A new movie theater opened at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Old Greenwich last summer, becoming the only dedicated cinema in the community after the closure of the Bow Tie Cinema in 2020. The 40-seat venue, known as the Townsend Cinema, offers a unique entertainment option for both hotel guests and the wider community.
As part of a $35 million reimagining of the Hyatt, the theater was added to the hotel’s plans, permits obtained and Townsend Cinema welcomed by the moviegoing public. In the months after opening, Town officials raised a question regarding zoning compliance and whether the cinema was permitted to offer screenings and ticket sales to the general public. Greenwich’s zoning code did not specifically address hotels operating movie theaters—a novel concept that has begun to appear at a few bespoke hotels nationwide. The Town’s planning department had determined that the screening room, while available to hotel guests and event attendees, was technically not in compliance with existing zoning rules requiring a minimum of 150 seats in a theater if open to the public.
Christopher B. Fisher of Cuddy & Feder LLP explained that, in lieu of an interpretation, the Hyatt worked with the Town’s Planning and Zoning Commission to develop a zoning text amendment that would permit the added community benefit of first run movies being screened in a small hotel theater. He noted that the most recent Town Plan of Conservation and Development expressly encourages zoning text amendments to open up areas of the Town to more cultural and theater opportunities for the Greenwich community. The text change and change of use application to resolve the open zoning question was successfully presented by attorneys Christopher B. Fisher and Jessica Zalin of Cuddy & Feder LLP who secured approvals from the Town ensuring the Townsend Cinema continues to operate smoothly as a unique addition to Old Greenwich’s entertainment offerings.
