Town officials this week approved a plan to re-install barricades along the north side of Elm Street’s one-way stretch for nearly its entire length.
Put in place during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the water-filled white barriers will run from the area out front of Patisserie Salzburg to the alley in front of Chef Luis, following a unanimous vote by the Police Commission during a special meeting Tuesday.
They’re designed to expand outdoor dining options in New Canaan, and could become part of an effort to widen the sidewalks on that side of Elm Street permanently, even beyond the stretch from South Avenue to the Playhouse whose construction is now underway.
“The weather is starting to warm up and I think it’s time to discuss and hopefully approve more expanded outdoor dining,” Police Chief Leon Krolikowski said during the Commission’s meeting, held via videoconference.
“I know our residents love it and every time I walk up Elm Street I know people are very appreciative of what we can do, he said. “And given that I am starting to see more positive COVID cases in town and starting to see it surge a little bit, I think it’s smart for us to move that forward and expand the outdoor dining as much as possible to support our great restaurants and merchants in town. I think it’s a very appreciated endeavor and I think it’s time to move that forward again.”
Because the town is legally required to preserve an unobstructed four-foot pedestrian way—and cannot, following a complaint of Americans with Disabilities Act violations filed last summer, funnel pedestrians into the street, even if they’re protected by barriers—restaurants will have the option to set up tables in the barricade-protected areas of Elm Street itself, rather than on the sidewalk, according to those who attended the meeting, including municipal department heads from Public Works, Health and Land Use.
New Canaan Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Laura Budd, a guest at the meeting, said, “Whatever we decide, we are going to end up making people unhappy.”
“Any time we lose parking it’s going to be an issue,” Budd said when asked for her view. “I think we are going to get some pushback. People associate barriers with COVID and really it’s about the ADA compliance. And that’s just what we are going to work really hard to explain to the stores, that this is what it’s about and that we have to create the right room in the right way. I think the residents will be happy and I hope this is a step toward a permanent bump-outs and that makes it easier to explain, as well. But we will have some unhappy stores, for sure.”
Commission Chair Paul Foley said in response, “Of course we are very merchant-friendly. We are also restaurant-friendly but also citizen-friendly , so and it’s hard to appease all three at the same time and we recognize that.”
Foley, Commission Secretary Jim McLaughlin and member Shekaiba Bennett voted 3-0 in favor of the change.
The Commission’s vote expands the barrier configuration through April 2023, Foley said.
This week, following a recent vote by the Board of Selectmen, the town is starting work on permanently expanding the sidewalk on the north side of Elm Street from its eastern intersection with South Avenue to just past the Playhouse. Public Works Director Tiger Mann said that the white barricades would be removed from that stretch as the granite and brick installation progressed.
That long-planned sidewalk widening—part of a larger plan that includes some areas on the south side of Elm Street—had already received approval from the Police and Planning & Zoning Commissions. The Police Commission itself can make decisions on non-permanent changes, such as the re-installation of the temporary barricades. Foley encouraged Mann to seek P&Z approval for making permanent the widening of sidewalks from Patisserie Salzburg to the alley by Chef Luis.
The U.S. Department of Justice in August launched an investigation into the town of New Canaan for ADA violations. The DOJ’s U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Connecticut “received a complaint that New Canaan has not placed any restrictions on the restaurants and shops that are extending their businesses outside onto the sidewalk in town,” according to an Aug. 10 letter to First Selectman Kevin Moynihan from Leonard Boyle, acting U.S. attorney for the District of Connecticut. The town responded to the DOJ the following month.
When some at the meeting said they would have preferred that restaurants could set up the expanded outdoor dining on the sidewalk, as in the past, Mann noted that “there is a separate state law that requires the pedestrian way to be on the sidewalk, no longer in the right-of-way.”
Chief Building Official Brian Platz said, “One of the primary issues there is that if you had someone on the sidewalk in a wheelchair with the curb there, if they had to detour around tables and chairs on to the street where you had the barricade, and then try to get back on the sidewalk again, the curb would prohibit them from doing that. And that is why we can’t send them off sidewalk, onto the street and then back on the sidewalk again.”
In walking on Elm Street yesterday, it makes much more sense to allow restaurants to use the road barrier area for dining and keep a clear walkway on the sidewalk. Last year, it was a constant challenge to walk through the barrier area as cars parked too close and you had to zigzag. People who are visually impaired, and I speak of a family member who is so, were very challenged to navigate the walking area. It is also much more attractive as it is more uniform and the tables and umbrellas somewhat camouflage the area. The area on Forest Street should be considered as well as last year, the dining areas kept getting pushed further out until there was no more than 2-3 feet to walk. I love the outdoor dining and would like it to be consistent and attractive as well.