News

Builder, Owner Agree on Selling Price for Long-Neglected Home on God’s Acre

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A prominent, 1780-built Greek Revival-style home on God’s Acre that’s sat empty for years is poised for restoration after its owner signed a contract to sell it to a local builder, officials said Monday. Arnold Karp of Karp Associates said he and the New Canaan man who owns the property have agreed on a price for the home at 4 Main St. A bank six years ago started foreclosure proceedings and needs signs off on the sale in order for the property to be transferred, Karp said. “Our concept is the keep the façade but the house has been leaking for years—it’s a mold factory—so you have to go in and rip the insides out and start fresh,” Karp told NewCanaanite.com. “The longer they wait, the worse it is for us.”

Karp said he’s in constant communication with attorneys representing the bank and is hopeful that the sale will close soon.

News

Officials: Opponents of ‘Merritt Village’ Project Arrested After Refusing To Leave Burial Ground [UPDATED]

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Police on Thursday afternoon arrested two New Canaan residents—longtime opponents of the 110-unit ‘Merritt Village’ redevelopment on Park and Maple Streets—following what eye-witnesses call their refusal to leave a long disused burial ground adjacent to the property. Terry Spring and Jack Trifero each were charged with third-degree criminal trespass. Spring additionally was charged with interfering with an officer. According to representatives from property owner M2 Partners LLC, Spring and Trifero some time around 12:20 p.m. walked onto what has been called the “Maple Street Burial Ground” after parking in a contiguous private condominium’s lot. After New Canaan’s Planning & Zoning Commission approved the Merritt Village project last November, the question of appropriate protections for (and ownership of) the burial ground—a collection of scattered gravestones, disinterred grave shafts and even bodies that M2 itself discovered—lingered before the property owner could pursue its redevelopment project in earnest.

Government

‘There Is a Hint of Hypocrisy’: P&Z Rejects ‘Cemetery’ Claims, Signaling Cleared Final Hurdle for Merritt Village

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Planning officials on Tuesday night voiced support for proposed changes to the town’s approval for the Merritt Village, signaling the clearing of a final hurdle for the 110-unit condo-and-apartment complex. Because archeological excavations have been undertaken since the Planning & Zoning Commission’s November approval—creating a need to reword parts of it—the group at its regular meeting stopped short of formally voting on an application filed on behalf of property owner M2 Partners. Yet P&Z spoke favorably of updating conditions regarding a burial ground on the Maple Street site that M2 had found objectionable because, if upheld, they would have required the property owner to seek approval for an amended site plan. Saying they’re concerned about preserving local history, some in town have called for P&Z to designate as “cemetery” ground areas of the Maple Street property where, archeological experts have said, people who had been buried there were deliberately dug up and moved to more desirable resting places, such as Lakeview Cemetery. The remaining disinterred grave shafts are scattered throughout a substantial parcel at Merritt Apartments.

Business

‘Pop Up Park’ Organizers Eye Extended Summer Season Downtown

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The organizers of New Canaan’s ‘Pop Up Park’ downtown will seek permission to run it continuously from July 16 to Sept. 4. If approved by the Police Commission, the dates—from just after the Sidewalk Sale through Labor Day—would expand by several weeks the longest continuous run for the Pop Up Park, which was in place for three straight weeks last August. Tucker Murphy, an advisor to the Pop Up Park Steering Committee from the New Canaan Chamber of Commerce, said many visitors were disappointed last year when the park—located on South Avenue between Morse Court and Elm Street—was disassembled before what turned out to be a beautiful Labor Day weekend. The committee is “trying to build upon last year while still recognizing that some of the merchants and some people have concerns about traffic flow,” Murphy said.

News

1889-Built ‘Red Cross Building’ on Main Street Under Contract with New Owner

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The stately 1889-built structure at 51 Main St. in New Canaan, property of the Red Cross for more than 60 years, is under contract with a new owner. New Canaan resident and builder Arnold Karp of Karp Associates confirmed with NewCanaanite.com that he’s a member of a partnership that is hoping to close on the 2,600-square-foot building and .38-acre property next month. The new ownership group in the early going believes it will return the building to a residential use, though in any case the structure itself will be restored and preserved, Karp said. “We want it to continue as a character piece of New Canaan,” Karp said.