The hugely influential, volunteer municipal panel that oversees private land use matters in New Canaan is seeing major changes to its membership, officials say.
Weeks after longtime Planning and Zoning Commission member David Scannell stepped down from the group, Chairman Laszlo Papp announced this week that he’s vacating his leadership role.
L-R: P&Z Commission member Dick Ward, Chairman Laszlo Papp and member Elizabeth DeLuca at the group’s April 29, 2014 meeting, held at the New Canaan Nature Center.
According to a press release issued Friday by First Selectman Rob Mallozzi, Papp in his leadership role “successfully fostered a dialogue among his fellow commissioners, institutions and developers alike that is reflected in this beautiful town we live in today.”
“His work ethic, architectural background and years serving New Canaan as an elected member of the Town Council and other appointed positions, enabled Laszlo to navigate the competing interests in a way that imparted fairness and maintained the look and feel of our town that is the envy of so many across the country,” said Mallozzi, who started working with Papp in 2007 on the Downtown Study Group.
Papp, who was not immediately available for comment, did not say he’s leaving P&Z altogether, but rather vacating his position as chairman, the first selectman said.
Scannell, whom NewCanaanite.com ran into at Zumbach’s Gourmet Coffee on Friday, called Papp “a terrific leader.”
“He has done a fine job,” Scannell said. “I could not speak more highly of him. He’s a hard worker and has got all the equipment.” (Scannell also offered high praise for Town Planner Steve Kleppin.)
Mallozzi in his press release said that at the time he met Papp, “the largest concern facing our town was build-out over and above our ‘Magic Circle’ zone and the severe impact that could have on parking and the bucolic nature of our village.”
“I learned a lot about Laszlo’s deep concern and understanding of the issues before our group. He brought a proactive approach which later culminated in guidelines and Ordinances that protected the look and feel of our community. I watched him over the next seven years apply the same level of understanding and thorough deliberation to all that has come before him.”