Government

‘A Fundamental Mismatch’: Neighbors Voice Concerns About Proposed Parade Hill Road Development

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Neighbors of a proposed 14-unit affordable housing structure on Parade Hill Road during the most recent regular Planning & Zoning Commission meeting raised concerns about the building’s size and appropriateness for the neighborhood, as well as traffic, public safety, flooding, aesthetics, noise and screening. Addressing P&Z during a public hearing held March 31 at Town Hall and via videoconference, those opposed to the project at 30 Parade Hill Road said they support additional affordable housing in New Canaan, but not such a large building on a .37-acre site that fronts a windy road already overburdened by large commercial and speeding vehicles. Those speaking out against the 8-30g project—exempt from the town’s active “moratorium” from the state law, due to its size (less than 40 units) and plan to rent all units at affordable rates—told P&Z that there’s case law to allow P&Z to reduce the number of units in the building. They voiced concerns about services available for prospective residents of the development, as well as parking, and criticized a planting plan from the property’s owner—a limited liability company whose principal is Stamford resident Richard Freedman, a trustee of the Garden Homes Fund (philanthropic arm of Garden Homes Management, which owns 9,500 units of rental housing throughout the Northeast)—as insufficient. Michael Campisi, a next-door neighbor of the site, noted that new renderings brought before P&Z are “missing several important things, and those are the homes around it.”

“The single-family homes around it, who have lived here under a pretense that this is a community of single family homes so when you are placing pictures up there, be a little more accurate,” Campisi said.

Government

OSHA Cites Issue at WWTP, Town Approves Funds for Pump Safety Guards

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Officials last week approved an approximately $17,500 contract with a Bridgeport-based company to create guards for a town facility after federal inspectors identified a safety issue. Last month, representatives from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration walked through Department of Public Works buildings, as well as Town Hall and the newly renovated New Canaan Police Department—the first time that OSHA came for such an inspection since 2017, according to DPW officials. While in the Waste Water Treatment Plant, an inspector found that eight pumps showing about two inches of exposed, slow-spinning drive shaft on each side of the motor represent “a safety hazard,” according to Bill Oestmann, DPW’s superintendent of buildings. 

“And they say because it’s an exposed shaft it should be covered,” Oestmann told members of the Board of Selectmen at their April 7 meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference. The pumps, which are bolted to the floor in a lightly trafficked area of the plant, have been in place for more than 25 years “and they’ve been running with no problem, but OSHA felt that they needed some safety guards on these pumps,” he said. The Board—First Selectman Dionna Carlson and Selectmen Steve Karl and Amy Murphy Carroll—voted 3-0 in favor of DPW’s request to enter into a $17,600 contract with Hard Corps Iron Works to create those guards, which Oestmann described as a “kind of safety cage” that still will allow for repairs. 

Public Works Director Tiger Mann noted that “at the time of the installation it wasn’t determined we needed it because we asked the question at the time.”

The selectmen asked what kind of accident OSHA foresaw (someone’s clothing or very long hair perhaps getting caught), what is the height of the pumps (ground level), how often inspections happen (every five to seven years), where the funds are coming from (sewer fund contingency) and whether Board of Finance approval is needed (yes, received later on Tuesday).

Government

Town Upholds $30 Ticket Issued to Former Resident Who Didn’t Know There Was Paid Parking on Elm

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Town officials during a recent meeting voted to uphold a $30 ticket that had been issued to a former New Canaan resident who didn’t pay for parking on Elm Street. Robert Hegeman, now of Norwalk, told members of the Parking Commission during their Feb. 4 meeting that he returned to New Canaan for lunch without realizing he now had to pay. “I parked on the south side of the street and exited toward the rear of the car, and crossed to the north side of the street where Solé is, and just didn’t see the signage,” Hegeman told the appointed body. “So I came back and saw the ticket, downloaded the app and will be paying going forward.

Board of Selectmen

Town Approves Contract To Repave Dunning Road, Gerrish Lane and Part of Summer Street

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Town officials on Tuesday approved an approximately $290,000 contract to repave three New Canaan roads. 

The Board of Selectmen voted unanimously to approve a contract for the repaving of Dunning Road, Gerrish Lane and the southern half of Summer Street, between Lakeview and East Avenues. 

The work will be paid for by Aquarion, which broke up the roads while installing water mains last year, according to Public Works Director Tiger Mann. The contractor is expected to do the work in May “right after these parking lots here,” Mann told the selectmen at their regular meeting, referring to the Park Street and Playhouse Lots (a month-long job expected to start April 15), as well as the long-awaited repaving of Pine Street. “Once he [the contractor] mobilizes, he wants to stay, finish what he’s got,” Mann said during the meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference. “Once we get this, I’ll talk to him about his timing.”

First Selectman Dionna Carlson and Selectmen Steve Karl and Amy Murphy Carroll voted 3-0 to approve the $293,650 contract with Norwalk-based FGB Construction. The Board asked whether Aquarion’s check to the town will include $26,500 in contingency funds built into the project estimate (the plan was to bill for $267,150 and have the water company hold the contingency), whether the transactions could be set up so that the contingency fee is set aside separately, such as in escrow, and then Aquarion is reimbursed for anything left over (yes) and whether the three roads in question have any striping (no, just stop bars).

Government

Two-Lot Subdivision Proposed for Vacant North Wilton Road Parcel

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The owners of a nearly nine-acre vacant property in northeastern New Canaan are seeking permission to subdivide the parcel into two residential lots. Located in New Canaan’s four-acre zone, the 8.94-acre North Wilton Road property borders Wilton to the east as well as single-family residential properties, including vacant parcels, according to a project narrative filed with the Planning & Zoning Commission. “The property contains a wetland system within the southern portion of the parcel including a watercourse that flows southwest into the parcel to the south,” said the narrative, filed by New Canaan-based Keith E. Simpson Associates, a prominent landscape architecture and environmental landscape planning firm. “The parcel previously contained an existing residence served by a well and septic system. The residence, including the septic tank and related infrastructure, was demolished and removed in 2024.”

The proposed subdivision calls for two new parcels of 4.05 and 4.89 acres.