The Lower Wharf at 1085 Harbor Road reopened on Sept. 21, 2026, after nearly four years behind a fence. According to the Town of Fairfield's project page, the rebuild is complete and the park is open to the public. It now has a new fishing pier, rebuilt seawalls, fresh sod and new benches.
Connecticut's fall blackfish season opened on Oct. 10 and runs through Nov. 28, so as of this Thursday, Oct. 22, there are about five weeks left to fish from the new deck. Along the rest of Southport Harbor, much of the town's water access depends on a waitlist, a ramp tag or a deed restriction, and the wharf is a town park open to the public.
Three addresses on Harbor Road
Harbor Road is home to three town waterfront properties. Perry's Green is at 701 Harbor Road, Ye Yacht Yard at 985, and the Lower Wharf at 1085.
The first two come with rules. Under the town's regulations, dock space at Ye Yacht Yard goes only to permanent Fairfield residents, though the Marina Manager makes it available to any boater who holds a Southport Harbor mooring permit. Residents can buy a ramp tag, nonresidents with non-powered trailered boats can apply for a per-diem ramp tag, and launches there have a 30-minute time limit. Ye Yacht Yard has seasonal racks for canoes, kayaks, paddleboards and windsurfers. The Marina Department manages them, and the Parks and Recreation Commission sets the fees and rules. The yard holds up to 32 boats, one per rack.
Demand for those 32 racks far outruns supply. The Marina Department's rack page puts the Jennings Beach waitlist at two to three years and Penfield Beach at four to five. For Ye Yacht Yard, it says the town is not taking new names because the current waitlist is "estimated to be over 100 years."
The Lower Wharf has no waitlist. It sits at the entrance to Southport Harbor, inside the Southport Historic District, and the town owns it. Its history goes back to a late-18th-century wharf that served a commercial shipyard. The town bought the property in 1999, and before the pier closed, Patch described it as a public space for walking, looking at the water, fishing, picnics and quiet recreation.
Why it stayed fenced from 2022 to 2026
The December 2022 storm tore away the pier's gangplank, and the town closed the pier for public safety. The Harbor Management Commission's release on Patch cited an engineering report finding that marine borer worms had undermined and weakened the piles under the fishing platform. CT Insider later reported damaged retaining-wall stones and a cracked, chipped concrete cap. This was a rebuild down to the piles, and the schedule kept slipping as a result.
- May 2023. Patch reported that finishing before spring 2024 was unlikely.
- June 2024. CT Insider reported that the State Bond Commission had authorized more than $1.07 million for the work.
- April 2026. A contractor mobilized, crews pulled the old piles, and new pile installation was underway by April 16.
- May and June 2026. Crews installed wood piles, removed the seawall caps and repoured them to hold the existing stone revetment in place, and replaced two concrete caps.
- July 2026. Deck framing was finished and the railings went on.
- Aug. 21, 2026. The pier was done and the seawalls were in place. Irrigation, sod and benches were still left.
- Sept. 21, 2026. The town declared the project complete and opened the park.
The cost depends on which document you read. The town's project page estimates $800,000. Sen. Tony Hwang's 2024 bond request listed a total project cost of $1,235,900. The bond request did spell out the purpose, which was restoring views of the water and fishing access for people of all ages and abilities.
Two deeds on one stretch of shoreline
The public waterfront at the end of Harbor Road is actually two parcels with two different deeds. Lower Wharf came to the town under a 1999 deed. The waterside lot just south of it came under a separate deed in 2019, and that deed lists activities that aren't allowed on that land. According to May 2024 minutes from a Harbor Management Commission subcommittee, the deed language reads:
The following activities are prohibited: The use of wheeled vehicles except wheelchairs and baby carriages; The use of any alcohol, firearms or watercraft of any kind including, without limitation, jet skis, sail boards, paddle boards or kayaks; Littering, sunbathing, picnicking or fires; The use of any lawn chairs, beach chairs or umbrellas.
The same minutes say neighbors pointed out that several restrictions in an earlier sign draft applied only to the southerly lot and not to Lower Wharf. The revised signage plan called for two signs. A larger one would go off Harbor Road near the kayak rack at Ye Yacht Yard, sized no bigger than the existing "Welcome to Ye Yacht Yard" sign and framed in the same natural wood. A smaller one would go in the southerly lot and list that deed's specific prohibitions.
So a picnic on the grass was part of Lower Wharf's old routine, yet it's prohibited a few steps away on the southerly lot, along with beach chairs and kayaks.
Five weeks of blackfish, and what else is in season
Fishing from the new pier falls under state marine rules. The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection says its saltwater regulations cover tidal waters and also the land and structures next to them, which includes a pier like this one. Here's how the main fall species line up for the rest of 2026:
| Species | Size rule | Daily limit | Season |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tautog (blackfish) | 16-inch minimum | 3 per angler | Oct. 10 to Nov. 28 |
| Striped bass | 28 inches up to, but not including, 31 inches | 1 per angler | Year-round |
| Bluefish | No minimum | 5 per angler, snappers included, new for 2026 | Year-round |
| Summer flounder (fluke) | 19.5-inch minimum in the late season | 3 per angler | Closed after Oct. 15 |
The fall blackfish window is the most generous of the three tautog seasons. DEEP allows three fish a day from Oct. 10 to Nov. 28, compared with two a day in April and again in July and August. Striped bass has a narrow slot of three inches, and if you fish with bait, DEEP requires an inline circle hook. That requirement doesn't apply to artificial lures. DEEP says the 2026 changes affected only black sea bass and bluefish. Everything else carries over from 2025.
A license comes before any of that. According to DEEP's license FAQ, anyone 16 or older fishing Connecticut's marine waters, from shore or from a boat, needs an annual Marine Waters Fishing License and has to carry it. The license costs $10 for residents ages 16 to 64, is free for residents 65 and older, and costs $15 for nonresidents. These rules come straight from DEEP, which can change them, so check its pages before you go. This post is general information and not legal advice.
An afternoon that ends at Pequot Library
The wharf is a short outing, so it pairs well with something nearby. Pequot Library opened its "Lines of Liberty" exhibition on Oct. 8, and it runs through Jan. 9, 2027. The library's calendar lists Qigong and a concert by classical guitarist Ben Lougheed on Thursday, Oct. 22, the library's 136th Annual Meeting on Sunday, Oct. 25, and "The Haunted Library" on Wednesday, Oct. 28. Visitor parking is behind the library, and the library's visit page has directions by way of Pequot Avenue.
If you want more shoreline, Pequot Avenue also leads to Southport Beach at 1505 Pequot Avenue, and Sasco Beach is at 1401 Sasco Hill Road. Blackfish season closes Nov. 28 and "Lines of Liberty" runs into January, so you can plan a Saturday at the pier now and save the exhibition for a grayer day later in the season.
At M & D Properties, we keep track of how Fairfield's shoreline changes, from a pier coming back to the parcel lines around it, because those details shape what living near the water is actually like. If you own a home near Southport Harbor and want to know how this season's changes along Harbor Road affect its value, request a home valuation and we'll talk it through.