Around Town

Despite Warnings, Unwanted Garbage Enclosure Lingers within Historic District

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The group of volunteers that oversees New Canaan’s historic district—a 21-building area around God’s Acre—say they intend, reluctantly, to assess a violation or fine for a Seminary Street resident who never got permission to set up a garbage can enclosure located in the driveway and has failed to communicate or comply with requests to do so. The Historic District Commission on Wednesday voted unanimously to empower its acting chairman to contact the town’s lawyer and building department regarding 18 Seminary St. “I had previously been told that it would be changed in location and taken down from that place by the 15th of May,” Janet Lindstrom said of the plastic enclosure. Before structures within the district undergo exterior changes, approval is required from the commission. The relevant section of the Town Code is Chapter 31-6, which includes this language:
“No work on any type of structure which would change the appearance of any property within the Historic District when viewed from the street line shall be begun until the property owner has filed an application with the Building Inspector and has received a certificate of appropriateness from the Historic District Commission.”
The two-story house at 18 Seminary St.

News

Still Vacant: Owners of Historic 1780 Home on Main St. Reject Offer

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Though it had been said that a bank accepted one local couple’s offer on a vacant 1780 home in New Canaan’s historic district, the antique house’s current owners have rejected that offer, officials said. Members of the Historic District Commission said Wednesday that they’re disappointed the Greek Revival-style home at 4 Main St. will not see the prospective new owners take over. “They were putting some thought into it,” commissioner Richard Rose said at the group’s meeting, held in the ca. 1825 Town House, one of eight museums and historic buildings operated by the venerable New Canaan Historical Society (a member-supported organization).

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Offer Accepted on Neglected, Historic Main Street Home

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A bank has accepted a prospective buyer’s offer on the 1780 home at 4 Main St.— just before St. Michael’s Lutheran Church as you climb up toward Oenoke Ridge at God’s Acre. Nobody has lived in the 10-room, 7,000-square-foot home for at least one year, according to officials with the Historic District Commission, and it’s fallen into disrepair. This week—prior to actually purchasing the antique home—New Canaan resident Janet Drexler went before the commission to gauge the possibility of making some upgrades (mostly for safety reasons) to the driveway, a railing and the garage. The commission signs off on external changes to 21 buildings located within the district.