Government

Divided P&Z Nears Decision on Library

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During their seventh hearing on New Canaan Library’s application to rebuild its facility, members of the Planning & Zoning Commission last week set up a vote between two options regarding the fate of what remains of an original library building. One of them, tagged “Option A” and developed mainly by P&Z Chair John Goodwin, would allow for the library project to commence and, one year in, the organization would present options to P&Z to “appropriately commemorate” the 1913 building and 1936 addition. “It is the assumption that significant aspects of the 1913 and/or 1936 building will be preserved in some meaningful way on the site,” according to the language of the draft approval, obtained by NewCanaanite.com through a public records request. The other, “Option B,” developed mainly by Commissioner Dan Radman, calls for construction to be put off until the library has submitted a plan to “incorporate and integrate” the east and north facades and roof of the old buildings so that they’re “maintained on the site in a location satisfactory to the Commission.” If there’s “no feasible way” to do that, the project can start without a plan for preservation, under draft Option B.

As drafted for the start of the meeting, neither scenario meets the standard set by a preservation group that has said the 1913 building must be restored—that is, its southern and western walls re-closed—and remain in place. Library officials last month said they’d be willing to preserve and move the Main Street-facing portico and facade of the 1913 building to the western property line. 

The language in both options is expected to undergo revision based on the commissioners’ discussion at the 4.5-hour meeting, held June 29 via videoconference.

Bob Butman

Library Offers To Move 1913 Building Facade to Western Side of Campus

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Library officials last week unveiled renderings of what they’re calling an offer of compromise to preservationists who are opposed to the demolition of a century-old structure as part of a plan to rebuild the downtown facility. 

Moving the 1913 building’s portico and the Main Street-facing wall to the western border of the library’s campus could cost about $600,000 to $700,000, Executive Director Lisa Oldham told members of the Board of Finance during their regular meeting, held June 8 both in person and via videoconference. The library is “trying to get to a compromise solution that would respectfully honor the past, memorialize meaningfully the original library and not sacrifice the green, given the importance of the green to the overall campus,” Oldham told the finance board. At past public meetings, the library has said it would memorialize the 1913 building and its 1930s addition with professional photos, a limited edition commemorative book and works of art featuring the original structure that would become part of a permanent collection on display in the new facility. Library officials also have said in the past that granite from the 1913 facade would be used in a retaining wall for the green overlooking Cherry and Main Streets. The new proposal would see the portico and wall, at a depth of about eight feet, moved to the property line that the library shares with the gas station, New Canaan Library Board of Trustees President Bob Butman said.

Dan Radman

Silvermine Road Neighbors Voice Traffic, Safety Concerns Regarding Application for Home Medical Office

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Silvermine Road residents on Tuesday night voiced concerns to members of the Planning & Zoning Commission about a neighbor’s application to convert their garage into a home office and medical examination area. Granting Dr. Kathleen Berchelmann, a pediatrician, a Major Home Occupation permit to allow for a small staff to work out of the office and see additional patients would bring unwanted traffic to a narrow shared driveway and create a safety hazard for the many children who live in the area and play outside, according to several parents who addressed P&Z during its regular meeting. There are already cars that go up the driveway and “occasionally make a wrong turn into our house which is to be expected,” said Dan Oliver, who shares a driveway with the Berchelmanns. 

“It happens occasionally, and obviously we are very concerned about increased traffic and increased wrong turns into our area,” he said. “And once you come into our house, you can’t really turn around unless you go past our house, up into our larger area to turn around. So it’s not easy to back up.

Government

New Accessory Dwelling Proposed for Hemlock Hill Road Property

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The owners of a 3.82-acre property in northern New Canaan are seeking permission to replace two garages, including one with a two-bedroom apartment above, with a single new, smaller structure that includes a dwelling on the second-floor. The two-bedroom apartment at 81 Hemlock Hill Road would be located above a new three-car garage, according to an application filed on behalf of the property’s owners by architect Dan Radman of RADMANarchitects. The property includes a 1935-built, 10,000-square-foot home, tax records show. According to the application, the two freestanding garages currently on the property have a combined coverage of 1,627 square feet, while the new structure would be about 1,211 square feet. “In lieu of an additional pool house, we have decided to include a bathroom with shower, as well as additional storage areas, into this new garage, thereby consolidating two potential accessory structures into one,” the application said.

Government

Divided P&Z Approves October Wedding at The Glass House

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Despite concerns voiced by a Planning & Zoning Commission member who lives near The Glass House, the appointed body last week voted 4-2 to allow the organization to host a wedding this fall on its Ponus Ridge campus. Dick Ward, a P&Z commissioner who lives on Winfield Lane, .3 miles from the National Trust for Historic Preservation site, said approval of the Oct. 4 wedding “would, in my opinion, create perhaps an unnecessary and perhaps dangerous precedent, on two levels.”

“One is it’s been our longtime practice that financial considerations are not a criteria to support a Special Permit or an amendment to a Special Permit,” Ward said during P&Z’s regular meeting, held Aug. 25 via videoconference. “And it’s pretty clear that the request is based on a financial concern and I don’t think we want to open that door.