Government

Brookwood Lane Property Owner Files Formal Complaint about Neighbor’s Fence

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Months after complaining that a neighbor’s new privacy fence is one inch higher than allowed under the New Canaan Zoning Regulations, a Brookwood Lane couple has filed a formal appeal with the town. The fence that runs along a dead-end lane shared by three homeowners presents a safety concern, according to Chris and Carolyn Susanin of 34 Brookwood Lane. “Our primary concern is the safety of our children (6 and 10 years old) and our 2 dogs,” the Susanins wrote in an appeal. “When you are traveling on the accessway, our yard cannot be visualized until you are directly on the property where the fence ends,” according to their written statement of appeal. “This is the point where the fence is at its highest point above finished grade (over 7 feet).

Business

Local Organizations and COVID-19: The Glass House

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For today’s Q&A with a local business or organization, we talked to Greg Sages, executive director of The Glass House, which has its Visitors Center on Elm Street. In past years, the 49-acre Ponus Ridge site laid out with Philip Johnson-designed buildings has opened May 1, and this year the organization won approval from the Planning & Zoning Commission to open April 16. With the restrictions in place due to coronavirus disease, The Glass House has been unable to open and, like other qualified organizations and businesses, is looking toward Gov. Ned Lamont’s planned May 20 date. Here’s our exchange. New Canaanite: How are you operating now and what is your plan?

Around Town

First Selectmen: Memorial Day Parade, Waveny Fireworks Canceled 

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New Canaan’s highest elected official said Friday that the town is canceling two of its most cherished annual community events due to the COVID-19 virus public health emergency. An “appropriate alternative ceremony” will be held Memorial Day instead of the parade, according to First Selectman Kevin Moynihan, and municipal leaders are taking suggestions on how to hold a safe alternative to the traditional July 4 fireworks at Waveny. As of Sunday evening, 25 people in New Canaan had succumbed to coronavirus disease, officials said. “We grieve for these losses and our thoughts and prayers are with their families,” Moynihan said. The news of cancellations came days after local leaders reopened public parks for trail-walking only, and as the community pursues what Moynihan called the “measured and disciplined reopening of our local economy.” 

Gov. Ned Lamont last week sketched out a plan that would see businesses including “nonessential” retail shops, salons and outdoor areas at restaurants reopen as long as coronavirus disease hospitalizations decline, more testing is made available and a program for contact tracing is established.

Gulf Station

Gulf Station Property Sells for $4.7 Million

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The following property transfers were recorded recently in the Town Clerk’s office. For more information about each property from the assessor, click on the street address. To get the history of a New Canaan street name, click here. ***

April 17

122 Seminary St. $925,000
Kenneth Hogan to Jack & Sarah Sutton

36 South Ave.

Full Disclosure

Full Disclosure: The Still Life

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Is it me or does it seem like someone pressed “pause” on life, then walked away with the remote control? 

To get a better handle on this, I decided to conduct informal, unsanctioned and entirely unscientific research. As the New Canaanite’s self-appointed resident scientista, I have concluded that time is passing, yet it is also oddly standing still. In order to mark said passage of time and measure this phenomenon, I find that looking in a mirror at my follicular “roots” is a good gauge. According to my hair-based metric system, it’s been two-inches-of-roots-ago since things have been normal around here. 

Though I follow the rules of social distancing, the concept is unnerving, and as unnatural as my former dye-job. The practice of doing little, planning nothing and going nowhere, all at the same time, is lonely (but important) work.