Government

Town Council to Preservationists on Waveny House: ‘The Public Needs Time’

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Saying any change to New Canaan’s most treasured asset merits inclusive and careful consideration, town officials on Wednesday called for a full public vetting of a proposal to place Waveny House on the National Register of Historic Places. In thanking the nonprofit New Canaan Preservation Alliance for its drive, research and conscientiousness in gathering information on what inclusion on the register could mean for the town (more on that below), members of the Town Council also agreed to proceed slowly in order to inform and hear from residents. Chairman Bill Walbert said that when New Canaan deals with a “treasure” such as Waveny House, “the public needs time to digest things.”

“As much as your group is absolutely to be commended for all the volunteer work you do to move this ball forward and the sincere interest you take in the historic facilities in this town, to preserve them for all of us—thank you so much–I think a political reality is when dealing with Waveny House, the public needs time to digest things,” Walbert said during a special meeting of the Town Council, held in the Douglas Room at Lapham Community Center. Ultimately the Town Council decided that it would further research what inclusion in the National Registry entails, offer the matter up for public hearing and make a formal decision no sooner than September. Addressing the council, NCPA President Rose Scott Long described inclusion on the National Register as “largely ceremonial” though “it does increase the recognition of an area’s historic relevance and encourages preservation.”

The nonprofit group in 2012 held a 100th anniversary celebration at Waveny House, attended by the actor Christopher Lloyd, a Lapham who grew up there.

Government

Coming to Pine Street Parking Lot: 90-Minute Spaces at $1 per Hour

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The volunteer group that oversees off-street parking in New Canaan wants the 15 non-handicapped spaces in the Pine Street parking lot for downtown commercial—as opposed to commuter—use, and designated at 90 minutes for each space at a rate of $1 per hour. The Parking Commission additionally will recommend to those in charge of on-street that the seven parking space up alongside Mrs. Green’s on Pine Street switch from 15 minutes—a relic from the post office days—to 90 minutes. Business and town leaders attending the commission’s meeting Thursday night at Lapham Community Center urged the group to designate the spaces in the Pine Street lot—that’s the one on the northeast corner at Park and Pine, where you can exit by driving past the postal mail drop-off boxes—for commercial rather than commuter use. “I understand that at one point it was a commuter lot,” Tucker Murphy, executive director of the New Canaan Chamber of Commerce and a guest at the meeting, said when asked for her view. “I think you have been hearing a lot of need to keep it as an open lot.