News

‘It Would Be An Illegal Approval’: Neighbor’s Attorney Argues Against Rebuilt 2-Family Dwelling on Oak Street

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Town officials must reject an application to rebuild a two-family home on Oak Street because it doesn’t comply with New Canaan’s zoning regulations, would decrease the value of a neighbor’s property by looming over it and would be rejected by a court on appeal, an attorney told the Planning & Zoning Commission last week. The proposed structure at 50-52 Oak St.—centerpiece of a plan to replace the aging duplex there now—fails to meet two of the five criteria outlined in the New Canaan Zoning Regulations (see page 42) for new two-family dwellings in the Residential B zone and in any case requires a variance rather than a special permit because, after the house there is razed, the new one would be nonconforming, according to Eric Bernheim, a partner at Westport-based Halloran & Sage LLP. Criteria for a special permit include consideration of property values, and—as Bernheim’s clients, the neighbors directly to the east, the Crowleys of 64 Oak St. expressed at a public hearing last month—because the rear unit of the proposed new dwelling would loom taller over their backyard, it would devalue their property, he told members of P&Z. “It doesn’t take a lot of discussion to understand that having a two-family home that towers over your property and backyard and destroys the privacy you have and will impair value,” Bernheim said at the meeting, held April 26 at Town Hall.

Around Town

Despite Court’s Decisions, Lawsuits Tie Up Restoration of Ponus Ridge Chapel

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Though a judge this month found that town zoning officials acted properly in granting a variance designed to allow for the restoration of a long-neglected chapel on Ponus Ridge, the historic structure’s fate is unclear, as it remains tied up in multiple lawsuits brought by a New Canaan woman. In a decision issued April 11, Superior Court Judge Charles Lee affirmed the New Canaan Zoning Board of Appeals’ unanimous vote three years ago to allow for the rehabilitation of the legally nonconforming, 1911-built Ponus Ridge Chapel (see Lee’s full decision at the end of this article). Plans call for the conversion of the dilapidating structure into a guesthouse by its neighbors to the south, the Hayeses, with an easement to the chapel property at 424 Ponus Ridge for a parking space and septic system (at .14 acres, the chapel’s lot is itself too small). The president of the association that owns the building, now deceased, in 2012 had entered into an agreement with the Hayeses whereby the property would be transferred to them, in a complicated arrangement also involving New Canaan Library, following the organization’s dissolution. However, another member of the Ponus Ridge Chapel and Community Association—a group that hasn’t met in decades (the chapel itself hasn’t been used in 40-plus years)—neighbor Elizabeth Weed of 434 Ponus Ridge, filed two lawsuits designed to halt the proposed transaction.

Government

‘There Will Be Considerably Greater Loom’: Oak Street Neighbor Raises Concerns About Rebuilding Plan

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Town officials postponed a decision on an Oak Street property owner’s application to rebuild a two-story home after next-door neighbors raised concerns about how the proposed new structure would loom over their house. Though a proposed two-family home at 50-52 Oak St. would be only “marginally taller than what is already there, it will be far closer to our property and therefore, there will be considerably greater loom,” Paul Crowley of 64 Oak St.—a Colonial that originally dates back to 1934, what scores of New Canaanites had come to know as Archie Stewart’s house at the corner of Green Avenue—told members of the Planning & Zoning Commission at their most recent regular meeting. “The people in this residence will have stadium seats, looking into my backyard and it will also block out late afternoon light,” Crowley said at the meeting, held March 29 at Town Hall. A proposal calls for special permit to create what would be a more conforming structure on the .29-acre parcel at 50-52 Oak St.

Government

‘They Don’t Feel Comfortable’: Officials Urge Grace Farms, Neighbors To Reach Agreement on Screening Between Properties

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Saying a next-door neighbor’s backyard is overly exposed to people visiting the hugely popular, multi-use 80-acre Grace Farms property and buildings, officials on Monday night urged the two parties to work through their differences and try to reach a mutually acceptable screening plan. The 2-story Colonial at 1218 Smith Ridge Road sits on 4.14 acres adjacent to and downgrade from the southeast corner of Grace Farms, which opened to the public in the fall. New Canaanites “are all beneficiaries” of Grace Farms, Zoning Board of Appeals Chairman Carroll Yanicelli said at the group’s regular monthly meeting, held at Town Hall. “I love it. I love going there.