Business

Fire Safety Officials Eye Potential Hazard of Propane Tanks Downtown

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With the proliferation of restaurants in New Canaan over the past 10 or 15 has come a safety hazard that town officials have flagged and are seeking to address. More than 90 percent of the approximately 75 100-gallon propane tanks downtown serve New Canaan’s restaurants—a dense collection that gives rise to an “exposure hazard,” according to Fire Marshal Fred Baker. “Meaning, if a building catches fire and there’s a tank next door, it’s a dangerous explosion hazard,” Baker said. “They’re all installed with required clearances and distances, but they’re still there and in some cases, in pretty tight quarters.”

Baker and other fire and town officials had hoped in recent years to see a plan materialize for natural gas coming to New Canaan. Those new lines had been expected to preclude the need for propane tanks.

Around Town

Did You Hear … ?

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New Canaan on Thursday put a lien on the Forest Street property cited for violating the town’s blight ordinance. Signed by Blight Officer Brian Platz, the town’s chief building official, the 1829-built multi-family home at 74 Forest St. is deteriorating and its .3-acre property is unkempt. The “Blight Lien and Certification of Continuing Lien” notice in the Town Clerk’s office says that $9,800 was owed as of May 22 and $100 per day additional is to be assessed as of that date (bringing the total to $11,500 as of Monday, June 8). ***

More than 40 residents attended NewCanaanite.com’s inaugural Community Coffee on Friday, and the sole topic of discussion for the hour-long talk was the Pop Up Park downtown, suspended by the committee that created and managed it after some merchants raised concerns about traffic and the makeshift plaza’s effect on business.