News

Roger Sherman Developer Proposes Four-Unit Project

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I first looked at purchasing the Roger Sherman property over 5 years ago while I was building the Maples project next door. Like the Maple Inn the Roger Sherman, though more active in use, was struggling to maintain a business and a physical plant that needed renovation badly in order to keep up with the change in dining habits that have taken place in New Canaan over the last few years. The current owners did not nor do they now have the resources to do what we are doing over at the Silvermine Tavern property which is completely renovate and bring up to the standards that Inn users want and will pay for today. Over these past four years five different deals came and went from some who wanted to either run the restaurant/Inn or develop the property as a multi family project. The Inn buyers turned out to be either complete frauds or tire kickers and the developers wanted to put in anywhere from 14 to 24 units.

News

Letter: Proposed Re-Development of Roger Sherman Property Fails To Meet a Need in New Canaan

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The 1-acre zoning law was broken in 2011 for The Maples complex on Oenoke Ridge because of a need for senior housing. That need no longer exists. Empty nesters now have an abundant variety of choices. Andrew Glazer’s application for a planned urban subdivision on the Roger Sherman property should be denied. Planning & Zoning revised the Plan of Conservation & Development in 2014 to drive density downtown.

News

Letter: Neighbor at ‘The Maples’ Supports Plan for Six Dwellings at Roger Sherman Inn Site

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Editor:

I’m writing in response to the article which appeared in the NewCanaanite authored by Michael Dinan and appearing online March 6th. Planning & Zoning Commission Chairman John Goodwin seems to suggest that seniors seeking “in-town” quarters will have their needs satisfied by the mixed-use Merritt Village apartment/condo complex. I would argue that the two developments have nothing in common. People who are looking for high quality design, extensive millwork, quality finishes, beautiful landscaping and a prestigious neighborhood will not be interested in the density of the Merritt Apartments. It is appealing to a different demographic.

Government

Divided P&Z Disagrees on Whether Roger Sherman Proposal Meets Seldom-Cited Zoning Provision

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The hopeful developer of the Roger Sherman Inn site has a strong track record as a builder, the chairman of the New Canaan Planning & Zoning Commission said last week, and turning down his application to create six new homes on the highly visible 1.8-acre property could open up the town to an even denser re-development. Yet New Canaan already is slated to see smaller dwellings—for example, for seniors seeking manageable “in-town” quarters—through mixed-use developments and the Merritt Village apartment-and-condo complex, according to P&Z Chairman John Goodwin. “I am a little worried about do we continue to allow non-single family housing to push its way outward?” Goodwin said at the Feb. 28 P&Z meeting, held in Town Hall. “And I am worried that it potentially could set a precedent that other developers could use.”

He referred to proposed additions to a section of the New Canaan Zoning Regulations under which developer Andrew Glazer of Rowayton-based Glazer Group has applied to create six dwellings where the old inn and restaurant now stand (including converting the oldest part of the Roger Sherman into one of those units, though physically moving it closer to Oenoke Ridge Road).

Around Town

Did You Hear … ?

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The hopeful developer of the Roger Sherman Inn property has clarified that he does not intend to raze all of the existing historic structure under his newest application, as NewCanaanite.com had reported last week. Andrew Glazer of Rowayton’s Glazer Group intends to pick up and move the oldest portion of the 18th Century-built inn closer to Oenoke Ridge Road, converting it into one of six new residences planned for the 1.89-acre site. He outlined that plan during a public hearing last month before the Planning & Zoning Commission. ***

New Canaan’s Michael Nowacki is featured in a Connecticut Mirror news story that ran Jan. 13, regarding his interest in hearings in Hartford before the state legislature on judges seeking reappointment.