever since. That history is why the 2026 coverage calls it a 107-year-old market. For most of the recent past, the turnover has been fast.

The Soundview Empowerment Alliance is the reason the building is still a market at all. Its founders, including Ian Warburg, Jim Hood, Chris Tait and Emily Ashken Zobl, raised the $1.51 million purchase price in two months. Since then, the nonprofit has been the landlord. It doesn't run the deli. It looks for someone who will.

The two operators who leased from SEA both left at the same point in the year. TGB set September 30, 2023 as its final day. Romanacci's last night was September 29, 2026. Both exits came when the summer crowd from Compo and Old Mill Beach goes home.

A Store That Made Money and Still Lost Its Tenant

Warburg spoke plainly about Romanacci's numbers when he talked with the Westport Journal in mid-September.

"They made money. It was a profitable operation, not wildly profitable and not sufficient to keep their attention when they have other much more profitable activities to engage in and pursue."

The Riccis are putting their time into growing their restaurant business, including a new Romanacci location planned for Darien. Warburg called their exit a business decision and said SEA and the brothers are parting as friends. In his view, Romanacci did "a really great job" but couldn't overcome how seasonal the market is.

That points to Old Mill's real constraint. A place that does well near the beach in July still has to justify its lease in February. An operator with other restaurants compares Old Mill's full year against those other locations, and a modest profit with a slow winter loses that comparison.

Warburg's answer is a different kind of tenant. "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," he told the Westport Journal. He also said the property's 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."

There's interest. Warburg said SEA is in active talks with "no fewer than four very capable and experienced groups," and that one of them "wants to start like tomorrow." No successor had been named as of the September 30 report, and SEA said it hopes for a fairly quick reopening.

The Menu Is Set in Zoning

Which offerings can carry a year-round business depends on what the building is allowed to sell. That question has been in dispute since 2024.

The market sits in a Residence B zone, where a commercial grocery is allowed only because it was there before the zoning existed. In June 2024, the Planning & Zoning Commission adopted Amendment #843. It created an exception for preexisting retail food uses in Residence B, with up to 10 indoor seats, a 9 p.m. cutoff for alcohol, and a cap holding liquor to 50 percent of gross sales. In November 2024, Amendment #846 extended the exception to qualifying establishments in any residential district and added outdoor eating areas within 25 feet of the principal building.

A group of nearby residents challenged both amendments in court. They raised concerns about parking, traffic, noise and pedestrian safety tied to drinking on the premises. The consolidated cases were Hillspoint Cove, LLC, et al. v. Planning & Zoning Commission and 227 Hills, LLC, et al. v. Planning & Zoning Commission.

On February 18, 2026, Judge Dale W. Radcliffe ruled for the plaintiffs. He held that the amendments improperly expanded nonconforming commercial uses in residential zones and broke the requirement that zoning rules apply uniformly. He also found the 50 percent liquor cap was not authorized under state liquor law. His order required SEA and its tenant to stop uses beyond the lawful preexisting one and found the alcohol sales unauthorized. It did not order the grocery itself to close. SEA filed a petition for certification to appeal on March 17, 2026.

Romanacci spent its final seven months under that ruling, and its departure came after that summer. Warburg has said SEA is open to a BYOB component for the next operator, depending on what is proposed and permitted.

What the New Proposal Would Change

The application before the commission now takes a different approach. The earlier amendments carved exceptions into residential zoning. Attorney Eric D. Bernheim's filing would create a new zone and then move Old Mill into it. Text Amendment #875 would add Section 32-30, the Food & Beverage Planned Development District. Map Amendment #876, filed for SEA as owner, would rezone 222 Hillspoint Road from Residence B into the new district, contingent on approval of the text.

The draft text of Section 32-30 would:

• Permit grocery stores, delicatessens and retail food establishments, restaurants, and cafes and taverns.
• Allow outdoor eating areas, as long as they sit entirely within 25 feet of the principal building.
• Allow alcohol for on-premises consumption within a retail food establishment.
• Treat the district as non-residential, with lots placed in it at the commission's discretion.
• Require a special permit and site plan approval for any future change of use on the lot.

The draft does not set operating hours, a seating cap or a parking formula. It keeps the underlying district's other regulations except where Section 32-30 says otherwise. The 10-seat limit and 9 p.m. alcohol cutoff from Amendment #843 do not appear in this text.

Changing the map also brings in a question the court left open. In the earlier cases, Judge Radcliffe noted that a separate district and map change would put spot-zoning considerations before the commission. He did not decide that issue, because the town had not changed any zoning classification at the time.

This connects back to the tenant search. Warburg says the prospective operators have ideas that "will not only address the high season but that will carry the business through the winter months." Whether those ideas can include a cafe with outdoor seating, a glass of wine with dinner, or only a deli counter with BYOB depends on how the commission votes.

Monday Night, From Home

The public hearing on both amendments opened September 17 and continues at the Planning & Zoning Commission meeting on Monday, October 5, at 6 p.m. The meeting is fully remote. It streams live on westportct.gov and airs on Optimum Government Access Channel 79, subject to availability.

The agenda lists the Old Mill items under the public hearing portion, so the public can take part:

Comments sent after noon still go into the record, but they won't reach commissioners until the next business day. The agenda lists the Old Mill items to be discussed and voted on "as time permits," so the commission may or may not decide on Monday.

The Season the Store Has to Win

The neighborhood around Old Mill has already moved into the months that have been hardest on the market. Dogs returned to Compo Beach on October 1 for the six-month off-season. They must stay leashed except in the off-leash area south of the pavilion, including South Beach, and they are not allowed on the pavilion, playground or walkways. Those six months are the stretch Warburg wants the next operator to plan for. Elvira's lasted about 22 years at this corner. The four years since SEA bought the building have brought two operators. SEA hasn't named the next one. What that tenant is allowed to serve, starting in October, depends on how the commission rules.

Neighborhood landmarks like Old Mill shape how a street feels and how buyers see it. They're among the local details our team follows for clients near Compo Beach and Old Mill Beach. If you're thinking about selling in this part of Westport and want to know how changes like this one come up in a buyer's questions, Katie O'Grady & Team would be glad to talk it through. Schedule a complimentary listing consultation.

This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.