The owner of a $15 million Forest Avenue home gets another shot Tuesday at winning approval to build a gangway, pier and dock on Long Island Sound.

John Werwaiss, who controls 1001 Forest Avenue Rye LLC, will present revised plans to the Rye City Planning Commission on Tuesday, Oct. 27.

The commission declared previous versions of the application "unacceptable" in January and June over concerns about protected wetlands on the property, the Rye Record reported.

This time, Werwaiss hired William Kenny Associates to prepare a Tidal Wetland and Buffer Enhancement Plan. The plan includes several changes meant to shrink the project's footprint in the wetlands buffer.

The revised proposal moves a previously approved pathway and sitting area to the eastern edge of the property, shortening the pathway and cutting impervious surfaces. The sitting area now sits entirely outside the wetland buffer, according to the Rye Record.

Werwaiss also proposes removing existing bluestone and replacing it with natural rock. The wetland enhancement plan calls for controlling invasive phragmites, the tall reeds that overtake shorelines, and establishing a native upland meadow within the 50-foot setback from the tidal wetland line.

Attorney Leo Napier wrote in an Oct. 20 letter to the commission that the enhancement plan would restore the premises to the condition approved under Wetland Permit No. 1, an original wetland permit the commission issued in 1993.

A long dispute

The five-bedroom home on 2.58 acres was purchased in May 2022 by Werwaiss' LLC. He first submitted the dock proposal to regulators in late 2023, the Rye Record reported in July.

The Rye Conservation Commission/Advisory Council, which advises the Planning Commission on wetlands permits, judged the application "unacceptable" twice.

In January, the advisory council argued the proposed pier, gangway and dock are not allowed under Rye Wetland Permit No. 001, issued in 1993. Council members also said property owners had made walkway and patio improvements without proper permits.

Planning Commission Chairman Nick Everett called the issues "extremely complicated" in June, citing the property's long history of wetlands control questions.

The commission then instructed Napier to provide a more detailed response to concerns raised by the Conservation Commission and neighbors about restoring the wetlands area.

Neighbors push back

Several Forest Avenue neighbors have opposed the project. Young Kim and Timothy Mueller, of 979 Forest Ave., contended in a January 2026 letter that the current owners had unpermitted work done on the property in March 2024.

They included photos of workers on the site.

Next-door neighbors Lena and Dan Matthison, of 999 Forest Ave., wrote a four-and-a-half-page letter in February 2024 opposing an earlier, larger version of the plan. They argued the project would reduce navigability of the cove, disrupt wildlife and set an undesirable precedent.

The proposal has received state and federal approvals over the years, according to the Rye Record, but has not cleared the local Planning Commission.

The commission will decide Tuesday whether the modified proposal is sufficient to move forward with construction.