Despite Warnings, Unwanted Garbage Enclosure Lingers within Historic District

The group of volunteers that oversees New Canaan’s historic district—a 21-building area around God’s Acre—say they intend, reluctantly, to assess a violation or fine for a Seminary Street resident who never got permission to set up a garbage can enclosure located in the driveway and has failed to communicate or comply with requests to do so.

The Historic District Commission on Wednesday voted unanimously to empower its acting chairman to contact the town’s lawyer and building department regarding 18 Seminary St.

“I had previously been told that it would be changed in location and taken down from that place by the 15^th of May,” Janet Lindstrom said of the plastic enclosure.

Before structures within the district undergo exterior changes, approval is required from the commission. The relevant section of the Town Code is Chapter 31-6, which includes this language:
“No work on any type of structure which would change the appearance of any property within the Historic District when viewed from the street line shall be begun until the property owner has filed an application with the Building Inspector and has received a certificate of appropriateness from the Historic District Commission.”
The two-story house at 18 Seminary St. is 16 years old, tax records show.

The commissioners said they’ve been asking the homeowners there to remove or relocate the garbage enclosure for at least one year.

Now it’s time to pursue a notice of violation or fine, commissioner Terry Spring said.

“We were doing everything we could to avoid it,” she said.

“Someone did complain about it on the street and you could begin to have garbage enclosures appearing everywhere—it would be inappropriate,” she continued. “We have to stick to our guns.”

The town’s lawyer already had drafted a sent a “strong” letter to the homeowner, the commissioners said.