News

Police Arrest New Canaan Man, 55, in Domestic Incident

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Police on Saturday afternoon arrested a 55-year-old New Canaan man and charged him with disorderly conduct. At about 2:13 p.m. on March 5, officers were dispatched to a Frogtown Road home regarding a dispute between the man and another person at the residence. 

Following an investigation, police charged him with the misdemeanor offense. It isn’t clear what the dispute involved, whether it turned physical or whether the arrested man is related to the victim. Police withheld details, saying it’s a domestic matter. Under state law, a person is guilty of disorderly conduct when he or she, “with intent to cause inconvenience, annoyance or alarm, engages in fighting or in violent, tumultuous or threatening behavior; or by offensive or disorderly conduct, annoys or interferes with another person,” among other reasons.

Around Town

NCHS Principal: Former Student Passed Away Over Weekend

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A former New Canaan High School student passed away over the weekend, officials say. Anthon Walker McFadden, a sophomore at NCHS last year, died in Utah, according to an email that Principal Bill Egan sent to the school community. 

McFadden was “part of our NCHS family,” Egan said in the email. “There is no greater loss than the death of a child, and our thoughts and prayers are with the McFaddens during this difficult time. Our counselors are available to support any child or adult who needs to speak with anyone.”

NewCanaanite.com will publish more information and Anthon Walker McFadden’s obituary when available.

Government

Officials: ‘Swap Shop’ Proposed for Transfer Station Waiting on Salt Storage Plans

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Longstanding plans to install a volunteer-run “swap shop” at the Transfer Station are on hold pending a separate capital project at the site for a storage family for road salt, officials say. The fiscal year 2023 budget now under discussion includes $50,000 for a site and construction study of a planned “salt dome” at the Transfer Station, officials said during the Feb. 17 meeting of the New Canaan Conservation Commission. Pegged at $500,000 last year, the construction costs may well have increased since that time, Commission Chair Chris Schipper said during the group’s meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference. 

Effortrs to put in a swap shop based on Darien’s successful model are “getting harder,” Schipper said. “Until they get the salt cellar, we’re not going to get anything,” he said.

Government

Town Attorney’s Office: ‘Substantial’ Legal Burden on P&Z in Affordable Housing Applications

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Planning & Zoning Commission’s have “a very limited ability” to deny applications for affordable housing developments, according to a memo from the town attorney’s office. Considerations such as standards set out in local zoning regulations—building height, coverage and setbacks, for example—density requirements, neighborhood character and parking, cannot be a reason for a P&Z Commission to deny such applications, attorney Peter Gelderman of Westport-based Berchem Moses PC said in a memo to the town planner. “The only valid basis upon which a commission may deny an affordable housing application is by determining, based upon sufficient evidence in the record, that a denial is necessary to protect an identified and substantial public interest such [that] denial outweighs the need for affordable housing and the application could not be amended to protect the public interest,” Gelderman said in the memo, dated Feb. 22 and more recently published on the municipal website. “Only towns that equal or exceed the ten percent affordable dwelling unit threshold or that have a moratorium in place are exempt from the burden of proving that the above balancing test supports a denial.”

The memo is dated about one week after a Feb.

Government

Orchard Drive Homeowners Seek ZBA’s Permission for Pool Equipment Storage Area

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The owners of a Cape Cod-style home on Orchard Drive are seeking permission to use a concrete pad on the side their house to store equipment for a planned pool. The concrete pad at 100 Orchard Drive currently is used for an above-ground oil tank, according to an application for a variance filed on behalf of the property owners by attorney David Rucci of New Canaan-based Lampert, Toohey & Rucci LLC. Under the New Canaan Zoning Regulations, the minimum side yard setback for accessory structures in the A Residential Zone is 10 feet (see page 59 here). The existing concrete pad is five feet from the property line, while the pool equipment itself will be about 4.5 feet from the property line, the application said. “The applicant’s proposal is to construct a 14-by-14-foot small pool in the rear yard of the property,” Rucci wrote in a narrative that forms part of the application, filed on behalf of property owners Pieter and Rowena Bergmans. 

“While the pool itself will be in compliance with all zoning regulations the pool equipment location is proposed to be sited on an existing concrete pad in the side yard setback.