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Letter: Library Parking as a Win-Win for All

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As the Parking Commission debates the future of the Center School Parking Lot as parking for the new library, I would like to ask that all town governing bodies re-consider a proposal made last summer. It was suggested that the town trade the Center School Lot for the library property, and that the new Llbrary be constructed at the site of the former Center School. 

The new library will easily fit in the Center School Lot with ample room for necessary library parking, and landscaping, and perhaps also room for some municipal parking. One level of underground parking either under the library or buried beneath a landscaped lawn should be possible. The library might even be able to generate revenue from leasing long-term parking space to commuters and people who work downtown. 

The current library property could become a New Canaan Center for the Arts. The iconic 1913 Library core can be preserved and repurposed as the headquarters for New Canaan arts organizations such as the New Canaan Summer Theatre and The Glass House.

Letter: Saving the ‘Historic 1913 Library‘ Building

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Editor;

There is a lot of public interest in saving the historic 1913 library as a stand-along building, yet the New Canaan Library Board and New Canaan Town government seem oblivious to this sentiment. 

Members of the Town Council have stated that the ship has left the dock and that the issue is no longer a matter for public discussion. Others have said that First Selectman Kevin Moynihan wants this to happen, so why continue the debate, as the new library will be a gift to the town? The Board of Finance was angered when it was publicly accused of not doing proper due diligence on the library’s request for a $10 million capital contribution from the town. A member of the finance board later admitted privately that the due diligence had in fact been very superficial. Everyone is excited by the prospect of a new library.

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Letter: Preserve Original Library Building and Donor-Supported ‘Salant Room’

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Editor, New Canaanite

The modernist design for the new library is impressive, but can we not save the core of the original 1913 library in the interest of preserving one of New Canaan’s iconic historic buildings?  New Canaan Library Executive Director Lisa Oldham has stated that it is simply too expensive to restore the 1913 building, and that the library has no use for it. Honestly, 1913 is really not that old. Most of the buildings on Main Street pre-date 1900. Waveny Mansion was built in 1912. Bringing old buildings up to code and into the “modern age” is done every day across America to preserve community character. Demolition of the 1913 library will destroy the Richard Salant Reading Room.

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Letter: Alternative Sites to Oenoke Ridge for Waveny’s Proposed Independent Senior Residence

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Editor NewCanaanite,

At the November 19th Planning & Zoning Commission hearing, one of the opponents to the proposed Waveny CCRC said that the mammoth, 550-foot-long, four-story-high building would dominate the crest of Oenoke Ridge at night like a giant lit-up cruise ship. Although a couple dozen people have written letters and testified before the P&Z in support of the senior facility, the opposition of the 164 residents of the Heritage Hill Condominiums, the 500 families of St. Mark’s Church, the neighbors on Oenoke Lane, and the more than 1,400 people who have signed a petition in opposition to the Waveny CCRC at 65 Oenoke, cannot be ignored. 

Hopefully the very sound legal arguments against permitting the CCRC as presented by counsel for St. Mark’s, the Oenoke Association, and the neighbors on Oenoke, together with the significant citizen opposition, will result in this unwelcome ship being sunk by the P&Z Commission. Nobody is against the construction of a senior residence in New Canaan, the problem is where.  

The Waveny Board claims they have looked at all alternative possible sites and have ruled them out as not suitable or too expensive.

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Letter: Proposed Retirement Complex on Oenoke Ridge a Threat to ‘Small-Town Rural Feeling’

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New Canaan needs more housing for senior citizens who wish to “downsize” and remain in New Canaan. However, the question is where should it be permitted and built such that it is affordable and does not detract from New Canaan’s small-town charm? The 70-unit retirement complex which Waveny LifeCare Network proposes to build at 65 Oenoke Ridge is simply too large for the site, and will destroy the small-town rural feeling that the present zoning and Historic District designation has created as one drives into New Canaan from the north. As a member of the New Canaan Historic Society, I object strongly to the visual impact the proposed center will have on the campus of the Historical Society. As a member of St.