Business

Town Officials Flag Size, Style of Antiques Store’s ‘Going Out of Business’ Sale Signs

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Town officials say the long-established antiques store at the corner of South Avenue and Elm Street that is going out of business has gone through two iterations of signage announcing its closing sale after early versions caused consternation for some. Sallea Antiques, whose owner is retiring, had “basically papered its windows” with hot pink and neon green signs initially, according to Planning & Zoning Commission Chairman John Goodwin. “And the pushback to that is, if I’m a merchant and somebody is across the street from me or next door to me, and [the signs] look like it’s a name-your-discount Dollar General ‘going out of business’ type thing, and a lot of people just think it doesn’t look very good,” Goodwin said Tuesday at a regular P&Z meeting, held in the Sturgess Room at the New Canaan Nature Center. Town Planner Steve Kleppin, who doubles as the department’s zoning enforcement officer, said he would be willing to take yet another look at the shop’s signage, through “to be quite honest, I have zero enforcement power,” he said. “Because they’re going out of business,” he said.

Business

‘It Looks Like It Could Be a Dumpster’: Planning Officials Object to Pine Street Restaurant’s Outdoor Seating ‘Bunker’

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Calling a Pine Street restaurant’s makeshift outdoor seating area a ‘bunker’ that could be mistaken for a dumpster, planning officials on Tuesday night called for the eatery to build what was approved or forego the seasonal addition altogether. South End had been approved for an “open, very light and airy” enclosure that extends into would-be parking spaces for temporary outdoor seating, with features that include vertically defined posts, Planning & Zoning Commission member Kent Turner said at the group’s regular monthly meeting. “As you can see, it was very open,” Turner said of the original and approved plans at the meeting, held in the Sturgess Room at the New Canaan Nature Center. “The as-built condition looks like a mechanical equipment louver that completely encloses the space. The fact that it is painted white and the original lower portion of the fence or screen is dark gray is very puzzling, and it appears to be an enclosed structure and I just don’t see how this was even close to what was originally proposed, nor should it be allowed, based on our zoning guidelines and what you see throughout New Canaan as far as outdoor seating.”

Chairman John Goodwin said P&Z had extended an invitation to South End to attend the meeting and speak on the matter, though no representatives from the restaurant were in attendance.

Government

Parking Commission on Locust and Lumberyard: ‘We Need to Tier Those Two Lots’

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The reopening of Town Hall, which started this week and will come in waves through the summer, will exacerbate a shortage of parking downtown—a problem that must be solved by decking the Locust Avenue lot and transferring some municipal employees into the proposed new structure, the head of the New Canaan Parking Commission said Wednesday. New Canaan for more than a half-century has acknowledged a shortage in parking for downtown visitors as well as commuters, and the tiering of Locust and Lumberyard lots is the sensible, minimally disruptive solution—projects that the town should pursue regardless of separate capital projects such as the proposed Saxe Middle School auditorium and classroom expansion, Keith Richey said during a meeting of the Plan of Conservation and Development Implementation Committee. “Both lots fall away from the street so a single tier could be added at street level, negating any serious concern about having an ugly parking structure—a concern I share, by the way,” Richey said during the meeting, held in the Training Room at the New Canaan Police Department. “There is little controversy over the conclusion. There is no need for another study to tell us this would materially improve the situation.”

He continued: “We need to tier the Locust Avenue Parking Lot and the Lumberyard Lot.

Government

Field Club: Provision Restricting Weekend Construction Work Unfair

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Calling a rule that no noise-making construction work can take place on weekends at the New Canaan Field Club unfair, burdensome and likely not enforceable, an attorney representing the club on Tuesday night urged planning officials to do away with the requirement. The Planning & Zoning Commission made the weekend restriction a condition of approval in green-lighting the expansion of a pool pavilion at the club six months ago. Glen Drive area neighbors concerned about noise, visibility and real estate values had fought against the project, which P&Z ultimately approved on 16 conditions. The last of those goes beyond even the town’s own noise ordinance, David Rucci of Main Street’s Lampert, Toohey & Rucci LLC told the commission at its regular monthly meeting. “We do not think that it is really a fair burden to put on us in this particular application,” Rucci said during a public hearing, held in the Sturgess Room at the New Canaan Nature Center.

Business

Though Prohibited, Sandwich Boards Proliferate Downtown; P&Z to Open Discussion

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Though local zoning regulations explicitly prohibit them, sandwich boards are appearing in front of an increasing number of businesses downtown, prompting planning officials to open a public discussion on the matter. Under Section 6.3.F.7 of the New Canaan Zoning Regulations (page 118 here), “sandwich board and easel type signs” are prohibited. Yet members of the Planning & Zoning Commission “clearly have noticed a dramatic increase in sandwich boards in the past year or so” and will take up the issue at its Feb. 24 meeting, Chairman John Goodwin said. “It is something that we [P&Z members] have said we need to discuss, and personally I do not have a clear view yet of whether my view would be, ‘Look it is an ordinance and we’ve got to prohibit them’ because, on the other hand, we want to do everything possible in town to help businesses, and I am a very strong advocate of that.”

It isn’t clear whether Goodwin and P&Z will seek wider public input on sandwich boards during the group’s regular meeting.