Grace Farms Refutes Complaints Lodged on Behalf of Neighbors

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Complaints from two sets of neighbors about the Grace Farms’ failure to comply with temporary measures imposed by the town are in at least one respect inaccurate, according to an attorney representing the Lukes Wood Road organization.

Claims that lights at the Grace Farms’ River Building were on all night last week with the exception of Tuesday are “simply not true,” according to a March 7 response letter, sent to the town planner by Ted O’Hanlan of Stamford-based Robinson + Cole.

“We are happy to meet with you in person to review our camera footage,” O’Hanlan said in the letter, which he also forwarded Thursday to NewCanaanite.com.

Painting a sunnier picture of Grace Farms’ communications with those whose concerns last year compelled the organization to file an application to amend its zoning permit, O’Hanlan said it “has been working with all its neighbors and with your offices to collect information and viewpoints, as it considers the amended application that it has agreed to file by March 15.”

“This effort has included correspondence, discussions and meetings with neighbors, landscape architects, and you [Palmer], on February 17th. We anticipate a further meeting with the neighbors in advance of our submission, when the screening/buffer plans are received from the landscape architects. In addition, we met with you and Mr. [Glenn] Chalder [of Planimetrics] after the January 20th withdrawal, and have been meeting with you weekly since we withdrew the application. I think you know that the Foundation is taking the issues raised very seriously, and is preparing an application that will reflect that seriousness.”

As such, O’Hanlan said, the March 3 letter sent on behalf of the neighbors “is disheartening in its tone and what can only be characterized as unhelpful sniping.”

The comments come as O’Hanlan prepares to re-file on Grace Farms’ behalf an application to amend its zoning permit.

In his letter, he also said direct communications between Grace Farms Foundation President Sharon Prince and the neighbors have been hampered by a civil lawsuit regarding wetlands.

“Because of this, Ms Prince has been advised that she cannot give them the courtesy of personal communication that she gives other neighbors, lest her words, again, be twisted in court pleadings,” O’Hanlan said.

The letter filed March 3 on behalf of two sets of neighbors—the Ostlings and Curt-Bissonnettes—referred to a lack of communications with Grace Farms generally and not with Prince specifically.

Beyond the lighting issue, the letter from attorney Amy Zabetakis of Rucci Law Group said Grace has failed to halt for now—as per the town attorney’s instructions—the scheduling of new evening activities and of new “space grants” beyond what already is booked.

On that point, O’Hanlan in his letter said only that Grace Farms has supplied short- and long-term calendars and is “willing to answer any scheduling questions that you may have.”

“The [Grace Farms] Foundation believes that it had acted consistent with its January 20, 2017 letter, when it withdrew this Application in order to meet with you and the Town’s consultant to address these issues,” O’Hanlan’s letter said.

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