Government

‘Desecration Is Illegal’: Cemetery Expert Says Neighbor of ‘Merritt Village’ Has Paved Over Burial Plots

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Rather than search for violations connected to a proposed 116-unit apartment-and-condo complex, where no cemetery exists, leaders and historic preservationists in New Canaan should focus on the “high level of desecration” that has affected known burial plots next door, an expert in the field said Tuesday night. The eastern portion of the historic ‘Maple Street Cemetery’—not the portion owned by hopeful ‘Merritt Village’ developer M2 Partners—includes plants and mulch placed directly over known graves, and “what makes matters worse in terms of demonstrating the desecration” is a driveway that has paved over the burial sites of Rufus St. John and Richard Fairweather, according to Andrew Mellilo of Greenwich-based RVDI, a land use consulting firm. “We know there are bodies in those plots and it has been paved over,” Mellilo told members of the Planning & Zoning Commission during a special meeting, held at Town Hall. He told the commission that an underground surveying company determined that there has been no disturbance in the soil on M2’s property, such as would be caused by a decomposing body or the presence of graves.

Government

Town Attorney’s Office To P&Z: There’s No Cemetery on ‘Merritt Village’ Property

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There’s no evidence that anyone is buried in the portion of the ‘Maple Street Cemetery’ site that’s owned by the group that wants to develop a new apartment-and-condominium complex alongside it, according to the office of the New Canaan town attorney. There also exists no record that New Canaan ever intended to take title to the sliver of land, which was not conveyed to M2 Partners LLC—developer of the proposed ‘Merritt Village’ complex—by any of the entities that are allowed to own cemeteries under state law, according to Peter Gelderman of Westport-based Berchem, Moses & Devlin, P.C.

For those reasons, “it is the opinion of this office that the parcel is not a cemetery,” Gelderman said in a memo Monday to the New Canaan Planning & Zoning Commission. “There could be facts or circumstances that if proven, would change the conclusions of this opinion. For example, if it is shown that bodies are in fact buried at the subject property or if it is shown that the Town or a cemetery association or ecclesiastical society ever took title outside of the chain of title, then M2’s ownership interest would be in doubt.”

Sought by P&Z following a public hearing two weeks ago, the opinion could settle one outstanding question surrounding Merritt Village, which would occupy a large portion of the block of Park Street between Mead and Maple Streets. P&Z is scheduled to discuss Merritt during a special meeting at 7 p.m. Tuesday—the sixth public hearing at which the topic will take center stage.

Government

‘A Reasonable Consensus’: Developer of Proposed ‘Merritt Village’ Complex Reduces Number of Units, Height of Buildings

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The owners of a 3.29-acre property on the edge of downtown New Canaan on Thursday night unveiled a scaled-back version of the proposed condominium-and-apartment complex that’s caused wide discussion in town since it was presented in June. Instead of 123 units in four 4-floor multifamily dwellings, Merritt Village would have 116 units (55 condos, 61 apartments) and its townhouse-style buildings would rise no more than 3.5 stories, with some of the proposed structures coming down to two stories, according to representatives for the applicant, property owner M2 Partners. The architects of the proposal would prefer to move forward with what originally had been submitted to the town, though the modified plan takes into consideration reasonable concerns raised by third-party consultants and neighbors, Dan Granniss of project designer SLAM Collaborative of Glastonbury told members of the Planning & Zoning Commission at a special meeting. Though M2 Partners does not expect to garner “100 percent consensus,” still “we want to come to a reasonable consensus and we believe the modified design has done just that,” Granniss said during the meeting, which drew more than 100 attendees to Town Hall. The modified proposal was made public during the fourth hearing on Merritt Village, currently the site of Merritt Apartments, a 38-unit complex.

Government

Besieged by Complaints and Misinformation, ‘Merritt Village’ Developer Withdraws Offer To Restore Abutting Cemetery

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Though they’d support another group’s efforts, the owners of a 3.3-acre parcel on the edge of downtown New Canaan said Tuesday that they’re withdrawing an offer to restore, plaque and protect an abutting, long-ignored and historically important cemetery after hearing complaints that its presence should disrupt the their widely discussed redevelopment plans. When they applied to the town in June to create 123 housing units on the Merritt Apartments property where 38 now exist, the property’s owners hired a consultant who determined that Ezra Benedict’s 1852-buit “Maple Street Cemetery” is one generation away from vanishing due to neglect. After running a sonar scan of the grounds and tracking down the heirs of 52 people buried there, property owner M2 Partners developed plans for rejuvenating the cemetery into a local landmark, with reset gravestones, family grouping and a plaque recognizing the remains of those interred with no headstone. “We were happy to do that and after the effort and time and the lack of consideration back to us of the applicant, we have withdrawn our offer of fencing it off, putting a plaque on it, putting a gate there and making sure it is not a ball field,” Arnold Karp of M2 Partners said during a subcommittee meeting of New Canaan’s legislative body. “So whatever the Historical Society or the group of New Canaan residents who feel it should be taken care of, we are in favor of that,” he said at the Town Council Subcommittee on Infrastructure and Utilities meeting, held at Town Hall.

News

Letter: Opposing the Merritt Village Proposal in New Canaan

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To the Editor:

Twenty-two years ago lawyers for Avalon came to a New Canaan P&Z meeting with an application to build a housing complex on the large parking lot next to our train station. Its scale and density were massive. These lawyers told our zoning officials that before they joined Avalon they were the lobbyists that changed our state law that removed our home rule that would allow us to form our own town. Thus, to stop this unbelievable loss of controlling our own destiny, Citizens for New Canaan was formed. A group that comprised hundreds of passionate New Canaanites and its leaders to regain control of our Town.