Government

Smell of Exhaust Prompts Officials To Close Town Hall on Tuesday

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Town Hall was closed at about 10:30 a.m. Tuesday after the smell of exhaust—a problem that first cropped up in December—once again emerged in the newly renovated and expanded municipal building. Mike Pastore, director of the Department of Public Works, said the problem is definitely with the boilers, although just what is causing it remains unknown. Officials are investigating now. An email went out to employees in the building from First Selectman Rob Mallozzi. Firefighters had been dispatched to Town Hall before dawn on Tuesday on a report of the strong odor of exhaust.

Government

‘Why Would You Want This Clutter?’: P&Z Opposes Lawn Signs at Town Hall

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Members of the Planning & Zoning Commission are urging officials to leave the front lawn of Town Hall free of event and campaign signs as the recently renovated and expanded building at 77 Main St. phases back in as the central location for municipal offices. Prior to closing for the major construction project two years ago, some 30 to 40 requests to place signs on the front lawn of Town Hall came in each year, officials said Tuesday at a special meeting of the Board of Selectmen. It isn’t clear just how that proliferation developed, but with a “signature building like the new Town Hall” that “looks wonderful and is landscaped fairly well,” it doesn’t make sense to place signs out from, P&Z Commission Secretary Jean Grzelecki said at the meeting, held in the Training Room at the New Canaan Police Department. Said fellow P&Z Commissioner Elizabeth DeLuca, head of the group’s sign committee: “We have this beautiful building and landscape design, and why would you want this clutter in front of this building?”

Though they stopped short of a formal vote, First Selectman Rob Mallozzi and Selectman Beth Jones both voiced support for the P&Z recommendation.

Government

Officials To Decide Whether To Allow Lawn Signs in front of Town Hall

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With a renovated and expanded Town Hall re-opening and increased foot traffic expected at 77 Main St. as more municipal departments move back in through the summer, officials are opening the question of whether promotional signs should be allowed on its front lawn. A drop in requests to place lawn signs out front of Town Hall in recent months may be attributed to the recent construction there, and landscaping plans call for a more park-like feel that may not lend itself to signage, officials said Tuesday during the Board of Selectmen meeting. Though rules are in place about just what events or causes can be promoted on Town Hall’s front lawn (local), what types of organizations it’s meant for (mostly nonprofit) and what styles of signs may be used, the town has never set a cap on how many signs can be put there at one time, officials say. “My personal opinion is that we have a beautiful Town Hall—Keith Simpson and the Beautification League are doing a wonderful job in designing a landscape,” First Selectman Rob Mallozzi said during the meeting, held in the Training Room at the New Canaan Police Department.

News

Police Urge DOT to Reverse Denial of Main Street Crosswalk at Town Hall

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Seeking to accommodate what long has been established as pedestrian behavior downtown, New Canaan Police are urging state officials to reverse a recent decision a request for a crosswalk at the Town Hall driveway off of Main Street. Permission is needed from the Connecticut Department of Transportation to designate a pedestrian walkway across Main, because it’s a state road along that stretch (Route 124). There’s no denying that New Canaanites cross the road just there, rather than hiking up toward Vine Cottage or down in front of Varnum’s Pharmacy—on a weekday last month, police saw 96 pedestrians cross mid-block in a 2-hour period. Yet the DOT has said it has safety concerns about the crosswalk. Police have responded with a letter that says, in part: “We do not concur with the preliminary recommendation to deny the request.

Government

New Canaan Seeks State Approval for Main Street Crosswalk

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New Canaan is seeking state approval for a crosswalk that would run across Main Street from beside the driveway to the Town Hall parking lot. Designed to ease foot traffic and improve safety near a hairy downtown intersection, officials are hoping the proposed crosswalk gets a nod from the Connecticut Department of Transportation prior to the newly renovated Town Hall’s reopening next Spring. Michael Pastore, director of the New Canaan Department of Public Works, said most people cross Main just at that section anyway. “Most people going to the restaurants and shops cross there, and that [proposed crosswalk] is up in the air, the DOT is having a hard time with it,” he said. The state likely requires a fuller traffic plan for the entire area to green light the proposed crosswalk—which would run cross Main from the south side of the Town Hall driveway, Pastore said.