Business

Officials: New Canaan Needs More Formal Way To Review Architecture of Proposed Building Projects Downtown

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Saying that guidelines for maintaining and enhancing the village feel of downtown New Canaan need more teeth, planning officials are seeking a more formal way to review the architecture, scale and materials of proposed building projects in the business district. Members of a Planning & Zoning Commission subcommittee said at their most recent meeting that New Canaan must find a better way to ensure adherence to a 27-page document created in 2010 called the ‘Village District Design Guidelines.’

Though P&Z created that document, “we never put a tight set of regulations around it,” Jean Grzelecki of the Plan of Conservation & Development Implementation Committee said at the group’s most recent meeting. “We have a design manual which is something we recommend that everybody follows, and maybe we could strengthen that by adding it a as a special permit to the business district,” she said at the Nov. 28 meeting, held in Town Hall. “Some reasonable adherence to the design manual, because everyone once in a while we get some very strange-looking stuff.

Government

‘The Town’s Heritage Is Being Eroded’: Objection Filed in Planned Demolition of 1829-Built Forest Street Home

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A town resident and historic preservationist has filed a formal objection to the razing of a multi-family house on Forest Street that once was cited for blight. The red-painted, 2,500-square-foot house at 74 Forest St.—the fifth residence on the west side of the street, running north out of downtown New Canaan—dates to 1829, tax records show. The property in July was purchased for $603,750 by a limited liability company whose principals are James and Gregory Demirjian of New Canaan, according to records on file with the Connecticut Secretary of the State. It was transferred the following month to a different LLC controlled by the same two individuals. It isn’t clear what is planned for the lot—no building permit application has yet come into the town.

Around Town

P&Z Denies Aquarion’s Bid To Subdivide Indian Waters Drive Property

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Saying a wooded property at the end of Indian Waters Drive is too narrow to subdivide and that a development proposal is out of keeping with the residential neighborhood at the end of a private access way, officials on Tuesday night denied an application to carve out two building lots there. The Planning & Zoning Commission voted 9-0 to deny the closely followed special permit and two-lot subdivision applications, filed on behalf of Aquarion. Though the proposed subdivision would set aside 4.1 acres of open space, it provides no real access to it, according to commissioner Laszlo Papp. “I do not believe that the commission has the authority to waive that requirement [for accessibility to open space], either by Special Permit or otherwise,” Papp said during the commission’s regular meeting, held at Town Hall. “So that I see as a serious problem for approval.

Around Town

Did You Hear … ?

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Longtime Utilities Commission member and chairman Tom Tesluk resigned Nov. 8 from the volunteer group. ***

Two Old Norwalk Road dogs are under home quarantine through Nov. 21—one after biting, the other after scratching a home heating oil man during a service visit at the residence on Election Day. An Eskimo dog bit the man in the left calf, and a boxer mix scratched him.

Government

‘Negative Ramifications for the Community of New Canaan’: Consultant on Grace Farms’ Proposed Changes to Zoning Regulations

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Proposed changes to the regulations that govern land use in New Canaan, now before the town, appear harmless but in fact have dramatic and harmful implications, according to a consultant hired by a set of neighbors opposed to them. Grace Farms’ proposed text amendments to the New Canaan Zoning Regulations appear “innocuous at first blush,” according to Don Poland, senior vice president and managing director of urban planning at East Hartford-based Goman+York. Yet if the Planning & Zoning Commission were to approve the organization’s application, it would “exacerbate the issues of appropriate scale, intensity of use and threats of encroachment across all zones—residential and commercial—in New Canaan,” Poland said in a report filed with P&Z. Specifically, Grace Farms—a “religious institution,” under the regulations—is for practical reasons seeking permission to have more than one such principal use designation. Yet “if the proposed regulation amendment is approved, not only can Grace Farms Foundation be allowed to continue its request for multiple principal uses, but also could subsequently apply for additional principal uses, such as Elderly Housing, Adult Housing, Congregate Care, Bed and Breakfast, Private School, Day Care and Private Recreation,” according to Poland’s May 15 report.