Government

Town Council Passes $181 Million Budget for FY26

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New Canaan’s legislative body on Thursday voted unanimously in favor of a $181 million budget for next fiscal year, a 3.47% increase over current spending. The fiscal year 2026 spending plan includes a year-over-year increase of 4.36% for the Board of Education—a $150,000 reduction from the budget request that the school board had brought to the Town Council after going through New Canaan’s two other funding bodies, the Boards of Selectmen and Finance. The final major discussion item in the budget was funding for the Board of Ed. The Town Council initially explored a $300,000 reduction to the school board’s spending request. Advocates to fully fund the request noted that two staff positions were on the line—an elementary school classroom coach and high school math interventionist. 

Ultimately, the Town Council—Chair Michael Mauro, Vice Chair Hilary Ormond, Vice Chair/Secretary Cristina A. Ross and members Maria Naughton, Penny Young, Tom Butterworth, Rita Bettino, Luke Kaufman, Kimberly Norton, Janet Fonss, Eric Thunem and Jennifer Zonis—voted 12-0 in favor of the budget.

Betty Lovastik

Town Committee to Private Group: We Can’t Change a Town Ordinance Allowing You To Place Ads in Waveny Ice Rink

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A committee of New Canaan’s legislative body at its most recent meeting decided against a recommendation to amend a local ordinance in order to allow a private group to have advertising in a makeshift ice rink planned for a public park. Though certain members of the Town Council Bylaws & Ordinances Committee argued in favor of allowing New Canaan Ice Inc. to run 10 to 15 paid “dasher board” ads along the walls of a rink planned for Waveny, others cautioned that making such an exception to a clearly written ordinance would set a bad precedent. Tom Butterworth, a Committee co-chair, noted that there appears to be a lack of enforcement with respect to the Section 42-8(G) of the Town Code, which reads: “No person shall distribute any handbills or circulars or post any bills, notices or advertising matter of any kind and nature in any park.”

Yet “we want a pristine Waveny,” Butterworth said at the Nov. 22 meeting, held via videoconference. 

“We want to have a rule that basically tells the world that Waveny gives you this pristine experience with nature,” he said. “And that’s a laudable goal.

Government

‘She Puts Party First, Before Other Things’: Town Councilmen Voice Concerns about BOF Candidate in Divided Vote on Finance Board Appointment

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In an unusual discussion last week, some members of New Canaan’s legislative body voiced concerns about the qualifications and partisanship of a prospective member of an appointed municipal body. While Maria Weingarten can be admired for her outspokenness and strong opinions, she as an alternate member of the Board of Finance has already had to recuse herself from some important votes related to a proposed affordable housing development at 751 Weed St. and is also an activist on some education-related issues, Town Councilman Hilary Ormond said during the legislative body’s regular meeting July 20. It also is unclear just how Weingarten is qualified to serve as a regular member of the finance board, Ormond said during the meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference. “I’m not entirely clear what her qualifications are,” Ormond said.

Government

Affordable Housing: Town Council Discusses New Canaan’s Handling of Moratorium Application 

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New Canaan’s legislative body last week called for the town to consider getting a second legal opinion on whether the municipality should move forward now with an application to the state for relief from a widely discussed affordable housing law. First Selectman Kevin Moynihan said earlier this month that, following discussions with the Connecticut Department of Housing, the town will wait until the second phase of the Canaan Parish is completed to apply for a four-year “moratorium” from the state law known by its statute number, 8-30g. Towns like New Canaan, where less than 10% of all housing stock qualifies as “affordable” under the state’s definition, are susceptible to the 8-30g law. Under it, developers can use an appeal process to effectively skirt local zoning regulations when applying for multi-family housing project where at least 30% of all units are rented at affordable rates. 

The town has received two such applications from local developer Arnold Karp, at Weed and Elm Streets, and on Main Street. Moynihan has said that, based on discussions with the state, the town “does not currently have enough affordable housing ‘points’ to qualify for a moratorium.” 

Specifically, the town in drawing up its application for relief—allowable under 8-30g for municipalities that create a certain number of new affordable units—had not accounted for “deductions” for pre-existing affordable housing that were demolished as part of a pan to rebuild with higher density. 

Even so, “we believe our facts are distinguishable based on the kinds of units that we have,” Moynihan told members of the Town Council at their June 15 meeting, held at Town Hall.

Government

Moynihan: Vine Cottage Worth Three Times What Land Trust Bid

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The town rejected a venerable nonprofit organization’s recent bid to purchase Vine Cottage because the building is worth more money than what was offered, according to First Selectman Kevin Moynihan. The Board of Selectmen met out of the public eye—as public bodies are allowed to do, under state law, when dealing with certain specific aspects of real estate transactions—to “decide whether we should negotiate with the [New Canaan] Land Trust,” Moynihan said during the Town Council’s regular meeting Tuesday. “We have an indication that the value of that property is three times what was being offered by the Land Trust,” Moynihan said during the meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference. “If we get to the point where we want to sort of give it away to a nonprofit, an important local nonprofit, we could. But right now, for one we really need it for the Health Department.