Government

Town Opts Not To Offer Senior Discount on Dump Sticker Fee

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Town officials said last week that they won’t offer seniors a discount on annual sticker fees at the dump, as one resident had suggested. Among peer towns, only Darien offers such a discount, but the sticker fee there is $120 whereas New Canaan’s is going up from $45 to $75, officials said during the April 21 meeting of the Board of Selectmen. Wilton, Westport, Weston and Ridgefield offer no such discount, according to Don Smith, the Department of Public Works’ assistant superintendent of solid waste at the Transfer Station. A senior discount therefore “is not prevalent,” First Selectman Kevin Moynihan said at the meeting, held via videoconference. 

“Keep in mind, many seniors are in congregate areas where they have contractural services with their rents, such as all the apartment buildings and all the condos and co-ops,” Moynihan said. “So there will be some seniors, obviously—but anyway, we are not going to bring forth a recommendation on a senior discount.

Berchem Moses

Elm Street Commercial Property Owner’s Lawsuit Against Town Headed To Trial

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A lawsuit filed by the owner of an Elm Street commercial property claiming the town overestimated its value in a recent tax assessment is slated to go to trial this summer. The town in January denied claims made on behalf of the owner of 61 Elm St. that an October 2018 evaluation—later upheld by the Board of Assessment Appeals—was “grossly excessive, disproportionate and unlawful.”

According to tax records, the two-story building at the intersection of South Avenue has 14,438 total square feet of finished space, and sits on .18 acres. It was assessed at $3,595,970, according to as substitute appeal filed last September in state Superior Court. 

The Board of Assessment Appeals denied the plaintiff’s appeal, according to a complaint filed by attorney Frank Murphy of Norwalk-based Tierney, Zullo, Flaherty & Murphy PC. 

The matter is scheduled to go to trial in July, according to Connecticut Judicial Branch records. The town in a March 2 legal filing said it would use Bridgeport-based real estate appraiser Peter Vimini as an expert witness. 

“The expert opinions to which Mr. Vimini is expected to testify will be contained in his written appraisal report as of October 1, 2018, which he has not yet completed but which will be disclosed to the plaintiff prior to trail pursuant to the court’s deadline for the mutual exchange of appraisals,” Coppola said in the disclosure.

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New Canaan Country School Neighbors Voice Concerns Over Light from Athletic Facility

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Saying they’re already experiencing unwanted light from the new athletic facility that New Canaan Country School is building off of Frogtown Road, neighbors are urging the town to deny a request to modify a condition of the project’s approval. An attorney representing the private school applied to the Planning & Zoning Commission to remove a requirement that “black-out shades” be installed for all windows visible from a property to the east “and including any window from which light can be projected or reflected.”

Attorney Steve Finn of Stamford-based Wofsey, Rosen, Kweskin. Kuriansky LLP noted that the abutting neighbor whose concerns prompted the Commission to create the condition—a woman who sued the town in appealing the original approval—no longer resides at 579 Frogtown Road. In fact, Finn said, she sold the property to New Canaan Country School as part of a settlement agreement. 

He also cited a lighting company’s finding that “that there will be no measurable light at or beyond the property line [between the school campus and 579 Frogtown Road]” and that “the use of black-out shades will not reduce the exterior light levels because the interior lighting has no impact on the exterior light levels.”

Yet two neighbors who live directly across Frogtown Road from the school—Joseph and Kim Bozzella of 584 Frogtown Road and Jack and Carol Liebau of 568 Frogtown Road—filed letters of objection with P&Z urging them to deny the application. 

The Liebaus said in their letter that “the lighting from the interior of the athletic facility, shining through the glassed-in portion near its ceiling, is quite glaring after dark from both the first and second stories of our home—including our kitchen; home office; play/study room; and glassed-in library where we frequently entertain.”

“We have always been glad to be neighbors to both Country School (where our children have attended since 2011) and the Winter Club,” the letter said. “We want to be good neighbors; the problem with this light, however, is that every evening, our home feels like it is now located in much more of a ‘mixed use’ area than the darker suburban location into which we thought we had purchased.

Bon Fleur

Local Businesses and COVID-19: Bon Fleur

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For today’s Q&A with a New Canaan business owner, we talk to Madeline Macanka, owner of Bon Fleur. Macanka has owned the East Avenue floral boutique for nearly 20 years, and it’s been operating in town for more than a quarter-century. She’s in from 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. daily, urging customers to use the Bon Fleur website to place orders, and pick up when possible. 

Here’s our exchange. New Canaanite: How are you faring? Madeline Macanka: It’s Ok.

COVID-19 New Canaan

Town To Annual Parking Permit-Holders: Don’t Worry About Renewing Them Yet

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Those holding annual permits for New Canaan’s municipal parking lots need not worry just now about renewing them, officials said Monday. Typically, the Parking Bureau sends renewal notifications each May to permit-holders for lots such as the Lumberyard, Talmadge Hill and Park Street Lots. They expire June 30, just before the fiscal year begins. Yet this year, “[g]iven the current circumstances with regard to the COVID-19 virus, the Board of Selectman and Parking Commission are planning to extend the current permit year for the time period covering the state’s stay-at-home order and pro-rating next year’s permit fees,” according to Parking Manager Stacy Miltenberg. “For this reason, permit renewal applications will not be mailed out in May as they have been in the past,” Miltenberg said in a bulletin posted to the town’s website.