Around Town

Did You Hear … ?

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Police at 6:20 p.m. on May 17 received a report of a motor vehicle “keyed” in the parking lot behind Athletic Shoe Factory on Forest Street. Authorities have no suspects and the case is closed, police said. ***

There’s still time: New Canaan High School Theatre’s final show of the season, “Disaster!”—described as “Broadway’s side-splitting homage to classic disaster films”—is showing at 7 p.m. this Friday and Saturday, May 26 and 27. Ticket info here. ***

Sign up here to volunteer at the New Canaan Combine on Oct.

Around Town

Podcast: The Gracie Fund for Pediatric Cancer

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This week on 0684-Radi0, our free podcast (subscribe here in iTunes), we talk to New Canaan’s Chris Falsetta about the Gracie Fund for Pediatric Cancer. Founded by the Falsetta family following a recent diagnosis of leukemia in their 12-year-old daughter, the Gracie Fund is the designated beneficiary for this year’s New Canaan Combine, a fun athletic competition between the New Canaan Police and Fire Departments, as well as community members of all ages. The Combine is scheduled for Oct. 1 (here’s a signup form to volunteer at the event and here’s information on how to sponsor and join a team—click here to contribute directly). Here are recent episodes of 0684-Radi0:

News

Risk of Injury Charge for 42-Year-Old Man

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Police on Monday arrested a 42-year-old Norwalk man by warrant and charged him with two counts of risk of injury to a child, a felony offense, and disorderly conduct. The charges stem from an investigation that authorities launched in March, according to a police report. Under state law, a person is guilty of risk of injury to a child if he or she “willfully or unlawfully causes or permits any child under the age of sixteen years to be placed in such a situation that the life or limb of such child is endangered, the health of such child is likely to be injured or the morals of such child are likely to be impaired, or does any act likely to impair the health or morals of any such child,” or “has contact with the intimate parts … of a child under the age of sixteen years or subjects a child under sixteen years of age to contact with the intimate parts of such person, in a sexual and indecent manner likely to impair the health or morals of such child,” among other reasons.  

It’s unclear what led to the charges in this case. Police withheld details, saying it’s a domestic matter. The man turned himself in to police at about 11:45 a.m. on May 22. 

He was released on $10,000 bond and scheduled to appear May 23 in state Superior Court.

Arnold Karp

Affordable Housing: State Issues ‘Declaratory Ruling’ Against the Town in Moratorium Application

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The state last week issued a ruling that bolsters its decision in October to deny the town’s application for four years of relief from a widely discussed affordable housing statute. The town had pushed back following the Connecticut Department of Housing’s denial of its application for a “moratorium” from the state law known by its statute number, 8-30g. The law allows developers who propose housing projects where at least 30% of units will be rented at affordable rates to get around local Planning & Zoning Commission decisions through an appeal process. 

The town had qualified for a four-year moratorium in 2017, with the denser redevelopment of New Canaan Housing Authority-owned apartments Millport Avenue, and hoped to qualify for another one, in part, through the redevelopment of the Canaan Parish complex at Lakeview Avenue and Route 123, which was partially completed in October 2021. 

Yet that project was delayed by financing difficulties and the COVID-19 pandemic, officials have said. In the months after the 2017-issued moratorium expired, the town received three such applications, at Weed and Elm Streets (120 units), Main Street (20 units) and Hill Street (93 units). Last July—more than one year after the 2017-issued moratorium expired—the town applied for another one.

News
NCPD

DUI Charge for New Canaan Man, 56

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Police after midnight Sunday arrested a 56-year-old New Canaan man and charged him with driving under the influence. At about 1:32 a.m. on May 21, officers responded to the area of Marvin Ridge and Nursery Roads on a report of a single-car crash, police said. 

The vehicle had left the roadway and struck an embankment, according to a police report. Police identified the New Canaan man, a Weeburn Drive resident, as the driver, and found signs of impairment and smelled alcohol on him during a subsequent interview, the report said. The man was unable to complete field sobriety tests, it said, and police transported him to headquarters where they brought the misdemeanor DUI charge. There, the man refused to provide a breath sample to establish his blood-alcohol level, police said.