The owner of two contiguous oversized parcels on Canoe Hill Road is seeking permission from the Planning & Zoning Commission to erect a seasonal ice rink on one of them.
Part of the site plan for the ice rink on a Canoe Hill Road property. Map by RKW Land Surveying of New Canaan
The temporary ice rink planned for 81 Canoe Hill Road would operate Nov. 1 to Feb. 28, according to an application filed with P&Z on behalf of the property owner by attorney David Rucci of New Canaan-based Lampert Toohey & Rucci LLC.
It would be sited northeast of a house that sits on a 2.85-acre property that is accessed through and set back from Canoe Hill Road near the intersection of Devonwood Lane, according to the application. A 2.68-acre vacant parcel also owned by the property owner sits between Canoe Hill and the residential lot.
“The lot is oversized for the two-acre zone,” Rucci said in the application. “The proposed temporary rink is screened from neighboring properties. While technically in a front yard, it is sited to the side of the existing home facing Devonwood Lane.”
Under the New Canaan Zoning Regulations, certain accessory structures, such as outdoor recreational facilities, may be located within a front yard and within 150 feet of the street by special permit (see pages 52 to 54 here).
P&Z is scheduled to take up the application for its regular meeting at 7 p.m. Tuesday.
“The site of the rink will meet all other zoning regulations established in the two-acre zone,” the application said. “The rink will be sited over well over 200 feet from neighboring residences. All disturbed areas will be landscaped and fully stabilized each year before and after installation.”
It added, “The annual installation and removal will be from Devonwood Lane. The ground will be hard enough to travel over the property and there are no plans to install any drive or additional accessway. There will be no change in the use of the existing drive as it will still service the residence.”
The private property owner’s application comes as a private group plans to install a seasonal ice rink in the Orchard Field parking lot at Waveny. Some in local government have proposed funneling $100,000 in federal American Rescue Plan Act funds made available to the town toward that group. Those behind the rink proposal—a group that as of December 2019 included members of the Parks & Recreation Commission and Town Council, as well as municipal workers—have met out of the public eye and have described themselves a private entity (though they’ve had to appear before the town to get permission to spend money held in a municipal Special Project Fund). One member, a New Canaan resident named Rita Bettino, told NewCanaanite.com in an email that fellow members currently include state Rep. Tom O’Dea (R-125th), Parks & Recreation Commissioners Gene Goodman and Jake Granito, Board of Finance member Maria Weingarten and three others.
[Comments are disabled on this article.]