Government

Affordable Housing: Town Objects to Developer’s Motion; Committee Appointments Coming in Two Weeks

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Saying affordable housing projects already submitted to Planning & Zoning wouldn’t be affected by the outcome of the case, lawyers representing the town last week objected to the developer’s attempt to be named as co-defendant in a lawsuit versus the state. The town in December sued the Connecticut Department of Housing, appealing the state’s decision last fall to deny the town’s application for a “moratorium,” or four years of relief from the state statute that facilitated the affordable housing applications. In June, the town sued again, objecting to a “declaratory ruling” from the state agency that bolstered its earlier denial. 

A state Superior Court judge in July dismissed the first complaint for reasons of “subject matter jurisdiction.” The second one is still active. Last month, attorneys representing developer Arnold Karp filed a motion for four property ownership entities—namely, 751 Weed Street LLC, W.E. Partners, LLC, 51 Main Street, LLC and Hill Street-72 LLC—to become co-defendants in active lawsuit. Under the state law known by its statute number, 8-30g, in towns where less than 10% of all housing stock qualifies as affordable (New Canaan is at 2.94%), developers who propose projects where a certain number of units are set aside to rent at affordable rates may appeal to the state after a local P&Z Commission denies their applications.

Government

Selectmen Approve $33,000 Contract To Make 106-Carter-Canoe Hill Intersection Safer

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Town officials this week approved a $33,000 contract with a traffic consultant in order to design a new, safer plan for a harrowing intersection in New Canaan. The Board of Selectmen voted 3-0 during its regular meeting Tuesday to approve the contract with New Haven-based Hardesty & Hanover to create a long-term solution for the intersection of Route 106, Carter Street and Canoe Hill Road. The solution is expected to “provide us with better sight lines and safe turning lanes,” Public Works Director Tiger Mann told the selectmen during the meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference. Documents provided in the public packet for the meeting show that motorists traveling toward Route 106 on Carter Street would have an option to turn more squarely to the state road in order to gain a better sight line to enter the traffic flow and get into position to turn left onto Canoe Hill. “So as you’re coming up to Carter and Canoe, you would turn, have an area of refuge, and then be able to make the [left] turn [onto Canoe Hill],” Mann said.

Around Town

‘His Legacy and Impact Will Live On’: New Canaanites Remember Don Hersam

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For Steve Karl, there’s a very short list of New Canaanites whose contributions to the community in business, civic matters, faith and philanthropy exceed what anyone conceivably could imagine in terms of commitment and longevity. They are “the rare residents who have created a legacy and body of work that the rest of us just sit back and wonder how they could possibly have that much time, that much energy and that much love for one place,” according to Karl, himself a lifelong New Canaanite. “Don Hersam was one of those extremely rare individuals,” Karl said this week, days after V. Don Hersam, Jr. passed at age 92. 

“He was the soul of the community,” Karl told NewCanaanite.com. “The centerpiece of the 06840 Mt Rushmore,” he continued. “He loved New Canaan, respected its rich history, and consistently endeavored to make it a better place to live, work, and raise a family.

Government

Town, Church Reach Agreement on God’s Acre

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The NewCanaanite.com Summer Internship Program is sponsored by Carriage Barn Arts Center. The Board of Selectmen during its most recent meeting voted in favor of an agreement that’s expected to bring a lengthy legal battle between the town and Congregational Church of New Canaan to a close. The agreement (which can be read here in full) sets aside the question of who owns God’s Acre—a question that First Selectman Kevin Moynihan raised amid the legal dispute—and calls for creation of a four-person committee to make decisions about the hallowed New Canaan property, a burial ground for the town’s founders. Selectman Kathleen Corbet during the Board’s July 25 meeting cited this sentence from the agreement—“Whereas, for at least two centuries the church, the town and New Canaan residents have honored, maintained and enjoyed God’s Acre in a respectful and harmonious manner”—saying, “I feel this agreement moves forward with those intentions.”

Selectman Nick Williams added, “It’s an elegant and simple solution.”

The selectmen voted 3-0 to accept it. 

A dispute first arose in 2020, when the church opposed a town-backed plan to construct a stone terrace at the top of God’s Acre, saying that they were the legal owners of the property. The church’s claim was questioned by Moynihan, who noted that the town spends taxpayer dollars maintaining the parcel. 

While evidence has since been discovered by attorneys representing the Congregational Church that supports their claim to ownership, the new policy that both parties have agreed upon will override any previous claim to ownership in favor of both parties agreeing to hold joint stewardship of the property.

Amy Murphy Carroll

Election 2023: Democrats Put Up Three for BOE; Murphy Carroll Accepts First Selectman Nomination

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A Democrat seeking election to the Board of Education on Tuesday night described New Canaan as “a large community with a ton of tiny communities within it.”

For Lauren Connollly Nussbaum and her husband Matt, town residents for 10 years whose three daughters—ages 8, 10 and 13—attend South and Saxe Middle Schools, those communities include one in special education that they’ve found “remarkable and humbling,” she said during the Democratic Caucus, held at Town Hall. 

Other communities “may be in the sports world, in a house of worship, that may be in the Beautification League,” Connolly Nussbaum told 75-plus Democrats in attendance . 

She continued: “Wherever people in New Canaan are, we are building communities. And that is what I want to do on the Board of Education. Continue to build community and include everyone.”

Connolly Nussbaum added, “I feel ready. I feel nervous. I feel excited.