Residents of a private road in New Canaan, as well as property owners contiguous to a recently subdivided 1-acre lot off of it, told planning officials on Tuesday that the proposed development of that parcel has them worried about runoff, privacy and future construction traffic.
Richards Lane itself is narrow, has no cul-de-sac for turning around, and heavy rains have caused flooding, neighbors told the Planning & Zoning Commission during a public hearing, held in the Town Meeting Room.
“My concern—and I think I am speaking most of Richards Lane—the concern is really around traffic on the lane,” said Neil Collins, a Richards Lane resident who volunteered that he is selling his own home, and who lives opposite the lot in question (number 62). “Also, the construction period. It is a narrow lane, and just the amount of truck traffic, construction traffic going down it. Where will [construction vehicles] be parked? We would like a better understanding for the plans for construction, and how some of that traffic would be remediated.”
Richards Lane runs west off of Old Stamford Road just north of the intersection with Farm Road. Some of the concerns expressed by neighbors, such as storm water runoff, could be addressed by studies already accepted and filed with the town, officials said, and some of those concerns anticipated difficulties yet to come, such as wear-and-tear on the lane’s asphalt itself.
A map of 62 Richards Lane including the subdivided interior lot.
Saying the neighbors’ concerns merit attention, P&Z ultimately continued the application for a zoning permit at 62 Richards Lane to next month. Chairman John Goodwin did note that the first-cut subdivision on the 2.58-acre lot already has been approved (last month), and that applicant Christian Roesch was seeking approval for the permit based on a very specific section within the zoning regulations.
Specifically, a property owner may by special permit obtain a zoning permit on a private road even if it does not meet certain standards, such as that the road itself (see page 68 here) has a traveled way of at least 20 feet.
Roesch’s attorney, Kay Jex of New Canaan, noted that the development of the parcel at number 62 has been “a work in progress for several years.”
The property itself as been in Roesch’s family since 1965, Jex said, and the lot sizes resulting from the subdivision—about 1- and 1.5-acres (with the new, to-be-developed lot the smaller of those two)—are within the range of nearly all adjacent properties.
Jex said that currently there are five homes served by Richards Lane—a street opened up in the late 1920s and named after a family that owned property along Old Stamford Road (more here)—and “it will only serve six after the Special Permit is allowed.”
“And there is a pull out in the middle of the road which allows cars to pass,” she said.
Town officials already have said the building lot meets P&Z regulations as far as acreage and access go, and meets health department requirements for septic, well and drainage. Planning officials initially had flagged concerns about emergency responders accessing the interior lot, and those were addressed by the fire chief and fire marshal, who visited the property and declared it accessible, Jex said.
According to Jex, though Richards Lane itself does not comply with the 20-foot travel way requirement spelled out in the New Canaan Zoning Regulations, very few streets do. Of some 38 private roads in New Canaan, a look at 36 of them showed that just three were in compliance, Jex said, while only five additional streets measured 15 feet or more.
Roesch himself told commissioners that he grew up in New Canaan, that his home predates others on the lane, and that he remembered when the town created Summit Ridge Road.
“What this will enable me to do is keep the [existing] house and the art studio that I have and build a very nice house next to it,” Roesch said. “Obviously it would be in my interest to build something nice as well, because I will be looking at it as well as because it will be right next to me. As an artist, I have a certain aesthetic for preserving the landscape and making things private.”
A building permit application has not yet been filed with the town.
Two Richards Lane neighbors who addressed P&Z said that they had not met Roesch before the meeting itself and did not believe he resided on the property he owns.
Summit Ridge Road resident Paul Fitzpatrick, whose home shares the longest property line with the new building lot owned by Roesch, said he did have concerns about privacy but more about runoff.
“Within five feet of the property line, there is a manhole cover on my property and there is an underground stream,” he said. Since new homes have gone up in the neighborhood, Fitzpatrick said he has seen more water runoff in his yard.
Richards Lane resident Alison Minaglia said she believed that when her own house was built 15 years ago, the builder paid for the entire lane to be completely repaved because of construction vehicle damage.
“I know I am speaking on behalf of rest of Richards Lane that we are just asking for some more time to work with a land use attorney,” she said. “We have already been in contact with one to outline a mutual agreement whereby any current or future owner would repair the lane, and the easements resulting from any construction.”