News

Lukes Wood Road Homeowner Appeals P&Z Decision To Deny Pillars at End of Driveway

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The owners of a Lukes Wood Road home on Monday are appealing the New Canaan Planning & Zoning Commission’s denial of their request to allow higher-than-allowed pillars for a gate at the end of their driveway. The pillars—which stand about six and seven feet above grade, given the slope of the land, against the four feet allowed by the New Canaan Zoning Regulations (see Section 6.5.C.3.a on page 126 here)—already are in place at the plaintiffs’ home at 309 Lukes Wood Road. That’s because they were re-installed when the homeowners reconfigured the driveway following municipal approvals and a lengthy process that involved the rare purchase of town-owned land to make the new, safer layout possible, according to a complaint filed in state Superior Court in Stamford. But town officials said a special permit was needed to retain the pillars, and an application for that permit was denied 8-1 last month by the Planning & Zoning Commission, the complaint says. The decision was: reached by weighing inaccurate information; unsupported by the record; based on irrelevant arguments and findings; and “contrary to and inconsistent with applications of the standards and requirements of the Town of New Canaan Zoning Regulations with regards to pillars, gates and walls in the Town of New Canaan,” according to the complaint.

Government

Officials Weigh Request To Keep Taller-Than-Allowed Pillars, Gate on Lukes Wood Road

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Saying a Luke’s Wood Road property is unusual in that it abuts water company-owned land used by roving deer hunters and is restricted by wetlands, with a house that sits midway through an S-curve that attracts motorists who tend to pull over there and linger, the property’s owner is seeking approval for pillars and a gate whose height exceed what normally is allowed. The area of 309 Lukes Wood Road, which backs up to the Grace Community Church property, is typical of a 4-acre zone in New Canaan in that it is set in a wooded neighborhood where gates and pillars are common, local attorney David Rucci of Lampert Toohey & Rucci, LLC told the Planning & Zoning Commission at its regular meeting on Tuesday. Yet the road also is a very busy as a cut-through between Routes 123 and 124, and homeowners Aris and Patricia Kekedjian “have had issues with cars parking on the front of their property,” Rucci said, speaking on their behalf. “They have had issues with people lunching, and it just happens to be a place where you sort of pull off [of the road], and there is safety concern as well, with trying to get in and out of this driveway, at certain times,” Rucci told P&Z during a public hearing, held in the Sturgess Room at New Canaan Nature Center. Ultimately, and at the urging of P&Z Chairman John Goodwin, the commission decided to put off a formal vote on a special permit application for the proposed pillars and gate until the members of the group had a chance to view them in person.