Government

Inland Wetlands To Prospective New Canaan Homeowners: ‘Buyer Beware’

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New Canaan is seeing an uptick in the number of Inland Wetlands violations cited by the town—an unsettling trend that officials attribute, in part, to a lack of knowledge among homeowners who aren’t checking to see whether their plans require permits. Asked to summarize the situation for prospective property owners in New Canaan, Inland Wetlands Director Kathy Holland said: “Buyer beware.”

“Buyer beware of the particulars: lot-by-lot, as far as where the wetlands are located, whether there is good information for that location, whether or not it has been field-tested by a certified soil scientist. That’s the requirement. That’s the only way to know whether wetlands are present or absent.”

New Canaan’s Inland Wetlands Regulations (they can be found, along with other resources, by selecting ‘Inland Wetlands’ from the dropdown menu on this page), like those of other municipalities, follow from what is commonly called the “Clean Water Act” of 1972. The provisions within it protect the environment, and people’s health, by setting standards in areas such as groundwater, flooding, erosion and pollution.

Government

Two Property Owners Cited for Inland Wetlands Violations

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Vigilant residents recently alerted town officials to unusual landscaping activity on neighbors’ properties, in what turned out to be two violations of local regulations designed to protect fragile natural resources in New Canaan. Expert consultants are scheduled to come before the Inland Wetlands Commission on Monday to present mitigation plans for violations at 277 Old Stamford Road and 589 Oenoke Ridge Road, according to the agenda for the group’s regular meeting, to be held in the Town Hall Meeting Room. On Old Stamford Road, on a 1.24-acre property purchased last summer, the new homeowner hired a landscaping crew to remove all vegetation from an approximately quarter-acre parcel that happened to be wetlands, as well as part of a conservation easement carved out during a subdivision many years ago. Officials found that on the Oenoke Ridge Road property, a 2.62-acre parcel that was sold less than four months ago, the new homeowner had hired a contractor to fill in a pond, in clear violation of New Canaan’s Inland Wetlands and Watercourses Regulations (where a pond is defined as a “watercourse” whether it’s natural or manmade). Asked about the violations, Inland Wetlands Director Kathy Holland urged homeowners and professionals who deal in landscaping and related fields to come to her department at Town Hall with any questions concerning planned projects around their properties.

Around Town

The Kiwanis Club of New Canaan Grants $16,000 to Local Organizations Serving Youth

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The Kiwanis Club of New Canaan met at the New Canaan YMCA on Friday to give $16,000 to 16 local nonprofit organizations serving youth, thanks largely to funds raised at the Zerbini Family Circus last June. According to Kiwanian David Hoyle, an attorney who sits on the club’s Allocations Subcommittee, just three years ago the club was only able to give away $2,000. “I think it is just a wonderful thing to be able to give this much money away,” Hoyle told the New Canaanite. “You feel like you’re making that much more of a difference. It’s really great and it’s wonderful because of all of the work that the folks and [Kiwanian] Kathy [Holland] and [YMCA Marketing Director] Kristina [Barrett] do for the service.