News

Fire Chief: YMCA Safely Evacuated Following Gas Leak Tuesday Morning

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The YMCA was safely evacuated Tuesday morning following a gas leak at the South Avenue building, fire officials say. At about 10:10 a.m., the New Canaan Fire Department responded to a report of a severed gas main into the building, according to Fire Chief Albe Bassett. “The gas main was damaged by a contractor performing utility work on the outside of the building,” Bassett said in a press release. “The contractor immediately notified the YMCA staff and pulled the fire alarm to evacuate the building when the incident occurred. All of the children in the day care, YMCA patrons, and staff were safely evacuated to the parking lot.”
NCFD used gas detection to ensure that there were no unsafe areas of accumulated gas in the building and the neighborhood surrounding the YMCA property, he said.

Business

Property Owner Seeks To Establish Pet Store with Grooming Services at Grove and Elm

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The owner of the vacant commercial building at Grove and Elm Streets is seeking to amend the New Canaan Zoning Regulations so that a new pet store planned for the space can also offer grooming services. The 2007-built glass-and-brick exterior building at 272 Elm St. has been vacant since TD Bank closed its branch there nearly four years ago. The property’s owner, V.M.I. Inc. managing principal Frank Vuoso, in 2023 proposed installing a high-end car dealership there. During a special meeting in December, the Planning & Zoning Commission approved part of a new plan from Vuoso, to change the property’s use from a bank to a retail pet store.

Board of Selectmen

Selectmen Approve $19,000 Purchase of ‘New Canaan Brick’ for Elm Street Bumpouts

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After approving the purchase of $20,000 in granite curbing for soon-to-come sidewalk “bumpouts” on Elm Street, officials this month authorized the purchase of about $19,000 in bricks for the project. The low bidder, the Bridgeport-based Homer C. Godfrey Co. ($18,404.75), came in with a far lower price than the town’s accustomed provider, Stamford-based Paramount Stone ($31,500), according to Public Works Director Tiger Mann. “I was shocked at Paramount’s price,” Mann told members of the Board of Selectmen at their Feb. 11 meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference.

News

New Canaan Man, 35, Charged with DUI After Crash

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Police after midnight Friday arrested a 35-year-old New Canaan man and charged him with driving under the influence. At about 2:11 a.m. on Feb. 21, officers responded to the area of Canoe Hill Road between Route 123 and Rosebrook Road on a report of an abandoned 911 call, police said. Arriving officers found a vehicle that had crashed into a utility police, according to a police report. Officers identified the driver and sole occupant of the vehicle and, on speaking to him, smelled alcohol on his breath among other signs of impairment, the report said.

Affordable Housing Committee

Affordable Housing: More Units Needed for ‘Moratorium’ in 2032

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Though New Canaan has qualified for a four-year exemption from a widely discussed affordable housing law—and is also expected to earn another “moratorium” from the state law known by its statute number, 8-30g, in 2028—more units likely must be built or acquired in order to get four more years of relief in 2032, according to a municipal committee that’s studying the issue. Under the state law, in towns where less than 10% of all housing stock qualifies as affordable, developers who propose projects where a certain number of units are set aside to rent at affordable rates may appeal to the state after a local Planning & Zoning Commission denies their applications. New Canaan since its last moratorium lapsed in July 2021 has received three such applications, at Weed and Elm Streets (120 units), Main Street (20 units) and Hill Street (93 units). P&Z denied all of them. Those applications are now under appeal in state Superior Court.