Animal 411

New Take on Existing Rule Bans Dogs Outright from Town Hall

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A new interpretation of an existing local ordinance is raising hackles among some residents long accustomed to entering Town Hall with their canine pets in tow. In years past, during this the licensing season for dogs, the animals were allowed to enter the Town Clerk’s office with their owners when renewing a license or getting a new one. But with the reopening of Town Hall following a major renovation and addition, New Canaan is enforcing more strictly a rule that’s been on the books for 12 years—a disappointment to Town Clerk Claudia Weber. “It has been a time-honored tradition to come to the Town Clerk’s office every year with your dogs to get your dog license, and we give out biscuits,” Weber said. “When I first became Town Clerk [in 1998], I started something called the ‘Make Your Beagle Legal,’ and people would come in and I try to make that a mandated event, something that was fun and it gave government kind of a warm and friendly face.”

Yet section 6.8.D of the Town Code now is being strictly enforced, as several ‘No Dogs Allowed’ signs at 77 Main St.

Government

Forest Street Homeowner Cited for Blight, Faces $10,000 in Fines

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A New Canaan homeowner is facing $10,000 in fines after building officials found Friday that his 1829-built home on Forest Street has run afoul of the town’s blight ordinance. The multi-family home at 74 Forest St.’s roof is deteriorating and no longer performing its function, garbage and debris can be seen inside a garage when its door is open, paint is peeling from the porch and other areas of the home’s exterior and overgrown shrubbery and an unkempt yard are visible—all from either the public way or adjoining properties, Chief Building Official Brian Platz said during a citation hearing on the matter. “The blight complaints that I have received have been over the course of three-and-a-half years and from several of the neighbors, so this has been ongoing for quite some time,” Platz said during the hearing, held in the conference room of the building department’s offices in Irwin Park. “In my opinion, it absolutely meets several definitions of blight.”

Hearing officer David Hunt of New Canaan reviewed each piece of evidence presented by Platz, agreed with the building official’s assessment and approved a fine of $100 per day backdated to Feb. 13 ($9,800 total, as of Friday), when a Citation of Violation had been sent via certified mail to the homeowner.

Around Town

Did You Hear … ?

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Many New Canaanites by now have seen a rendering of the Midcentury Modern-inspired commercial building that John and Melissa Engel have planned for the lot at 215 Elm St. The architect on the project is Westport-based Frederick William Hoag. Some time after John Engel explained what he had in mind to a University of Maryland School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation professor, a document that included some truly fascinating concepts came in from students (see above). The Maryland architecture program been called the only one in the nation that includes professional Masters programs and related PhD-level studies in planning, preservation and real estate development within the same school. ***

Bill Egan, the newly hired principal of New Canaan High School, has gotten into the spirit of the job very quickly: At his formal introduction at the Board of Education meeting on Monday night, board member Sheri West astutely noted, Egan was sporting a NCHS Rams tie.

Around Town

New Canaan Nonprofits Participating in ‘Giving Day’

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On Thursday, some 18 New Canaan nonprofit organizations will participate in a 24-hour fundraising blitz known as Giving Day. Hosted by the Fairfield County Community Foundation under the slogan “Give Where You Live” and with a goal of raising $1 million on a single day, Giving Day invites donors to give at least $10 to as many charities as they can. The organization that has the most individual donations will win an extra $25,000, while the organization that raises the most money will get another $20,000 (more information on prizes is available here). We asked participating local nonprofits to send us a single sentence communicating to NewCanaanite.com readers why they’re a great candidate for a donation on this day. Here are the New Canaan nonprofits, according to the Giving Day website, with their responses (those agencies that have not yet responded can email me directly at editor@nctest.proxy02.mageenet.net and I will update this story):

A Better Chance of New Canaan: “The mission of the ABC of New Canaan is to offer capable minority youth the opportunity to learn in a superior educational program while also preparing them to assume positions of responsibility and leadership in American society.”
Carriage Barn Arts Center/New Canaan Society for the Arts: “Please support the New Canaan Society for the Arts/Carriage Barn Arts Center on this Fairfield County Giving Day and help us fulfill our goal of providing exceptional art exhibitions, accessible children’s art education, and cultural programs.”
Filling in the Blanks: “Your support will allow FILLING IN THE BLANKS to provide over 300 hungry children with meals on the weekend.”
Future 5: “Now with over 100 active members, Future 5 is helping motivated, low income high school students stay on track and connect to their full potential.”
Getabout
Hungry Kidzz: “We provide weekend bags of food during the summer, a 4th of July ‘Freedom (barbecue) Box’ and 1000s of holiday stockings in December.”

Animal 411

‘Miraculous’ Rescue of Cat Stuck in Schoolhouse Apartments Wall for Five Days

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A New Canaan nonprofit organization, carpenter and handyman are earning high praise this weekend after orchestrating what’s being called the “miraculous” rescue of a cat that was stuck in a wall for five days. Lady, a black-and-white domestic short-haired cat, went missing at about 11 a.m. Monday and was finally freed around 7 p.m. Friday from the very narrow wall space between a closet and bathroom at Schoolhouse Apartments, according to the South Avenue senior housing complex’s manager, Tatiana DeJesus. The young feline’s ordeal started soon after she apparently leapt onto an upper cabinet and then through a drop ceiling at the apartment of the resident who was fostering and seeking to adopt her, DeJesus said. “One of my residents came to me almost crying,” DeJesus recalled. Staff members looked hard for the animal but couldn’t find her for days until DeJesus spotted an area in the back that looked out of reach.