Dan Radman

P&Z Chairman: Town Will Hold Public Meeting Nov. 20 on Proposed Cell Tower in Northeastern New Canaan

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The town will hold a public meeting next month to gather input on an application for a proposed cell tower on private property in northeastern New Canaan, officials said Tuesday night. A joint public meeting is to be held at 7 p.m. on Nov. 20 regarding the application for an 85-foot-high “monopine” tower at 183 Soundview Lane, according to Planning & Zoning Commission Chairman John Goodwin. The meeting will be run jointly by P&Z and the Board of Selectmen, and will include representatives from wireless infrastructure consulting firm Homeland Towers, which put together an application with AT&T that is to be filed with the state agency that oversees telecommunications, Goodwin said during the Commission’s regular meeting, held at Town Hall. It will mark the first time P&Z holds such a meeting since adopting regulations last year whereby those submitting applications to the state Siting Council “are strongly encouraged” to meet with P&Z to review the need for the facility, alternate sites and the location of schools “and places of public assembly” nearby (see page 166 here).

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St. Mark’s Votes Not To Support ‘The Oenoke’ Senior Housing Complex

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Members of the St. Mark’s Episcopal Church vestry are not supportive of a widely discussed housing complex planned for a neighboring parcel on Oenoke Ridge, officials say. The vestry voted not to support Waveny LifeCare Network’s proposal for “The Oenoke” during a Sept. 22 meeting, according to an email sent to members Tuesday and obtained by NewCanaanite.com. Its decision “was not reached lightly,” said the email, signed by the Rev. Peter Walsh, rector, Senior Warden Stan Twardy and Junior Warden Mark Thorsheim.

Business

Popular Elm Street Café Seeks Permission To Place ‘Pole’ Sign Out Front

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Saying it would help bring visibility, the owner of an Italian-style café on Elm Street is seeking permission from town officials to place a “pole sign” out front of the eatery. According to Dolce owner Andrea Lombardi, patrons have had difficulty finding the café at 98 Elm St. “due to its setback from the rest of the buildings on my side of the street.”

“Unfortunately, this has been further impacted by the large planter that was recently placed on the street (in a no parking zone) in front of my business,” Lombardi said in an Aug. 23 letter to the Planning & Zoning Commission. “This sign would be upon my landlord’s property and as shown by the enclosed picture, would help ‘direct’ potential patrons to my store and inform them of what I am serving.”

The Italy native opened Dolce two months ago in the former New Canaan Olive Oil space.

David Rucci

St. Mark’s: We’re Not Ready Yet To Support ‘The Oenoke’ Senior Housing Complex

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Though supportive of Waveny LifeCare Network and of expanding local housing options for seniors, a representative from one prominent Oenoke Ridge neighbor of a proposed housing complex said the organization is not yet ready to support the project. Though Waveny asked St. Mark’s Episcopal Church for a letter of support to include in its Aug. 28 application to the Planning & Zoning Commission, the church has “some significant concerns about the CCRC project and numerous unanswered questions,” Director of Operations Jill Sautkulis said in a letter to the town planner. 

The letter, sent Aug. 22, is included in the public file for The Oenoke, a proposed 70-unit senior housing complex that would face Oenoke Ridge from part of a combined 3.5-acre parcel south of the May Fair field.

Government

P&Z Votes for $150 Annual Permit Fee for ’Airbnb’ and Other Short-Term Rental Owners 

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The Planning & Zoning Commission last week approved a measure whereby New Canaan property owners seeking to rent out their homes or rooms within them on a short-term basis, such as through the popular online service Airbnb, would need to pay an annual fee to the town. The $150 ‘Short Term Rental Permit Fee’ still requires approval by the Board of Selectmen, according to Town Planner Lynn Brooks Avni. Though not a revenue-generator, the fee would cover administrative costs such as application processing and filing, Brooks Avni told members of P&Z at their regular meeting, held Aug. 27 at Town Hall. Commissioner Bill Redman said, “It’s not a money maker but it puts them on notice they need to have the proper paperwork.