Government

Latest Plan from Hopeful Developer of Roger Sherman Inn: Move the Historic Building [CORRECTION]

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[Editor’s Note: The first version of this article state incorrectly that the oldest part of the Roger Sherman Inn would be razed rather than moved. The developer has since clarified that it will be moved only but preserved in the plan described below. We apologize for the error. See more here.]

For the third time since an initial application came in last fall, the hopeful developer of the Roger Sherman Inn property has filed a new proposal for the 1.89-acre Oenoke Ridge Road property. Under an application filed last week on behalf of Andrew Glazer of Norwalk-based Glazer Group, six single-family dwellings would be built on the property where a 135-seat restaurant and 17-room inn now stand.

News

Letter: Don’t Ruin Oenoke Ridge

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Dear Editor:

The Roger Sherman Inn property on Oenoke is just 1.683 acres. Let’s loudly object to a high-density subdivision there. Six massive houses, plus an additional road, all crammed together, are inappropriate. On Tuesday, Dec. 20, the Planning & Zoning Commission could permit an overlay zone that allows cluster housing on this beautiful road distinguished by its churches, historical society, nature center, houses with sweeping green lawns and historic lanes.

Government

Re-Filed: Hopeful Developer of Roger Sherman Inn Property Wants Six Homes on 1.8 Acres

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The hopeful developer of the Roger Sherman property on Monday filed a new application with the town that would replace the 11,341-square-foot restaurant and inn with six dwellings totaling nearly 17,000 square feet of living space. According to Andrew Glazer of Norwalk-based Glazer Group, the change would bring the 1.8-acre lot at 195 Oenoke Ridge Road into greater conformance with the New Canaan Zoning Regulations, because its use would shift from commercial to residential. Normally—that is, without special approval from the Planning & Zoning Commission—a parcel of that size in that zone could accommodate a single home, under the existing regulations. To make the project possible, Westport-based engineering firm Landtech on Glazer’s behalf has proposed an entirely new “overlay district.” The stated purpose of the proposed “Non-Conforming Residential Overlay District” is “to create the opportunity to eliminate a pre-existing non-conforming use located within the residential zones of New Canaan.”

The newly submitted application includes an October traffic study whose findings appear to be based on seven—rather than six—total dwellings on the property. Originally, Glazer had applied for eight total units, which had become seven by the time an initial public hearing was held in October.

News

Hopeful Developer of Roger Sherman Site Proposes New Zone for Regulations To Make Project Possible

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Seeking to tweak the New Canaan Zoning Regulations in a way that will make his plans possible, the would-be developer of the Roger Sherman Inn on Monday filed a new application that proposes a so-called “overlay district.”

Filed on behalf of Norwalk developer Andrew Glazer and Glazer Group, the proposed district would allow him to convert part of the existing inn into a residence and build another six 2.5-story, 2,600-square-foot units on the 1.8-acre lot at 195 Oenoke Ridge Road. Located in the 1-acre zone with a 96-foot easement that runs east of the parcel, the property could accommodate a single home under the existing regulations. Glazer in an initial application made in September and at a subsequent public hearing last month argued that his plan would bring the property into greater conformity with the regulations because it would be a non-commercial use. Filed by Westport-based engineering firm Landtech—not by an attorney who specializes in land use matters, as typically is done—the proposed ‘Non-Conforming Residential Overlay District’ “would allow existing non-conforming uses to be replaced by a more conforming uses.”

“The proposed amendment is a precursor to our special permit application for the proposed residential development of the Roger Sherman Inn,” Landtech principal Peter Romano said in the Nov. 14 application.

Government

‘Take a Big Step Back’: Neighbors, Residents Voice Opposition to Plans for Roger Sherman Redevelopment

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The proposed redevelopment of the Roger Sherman Inn is too dense for its neighborhood and flies in the face of the documents that govern and guide zoning in New Canaan, an attorney representing opponents of the plan said Tuesday night. Creating seven single-family homes on the 1.8-acre lot at 195 Oenoke Ridge Road where the historic inn and restaurant now stand “really is not in keeping with the properties you see along Oenoke Ridge Road,” according to Amy Zabetakis of Darien-based Rucci Law Group. She represents six neighbors of the inn, on Holmewood and Hampton Lanes. “I think you really need to take a big step back and really make sure that this is something you want to encourage in town,” she told members of the Planning & Zoning Commission during the first public hearing regarding the Roger Sherman Inn proposal, held at Town Hall. “I was hoping to come here today that I would hear something from the applicant about how this plan does conform with the Plan of Conservation and Development, how it does conform with existing New Canaan regulations, because I think that is an essential part of your analysis.