P&Z Chairman Stepping Down from Leadership Role

The hugely influential, volunteer municipal panel that oversees private land use matters in New Canaan is seeing major changes to its membership, officials say. Weeks after longtime Planning and Zoning Commission member David Scannell stepped down from the group, Chairman Laszlo Papp announced this week that he’s vacating his leadership role. According to a press release issued Friday by First Selectman Rob Mallozzi, Papp in his leadership role “successfully fostered a dialogue among his fellow commissioners, institutions and developers alike that is reflected in this beautiful town we live in today.”

“His work ethic, architectural background and years serving New Canaan as an elected member of the Town Council and other appointed positions, enabled Laszlo to navigate the competing interests in a way that imparted fairness and maintained the look and feel of our town that is the envy of so many across the country,” said Mallozzi, who started working with Papp in 2007 on the Downtown Study Group. Papp, who was not immediately available for comment, did not say he’s leaving P&Z altogether, but rather vacating his position as chairman, the first selectman said. Scannell, whom NewCanaanite.com ran into at Zumbach’s Gourmet Coffee on Friday, called Papp “a terrific leader.”

“He has done a fine job,” Scannell said.