Government

Town Council Candidates Discuss Transparency in Local Government at Debate

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New Canaan’s strong zoning is one of its most important assets, according to one incumbent member of the town’s legislative body. The zoning regulations are what underpin property values here, yet in recent years—considering the handling of applications for Merritt Village, Grace Farms, the Roger Sherman Inn, mixed-use on Forest Street and “Zone D” on Grove Street, New Canaan has been “managing by exception,” according to Town Councilman John Engel. “The mere fact that we have 100 caveats to the Grace Farms approval, another 100 for the Merritt Village approval, shows that we have got to do a better job of getting in front of this and the evidence is, it is costing us money,” Engel, a Republican seeking re-election to the Town Council, said during a debate last week. “When I talk to the developer [of Heritage Square] on Forest Street and I ask, ‘Would you do it again?’ and he said, ‘No, it’s far too risky to develop in this town not knowing after a two-year process whether your project will get approved or not.’ So developers are staying away and I don’t know if most people realize it, but building permits are down by 50 percent this year versus last year. It is costing us money.

News

Letter: Liz Gores Donovan for Town Council

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I am supporting Liz Gores Donovan for Town Council. She is highly qualified and can help preserve the unique character of New Canaan providing leadership to guide our town into the future. Liz has the skills that will be valuable such as technology and telecommunications. She was born in New Canaan, to a prominent family, and has lived here much of her life. Liz is the youngest daughter of the famed architect Landis Gores, one of the famed Harvard Five.

News

Letter: Supporting Liz Donovan for Town Council

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Dear Editor,

I endorse Liz Donovan for the Town Council not due to a longtime friendship, business association, or any other personal interests. I only know Ms. Donovan due to our mutual involvement in Togetherhood, a New Canaan YMCA volunteer organization. Togetherhood’s monthly 7 pm meetings became 7:15 pm meetings when Liz joined two years ago. That is the price one pays when one gets home from a long day of work, and gives her diabetic cat its nightly insulin shot. For Liz to time her appointments to the minute is no surprise, if you pay attention to her background and schedule.

Government

‘A Lot of Energy’: New Canaan Democrats Gather for Party’s Annual BBQ To Support Candidates for Local Offices [PHOTOS]

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More than 100 local Democrats gathered at Kiwanis Park on Sunday to connect with each other ahead of November’s election, hear from and support their party’s candidates and mingle with Connecticut’s delegates in Congress. The New Canaan Democrats’ 14th annual BBQ was hosted by Democratic Town Committee Chairman Bob Smith and attended by U.S. Sens. Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy, Connecticut Attorney General George Jepsen and Secretary of the State Denise Merrill. The three-hour event—in addition to raising campaign funds at $40 to $50 per ticket—shed light on local candidates’ plans for the town’s future, encouraged residents to get further involved in the town’s election process, and put a spotlight on some of those stepping down from their elected offices. As attendees dined on a buffet of BBQ ribs, pulled pork sandwiches, and assorted sides courtesy of Dinosaur Bar-B-Q, both elected officials and candidates shared their thoughts on the political landscape on the local and national levels.

Government

Op-Ed: New Canaan Democrat Liz Donovan Announces Candidacy for Town Council

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New Canaan is my hometown. Fortunate enough to be born and raised here, I went off to college at Princeton after graduating from NCHS in 1977, and spent the next few decades in New Jersey. There I raised my family of adopted and foster children and held various volunteer positions in my Princeton class and the Boy Scouts, all while working full time and managing a family equestrian operation for 20 years. Yet during that time I was still connected here through my family—I am the youngest daughter of Harvard Five architect Landis Gores, who settled here in 1947 with my mother Pam and four siblings. I returned to New Canaan full-time in 2014 with my husband, Professor Craig Donovan, to live with my mom in my childhood home, the first house my father designed, now on the National Historic Registry.