A neighbor’s complaint about a dumpster outside a prominent home in New Canaan’s historic district is prompting town officials to get assurances that the structure will only be there temporarily.
The Historic District Commission fielded a neighbor’s complaint regarding this dumpster, outside the antique home at 63 Park St. Credit: Michael Dinan
The dumpster outside the garage of 63 Park St.—an 1863-built Greek Revival known to locals as the former home of Maxwell Perkins, the great Scribners editor of Hemingway and Fitzgerald, among others—has been in place for at least two weeks, according to Janet Lindstrom, acting chairman of the Historic District Commission.
The complainant has claimed that it’s been there for four months, she said at a meeting of the commission on Thursday evening.
63 Park St. in New Canaan, the former home of the great literary editor Maxwell Perkins. Credit: Michael Dinan
“I don’t think we can do anything about it except to see if it stays a lot longer than it should,” Lindstrom said during the meeting, held at the (member-supported) New Canaan Historical Society.
Lindstrom relayed that she has spoken to the owner of the home, which is on the market, and said they’re using the dumpster as needed as they move some items out.
New Canaan’s historic district encompasses 21 structures near and around God’s Acre. 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.”
It isn’t clear just which neighbor lodged the complaint, though it follows a recent situation at a house next door, on Seminary Street. There, historic district residents flagged what appeared to be a permanent bin for storing garbage cans that was built without approval by the commission (and eventually had to be removed).
Lindstrom told fellow commissioners that the dumpster at 63 Park St. is temporary, not permanent.
The freestanding structure appears to be covered with a tarp. Commissioner Carl Rothbart said he saw it prior to the meeting and didn’t realize it was a dumpster.
“I thought it looked decent,” he said.
Lindstrom said the commission is required to address the matter since it came in as a formal complaint.
The group decided unanimously that Lindstrom would contact the Park Street homeowner to secure assurances that the dumpster was temporary.