Dionna Carlson

Officials: Town To Survey Residents To Assess Spending Priorities

By |

The town’s highest elected official said Tuesday night that his office is preparing to make a recommendation on surveying taxpayers as the budget season gets underway. Addressing the Board of Finance at its regular meeting, First Selectman Kevin Moynihan noted that during a recent pre-budget workshop that included members of the Boards of Selectmen, Education and Finance as well as the Town Council, among others, officials concluded that it would be helpful in the coming weeks to understand what residents think New Canaan’s spending priorities should be. 

“We talked about doing a survey,” Moynihan said during the meeting, held at Town Hall. “We have been looking into a professional survey … We will come back to you with some recommendation regarding a survey.”

He referred to a joint workshop—held Nov. 17 at Lapham Community Center and moderated by former Town Councilman Kathleen Corbet—where officials shared opinions on who or what municipal body is responsible for the budget and what percentage budget increase would be acceptable to taxpayers, given New Canaan’s services. Speaking on behalf of a group that included Town Councilmen Mike Mauro and Jim Kucharczyk and Board of Education members Tom Cronin and Brendan Hayes, Councilman Liz Donovan said during the workshop that New Canaan might consider focusing on what drives demand in the town rather than specific increases in municipal spending.

Around Town

Group Works To Continue Christmas Eve Caroling at God’s Acre

By |

A group of local volunteers have formed a new entity to ensure that a beloved New Canaan tradition, long supported by some of the town’s most generous individuals and families, continues in perpetuity. Though it may appear to spring up spontaneously from the patch of ground on which New Canaan was founded, the cherished Christmas Eve caroling at God’s Acre is in fact the result of multiple coordinated steps and support from families such as the Hersams and Karls, and residents such as Steve Benko, officials say. With the sale in October of Hersam Acorn Newspapers Inc. to Hearst, the multiple “moving parts” overseen for decades by the former New Canaan Advertiser publishers—getting lights on the tree, printing 2,000 songsheets, setting up barricades and the bandstand and making arrangements for the New Canaan Town Band as well as coordinating with groups such as the Congregational Church of New Canaan, New Canaan Police Department and Department of Public Works—all must fall to new people. Enter Benko, Tucker Murphy, Tom Stadler, Steve Karl, Leo Karl III and Scott Gress. Following multiple multi-hour meetings in recent days, they formed the God’s Acre Caroling Foundation, established to collect donations and ensure that the century-old traditional can continue (see mailing info below).

Government

Town Council To Consider Regulating Lawn Signs in Public Spaces

By |

With multiple political lawn signs crowding traffic islands, street-side grass verges and other conspicuous public areas throughout New Canaan, local officials say they’re eager to figure out whether and how the town may regulate them. With Election Day rapidly approaching, it’s probably too late this year to solve the problem of over-proliferating lawn signs, according to members of the Town Council Bylaws and Ordinances Committee. 

Yet some sort of public service announcement is in order, according to Committee Co-Chair Steve Karl. “There are a lot of people who have looked at the number of signs and say, ‘What happened?’ “ Karl said at the Committee’s special meeting, held Monday in Town Hall. “This particular election is so competitive that there are more signs out than normal. And a lot of the separate candidates have their own people coming to town sticking signs wherever they think there are high traffic areas—off the Parkway, rotaries, that type of thing.

Footer Featured Widget

Real Estate Signs: Town Council To Propose ‘For Sale’ Sign Regulation to P&Z

By |

Members of the town’s legislative body said on Monday that they would debate whether and how widely posted ‘For Sale’ signs in New Canaan may be phased out through regulations, and then would bring a recommendation to the Planning & Zoning Commission. In discussing the future of real estate signs in New Canaan, the Town Council itself first would hold what members expect to be well-attended public hearings, as would P&Z, officials said. “Ultimately I would see one of the best attended P&Z meetings that you have ever had, because it would be a big decision and you would have to hear both sides of the argument,” Steve Karl, co-chair of the Town Council’s Bylaws and Ordinances Committee, said at the group’s special meeting, held in Town Hall. “And ultimately you would make the decision on whether to amend the policy or not. It’s not going to happen over one meeting.

Government

P&Z To Study Concerns Surrounding Airbnb Rentals, with An Eye on Updating Regulations

By |

The chairman of the Planning & Zoning Commission said Monday night that the appointed body is to study problems associated with short-term home rentals through a popular online service, with an eye on possibly updating local regulations. Though initial concerns presented by Airbnb emerged in New Canaan several months ago, P&Z did not immediately address it because the town was in process of hiring a new planner, according to John Goodwin. But she’s now in place, a second Airbnb problem on New Norwalk Road has emerged “and I have concluded that I had to more aggressively deal with it,” he told members of the Town Council’s Bylaws and Ordinances Committee during their special meeting. Specifically, he said, P&Z Commissioner Krista Neilson and Town Planner Lynn Brooks Avni will study Airbnb in New Canaan, make an assessment and report back to the full Commission with recommendations. 

“There are already sections of the regulations that deal, we think, with Airbnb and the preliminary thought is it looks like they may already be in violation of the regulations without us even having regulations that are specific to Airbnb, so take that as an idea that is being talked about,” Goodwin said at the meeting, held in Town Hall. A guest at the meeting, Goodwin made his comments to a committee of the legislative body that’s looking at a number of possible new or updated ordinances.