Affordable Housing Committee

Selectmen Poised to Appoint ‘Affordable Housing Committee’

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The Board of Selectmen is scheduled to appoint a new committee Wednesday that will be charged with figuring out how to increase the number of affordable housing units in New Canaan. The Affordable Housing Committee will help “maintain local control of housing development,” in part, by recommending “a plan to maintain successive moratoria,” according to the recently adopted section 4B of the Town Code. “The Affordable Housing Committee shall develop scenarios under which moratoria under Section 8-30g(l) of the Connecticut General Statutes could be achieved and shall measure public support for each scenario,” according to the Code. “Each scenario shall address the type of projects involved, whether they would utilize Town property or require land acquisition, the projected costs of development and maintenance of each project, the impact on infrastructure, the likely sources of funding and the impact on taxpayers.”

The Town Council passed the updated ordinance establishing the Affordable Housing Committee last May. The prior Board of Selectmen tried to appoint members to it in October, but was unable to do so for what the former first selectman described as “political” reasons.

Government

Town Approves Funds To Finish Redesign of New Pedestrian Crossing at Route 123 and Brushy Ridge/Locust Avenue

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Town officials last week approved another $10,000 in consulting fees in order to finish redesigning a busy intersection to the state’s satisfaction. Residents have been calling for improvements to the intersection of Route 123 at Locust Avenue/Brushy Ridge for nearly 10 years, and the town—with New Haven-based traffic consultants Fuss & O’Neill—has already worked and re-worked plans for a safe pedestrian crossing at the busy state road. Yet officials with the state Department of Transportation have returned repeatedly with additional changes to the plan, such as changing the pedestrian crosswalk from the southern end of the intersection to the northern end. Specifically, according to New Canaan Public Works Director Tiger Mann, the town proposed the “idea of extending the sidewalk down Brushy Ridge to come across 123 to attach to the sidewalk that’s at Locust Avenue”

“Associated with that would be some signal modifications—specifically to the pedestrian heads as far as the locations and then the timing,” Mann told the Board of Selectmen at their regular meeting, held Jan. 4 at Town Hall and via videoconference.

Government

After Complaints, Police To Look Again at Parking for Officers Downtown

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Following complaints from residents, New Canaan Police officers will try to avoid parking on Locust Avenue while working out of temporary headquarters downtown, officials say. The New Canaan Police Department in November moved into 39 Locust Ave.—the former Board of Education offices at the corner of Forest Street—while the station on South Avenue undergoes an extensive renovation, a project that’s expected to take about two years. During a Board of Selectmen meeting last week, officials flagged an emerging issue where residents are complaining about Locust parking taken up by police officers. “I know it’s a learning curve over there,” Selectman Steve Karl said to Police Chief John DiFederico during the Jan. 4 meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference.

Government

‘We’re Very Excited’: NCM&HS Presents on $2 Million ‘Campus Reimagined Campaign’

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The New Canaan Museum & Historical Society—the oldest organization of its kind in Fairfield County, established in 1889—is working toward a $2 million fundraising goal that will see its spacious Oenoke Ridge campus reimagined, officials say. Launched in June, the fundraising campaign supports a four-pronged plan that will see new buildings erected and existing spaces reused, according to NCM&HS Executive Director Nancy Geary. Where the organization’s library now is located—inside the Town House on the main floor—will be “The Bartlett Center for New Canaan History” with a “permanent exhibition on the history of New Canaan,” Geary told members of the Board of Selectmen at their Dec. 19 meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference. “And we’re finalizing what they call the ‘assets’ for that, and there are going to be media consoles that are interactive, especially because we can’t possibly tell the history of this town in 1,0000 square feet,” Geary said.

Board of Selectmen

Survey: New Canaan’s Top Priority for Next 10 Years Is Continued Support of Schools

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Locals rank Waveny Park and New Canaan Library as the most-visited facilities in town, while saying that New Canaan’s top priority over the next 10 years is the continued support and improvement of the public school system, according to a recent survey. And while stakeholders are largely content with the quality of life in New Canaan—rating it 8.5 out of 10—reliable cell phone service, traffic congestion, road maintenance and speeding are the top four quality-of-life concerns, according to 2,306 survey responses gathered by a Cheshire-based consulting firm. The total survey responses “equates to about 11% of the town, which is huge,” Town Planner Sarah Carey told members of the Board of Selectmen at their regular meeting, held Dec. 19 at Town Hall and via videoconference. “The goal is 4% so we blew that out of the water, which was great,” Carey said.