Did You Hear … ?

New Canaan Police at 11:11 p.m. on June 28 received a report of a car (unlocked, keys inside) stolen from the Roger Sherman Inn. It was recovered by the New York City Police Department. ***

The Summer Theatre of New Canaan’s production of “The Little Mermaid” opens this weekend at the New Canaan High School auditorium. Tickets here. ***

Firefighters responded to Rosie on Elm Street last Thursday following an electrical fire with the wiring to the exhaust fan for the restaurant’s cooking exhaust system, officials say.

New Construction Planned for Forest Street

The New Canaan Building Department has received an application for a 3,500-square-foot house on Forest Street. The 2.5-story, four-bedroom home at 132 Forest St. will include four full bathrooms, one half-bath, a fireplace and two-bay garage, according to the building permit application filed June 6. The house will have a finished attic and partially finished basement. 

It will cost about $667,500 to build, the application said. The contractor on the job is CT Real Estate Ventures LLC, the architect AWA Design Group, both of Stamford.

DUI Charge for 20-Year-Old Man

Police just after midnight on June 14 arrested 20-year-old Fairfield man and charged him with driving while under 21 with a blood-alcohol level of more than .02, a misdemeanor offense. At about 11:50 p.m. on June 13 (a Friday), an officer at Main and Elm Streets saw a vehicle exit the Morse Court Lot and drive under the posted speed limit on South Avenue, according to a police report. The officer followed the car onto Maple Street, where it failed to make a complete stop at Park Street, the report said. The officer stopped the vehicle at South Avenue and Mead Street, and smelled alcohol on the driver’s breath, it said. After conducting field sobriety tests, the man was arrested and also cited for failure to drive right. 

At headquarters, the driver provided two breath samples, testing at .1157 and .1115—both over the legal limit for all motorists. 

He was released on $300 bond and scheduled to appear June 27 in state Superior Court. 

The case has been statutorily sealed, Connecticut Judicial Branch records show.

Affordable Housing: Judge Upholds Developer’s Appeal in Complex at Weed and Elm

A state Superior Court judge last week ordered the New Canaan Planning & Zoning Commission to approve a widely discussed application to build a large housing complex at Weed and Elm Streets. P&Z in 2023 denied the application, filed on behalf of local developer Arnold Karp under a state affordable housing law known by its statute number, 8-30g. In denying the application for a 102-unit complex at 751 Weed St., the town cited “public interests in fire safety, pedestrian safety and a stormwater management plan,” Judge Edward “Ted” O’Hanlan wrote in a 98-page decision issued July 1. He continued: “It further asserts that these interests outweigh the need for affordable housing and that either plaintiff was unwilling to make reasonable changes or that such changes could not be made to protect the identified public interests. This court disagrees.”

According to O’Hanlan, P&Z “has not met its burden to prove that its denial was necessary to protect these public interests, or that these public interests as identified outweighed the need for affordable housing and could not be protected by reasonable changes to the site plan.

DUI: Man, 75, Tests at More Than Twice the Legal Limit

Police on Sunday night arrested a 75-year-old New Rochelle, N.Y. man and charged him with driving under the influence. At about 7:27 p.m. on June 29, officers responded to the area of Silvermine and New Norwalk Roads on a report of a drunk man walking in the street, police said. Through an investigation, officers established that the man had parked his car on East Avenue, then got out of the car and, according to witnesses, staggered into the roadway, a police report said. Confronted, the man said that he had been drinking, the report said. Police found additional signs of impairment, it said.