Government

Fear of ‘Demolition by Neglect’ for Historic 1780 Home on God’s Acre, in Foreclosure

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Town officials say they’re concerned that if a long-vacant 1780 home on God’s Acre doesn’t get a tenant soon it could end up a demolition-by-neglect. If the antique, Greek Revival-style home at 4 Main St. comes down it “would be horrendous in the middle of our historic district,” Janet Lindstrom, acting chairman of the Historic District Commission said at the group’s most recent meeting. “That would be just terrible, and as one can see, it’s not being occupied,” she said at the Oct. 23 meeting, held in the Town House annex meeting room at the New Canaan Historical Society.

Around Town

New Sign to Spotlight Expansive Historical Society Campus

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A new sign soon will grace the front lawn of the New Canaan Historical Society, welcoming motorists and pedestrians traveling along Oenoke there at the top of God’s Acre, as the venerable organization marks its 125th birthday this year. To be set about four or five feet behind the stone wall, between a pair of maple trees fronting Oenoke Ridge Road, the sign will appear to stand at 4.5 feet from the street-side vantage point. Executive Director Janet Lindstrom said during Thursday’s meeting of the Historic District Commission that a sign had stood in that area several years ago and was not replaced after it was vandalized. The sign’s deliberate placement and purpose is to inform passersby that the Historical Society is not a single structure (The Town House beside St. Michael’s also has a sign next to the organization’s driveway) but several on a substantial campus.

Around Town

Did You Hear … ?

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Editor’s Note: NewCanaanite.com talks to 50 people every day, and not every single piece of news we come across merits a full-blown news story. In many cases, what we discover may eventually turn into a solid article. In “Did You Hear … ?” we’ll post some of the smaller, lighter items from around town as often as we collect them. Got something for us? Email mike@nctest.proxy02.mageenet.net

The new 5,000- and 6,000-square-foot homes going in opposite Irwin Park are not finished and so it isn’t clear what kind of landscaping may screen the structures from the road itself.

Around Town

Despite Warnings, Unwanted Garbage Enclosure Lingers within Historic District

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The group of volunteers that oversees New Canaan’s historic district—a 21-building area around God’s Acre—say they intend, reluctantly, to assess a violation or fine for a Seminary Street resident who never got permission to set up a garbage can enclosure located in the driveway and has failed to communicate or comply with requests to do so. The Historic District Commission on Wednesday voted unanimously to empower its acting chairman to contact the town’s lawyer and building department regarding 18 Seminary St. “I had previously been told that it would be changed in location and taken down from that place by the 15th of May,” Janet Lindstrom said of the plastic enclosure. Before structures within the district undergo exterior changes, approval is required from the commission. The relevant section of the Town Code is Chapter 31-6, which includes this language:
“No work on any type of structure which would change the appearance of any property within the Historic District when viewed from the street line shall be begun until the property owner has filed an application with the Building Inspector and has received a certificate of appropriateness from the Historic District Commission.”
The two-story house at 18 Seminary St.

Business

Varnum’s Landlord: Pharmacy Moving Soon, New Tenant Will Not Be a Restaurant

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The owners of 91 Main St.—long home to Varnum’s Pharmacy—say they’ve received a number of inquiries from restaurateurs interested in occupying the 1940 building, but that they’re holding out for something more appropriate. New Canaan resident Terry Spring, who is part of a group that owns the commercial buildings from Varnum’s running south along Main Street—a stretch of popular retail shops in New Canaan that include mainstays Baskin-Robbins, The Toy Chest, Candy Nichols, Garelick & Herbs, People’s Bank and Handwright Gallery & Framing—said that to this point interest in the long, narrow Varnum’s space has been expressed by food businesses and “things that might compete with our current customers.”

“We want a retailer and something that will work out well with our other tenants,” Spring told NewCanaanite.com. “Young women’s accessories, for example, or exercise stuff.”

The owners at Varnum’s could not immediately be reached for comment on the timing of their planned move to 44 East Ave. (next to Goldenberry, in that strip of businesses opposite East Avenue from Cherry Street East). Spring said that the pharmacy is close, as it’s secured approval from state officials.