Board of Finance

Library Seeks $1 Million Grant from Town To Offset Estimated $2 Million Renovation of 1913 Building

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New Canaan Library officials are seeking a $1 million grant from the town to help redevelop its legacy building —about one-half of the cost of a project that the organization is planning. Tasked by the Planning & Zoning Commission with preserving the original 1913 building—which was not part of the library’s rebuilding plans—the library spent $2.4 million, an “additional cost that we undertook with our own cash and our own endowment reserves to preserve, pick up, lift and move that building,” according to library CEO Ellen Sullivan Crovatto. “This has left us with a very big hole to fill,” Sullivan Crovatto told members of the Board of Finance at their Feb. 5 meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference. She added: “I think the building’s new position has pleased pretty much everyone.

Government

Affordable Housing: Judge Sustains Developer’s Appeal in 93-Unit Complex on Hill Street

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A state Superior Court judge last week upheld a developer’s appeal in a nearly three-year case regarding a planned 93-unit complex on Hill Street in New Canaan. 

The town’s Planning & Zoning Commission in April 2023 denied three applications filed on behalf of developer Arnold Karp—to amend the town’s zoning regulations, rezone the properties at 17 and 23 Hill Street, and approve a site plan to create the complex there. In issuing its denial, P&Z cited several factors, mainly pedestrian and vehicle safety, environmental impact and limited emergency response. In a 61-page decision issued Friday, Judge Stephen Frazzini noted that the public safety concerns raised in P&Z’s denial focused mainly on “the width of the access driveway, the width of internal driving corridors, and the lack of sidewalks” planned for the site. Yet the town’s call for an additional access road to the site for fire safety reasons was rejected, on appeal, by the state fire marshal, Frazzini noted in his decision. P&Z also found that a lack of sidewalks would be harmful to pedestrians, without ever saying how (outside of an emergency situation), falling short of the legal standard, the judge noted.

Government

Town Upholds $30 Ticket Issued for Overstaying on Elm

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Town officials last week upheld a $30 ticket issued to a woman who hadn’t paid for parking on Elm Street. Caroline Burke told members of the Parking Commission during an appeal hearing that she tried to download the Pay-By-Phone app on the afternoon of Jan. 8 but it wouldn’t allow her to upload her credit card information to create an account. “I had trouble just downloading the app,” Burke told the Commission during her Feb. 4 hearing, held at Town Hall and via videoconference.

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Town Upholds $30 Ticket Issued to Local Man

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Town officials on Wednesday upheld a $30 ticket issued to a longtime resident who failed to pay for parking on Elm Street. Ken Oxman told members of the Parking Commission during an appeal hearing that he and his wife had no idea that the town switched to paid parking on Elm (and part of South Avenue). “We knew nothing about the parking meters,” Oxman told the Commission during his hearing, held at Town Hall and via videoconference. Oxman said he and his wife visit downtown New Canaan only rarely and that none of the people they knew ever mentioned the switchover. “I wasn’t taking a chance,” he said, adding: “I had no idea, even when I parked I had no idea.

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DPW: Playhouse, Park Streets Lots To Be Repaved Next Month

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Town officials say they’re expecting to repave two municipal lots in downtown New Canaan next month. The Park Street (free for three hours) and Playhouse Lots are out to bid now and work is expected to start around March 15 “when the weather clears,” according to Public Works Director Tiger Mann. “And I can pave those lots in conjunction with finishing touches on the allée ramp, we’re doing final pour today,” Mann said during a Town Council and Board of Finance Infrastructure & Utilities Subcommittee meeting, held Monday at Town Hall and via videoconference. He referred to a new ramp in the recently renovated alley between The Playhouse and Le Pain Quotidien. Mann added: “All we’re waiting on is for it [the concrete] to be cured and then we’ll put the railing up and we can open it up temporarily while we finish the parking lots.