Government

Besieged by Complaints and Misinformation, ‘Merritt Village’ Developer Withdraws Offer To Restore Abutting Cemetery

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Though they’d support another group’s efforts, the owners of a 3.3-acre parcel on the edge of downtown New Canaan said Tuesday that they’re withdrawing an offer to restore, plaque and protect an abutting, long-ignored and historically important cemetery after hearing complaints that its presence should disrupt the their widely discussed redevelopment plans. When they applied to the town in June to create 123 housing units on the Merritt Apartments property where 38 now exist, the property’s owners hired a consultant who determined that Ezra Benedict’s 1852-buit “Maple Street Cemetery” is one generation away from vanishing due to neglect. After running a sonar scan of the grounds and tracking down the heirs of 52 people buried there, property owner M2 Partners developed plans for rejuvenating the cemetery into a local landmark, with reset gravestones, family grouping and a plaque recognizing the remains of those interred with no headstone. “We were happy to do that and after the effort and time and the lack of consideration back to us of the applicant, we have withdrawn our offer of fencing it off, putting a plaque on it, putting a gate there and making sure it is not a ball field,” Arnold Karp of M2 Partners said during a subcommittee meeting of New Canaan’s legislative body. “So whatever the Historical Society or the group of New Canaan residents who feel it should be taken care of, we are in favor of that,” he said at the Town Council Subcommittee on Infrastructure and Utilities meeting, held at Town Hall.

News

Letter: Opposing the Merritt Village Proposal in New Canaan

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To the Editor:

Twenty-two years ago lawyers for Avalon came to a New Canaan P&Z meeting with an application to build a housing complex on the large parking lot next to our train station. Its scale and density were massive. These lawyers told our zoning officials that before they joined Avalon they were the lobbyists that changed our state law that removed our home rule that would allow us to form our own town. Thus, to stop this unbelievable loss of controlling our own destiny, Citizens for New Canaan was formed. A group that comprised hundreds of passionate New Canaanites and its leaders to regain control of our Town.

News

Letter: Group Forms To Oppose Merritt Village Proposal

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To the Editor:

A group of concerned residents calling itself Citizens for New Canaan formed in response to M2 Partners’ proposal brought before the Planning and Zoning Commission members. According to the developer’s website “the new Merritt Village WILL consist of four, four-story, elevatored buildings. Two buildings WILL include 63 rental apartments and the other two buildings WILL include 60 condominium units, for a maximum total of 123 residences.”

In addition, the builder plans to construct 205 parking spaces — 177 underground plus 28 aboveground. Presently, just 38 apartments exist on this 3.3-acre parcel of land located off Maple and Park Streets. The developer will accomplish his goal if our Planning and Zoning Commission creates a new zoning ordinance to accommodate the builder’s plan.

Government

‘Protest’ vs. ‘Public Referendum’: Clarifying P&Z Rules for Opponents of Merritt Village

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Several residents concerned about the proposed Merritt Village development have come to local officials with an idea of launching what they’re calling a public “referendum” on the divisive project should the Planning & Zoning Commission approve it, the town planner has confirmed. Presumably, the idea is to push back on a future decision from the appointed body—the same way, say, a resident may pursue a referendum following an appropriation made by the Town Council. Yet, as Town Planner Steve Kleppin said when asked about the prospect with respect to Merritt, the referendum process does not apply to P&Z decisions. P&Z is governed largely by state statute, “not necessarily from local jurisdiction,” he said. “I believe it is set up that way so an applicant can pursue applications in any municipality and follow the same sets of procedures in terms of the timeframes and authority of the [P&Z] Commission,” Kleppin said.

Government

‘A Reasonable Compromise Has To Be Worked Out’: P&Z Weighs In on Merritt Village Proposal

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Questions about the viability of a new parking system, guarantees regarding the set-aside of some below-market units and the potential that a condo-and-apartment complex could loom conspicuously over parts of Park Street rank high among outstanding concerns regarding the proposed development at Merritt Apartments, the chairman of the New Canaan Planning & Zoning Commission said Tuesday night. Most of all, perhaps, the Merritt Village as proposed—a plan that would see 123 units built on a combined 3.29-acre parcel at the edge of downtown New Canaan where 38 now exist—raises questions about “the density of the whole project,” P&Z Chairman John Goodwin said during a public hearing. “One component is—is four stories the right answer or should it be three?—which effectively becomes three-and-a-half [stories] with a roof,” Goodwin said during the hearing, which drew a standing-room only crowd at Town Hall. “And as the planner has noted, there is the issue of how many units. The planner has shared with the commission his analysis that if we were to apply the current most dense project in New Canaan to [the Merritt Village] project, the number that would fall out would be 95 units, so that is a challenge.