News

Letter: Grace Farms Opposes Proposed Cuts to Rail Service on New Canaan Branch

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To the Editor, NewCanaanite.com:

Grace Farms Foundation stands together with the town of New Canaan and with several of our community partners—the Glass House, The Chamber of Commerce and the New Canaan Nature Center, among others—in strong opposition to the decrease in rail service to New Canaan. Local commuters and visitors to New Canaan depend upon public transportation during the week as well as on weekends. Whether they come for a specific program, an architecture tour, or just to enjoy the beauty of the landscape, visitors who come to Grace Farms from New York City are also eager to explore the town and contribute significantly to its economic vibrancy. Though our site is a few miles from the center of town, our staff and visitors depend heavily on the Metro North spur line to New Canaan. Furthermore, Grace Farms has a demonstrated commitment to environmental sustainability, and this access to public transportation is vital to keeping traffic to a minimum.

Around Town

Grace Farms Withdraws Re-Filed Permit Application, Opening Questions About Long-Term Operation

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An attorney on behalf of Grace Farms this week withdrew the organization’s re-filed application for a special permit. In a short letter to the town planner dated Feb. 5, attorney Ted O’Hanlon of Stamford-based Robinson+Cole said that Grace Farms looks forward “to working with you on the implementation and enforcement” of an existing special permit, approved last fall by the Planning & Zoning Commission with 100-plus conditions. Coming on the heels of a contentious P&Z hearing where several neighbors complained that Grace Farms already has violated that existing permit in many ways, the withdrawal raises new questions about just what set of rules the Lukes Wood Road organization will operate under in the long term. According to a lawsuit filed by neighbors Timothy Curt and Dona Bissonnette of Smith Ridge Road, the post-hearing legal notices of P&Z’s decision last year were “defective, incomplete and misleading” and also failed to meet the requirements of state law and the town’s own zoning regulations.

Government

Interim Town Planner’s Contract Extended through October

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The Board of Selectmen on Tuesday voted unanimously to extend the contract of New Canaan’s interim town planner by nine months. The 3-0 vote means Keisha Fink will work in the key land use role, advising the Planning & Zoning Commission and reviewing applications that come in both to P&Z and the Zoning Board of Appeals, through October. “Keisha is doing an excellent job as interim and acting and she is a necessary part of our process and we would like to continue her for nine months,” First Selectman Kevin Moynihan said at the board’s regular meeting, held at Town Hall. He voted in favor of the extension, as did Selectmen Kit Devereaux and Nick Williams.

A former land use coordinator in Westport who hold a master’s certificate in urban and regional planning, Fink succeeded Steve Palmer in the role of town planner—he worked here for less than one year—and has been at Town Hall on an interim basis since September. New Canaan launched its search for a full-time, permanent town planner at that time.

News

Letter: A ‘Thank You’ to New Canaan

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Editor:

On behalf of STAR Inc., Lighting the Way, I would like to extend our deepest appreciation to New Canaan’s local businesses, customers and residents who supported STAR and its mission that benefits local people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) at our recent ribbon cutting and holiday shopping events. STAR is thrilled to have a new office location at 111 Elm Street with the specific goal to bring services for all ages closer to home for those in New Canaan with I/DD and their families. Our generous neighbors welcomed our open house. To Walter Stewart’s Market, ACME Markets and Garelick & Herbs, thank you for your donation of delicious food for our open house guests. To Gregg’s Garden Center and CVS, thank you for your donations of holiday decorations to dress up our front entrance and inside space.

Government

Grace Farms Seeks Changes in Re-Filed P&Z Application; Neighbor’s ‘Conflict of Interest’ Claim Targets Chairman

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As its resubmitted application goes before the Planning & Zoning Commission this week, Grace Farms is seeking to redefine parts of the town’s approval in ways that would allow for more people than the town body had envisioned on its vast campus. A key piece of P&Z’s heavily conditioned September approval calls for Grace Farms to limit how many times it may have large numbers of people on its site—for example, one condition specifies that it may have 500 to 1,200 people on the site no more than six days per year. In a proposed rewrite of those conditions, Grace Farms is seeking to apply those limits to guests at specific events, rather than total people on site. As such, those visiting Grace Farms for reasons not tied to the events—for example, to walk the property, view its celebrated River Building, eat lunch in its cafeteria, work in the library or sip tea—would not count toward the limit. The changes would “clarify” that P&Z’s limits apply “to identified/planned events, as intended, and not to non-event daily usage by church or Foundation staff, or general public visits, which are monitored by the availability of parking on site,” according to Grace Farms’s proposed changes.