The New Canaan Land Trust has acquired a long-disused property on upper Valley Road, guaranteeing preservation of an antique structure once slated for demolition and providing a first-ever headquarters for the esteemed local nonprofit organization.
The acquisition of 1124 Valley Road, final as of April 19, ends years of enmity between the town and 2.23-acre property’s former owner, the First Taxing District of Norwalk.
The town in 2018 had offered to acquire what was then a full four-acre parcel for $1.2 million. But the Taxing District rejected that offer. After applying for a demolition permit and then withdrawing it, the Taxing District later rejected the town’s offer to purchase just the house with .8 acres carved out around it, for $250,000—a figure New Canaan had arrived at following an appraisal of the property. Then former First Selectman Kevin Moynihan (a retired lawyer who routinely overspent the town’s legal budget) threatened to take it by eminent domain. The property abuts the Grupes Reservoir connects directly to the Browne Preserve, one of the first properties to come under the protection of the Land Trust.
National planning expert Jeff Speck has spent his career studying what makes cities thrive and has boiled it down to one key factor: walkability. From economists, epidemiologists, and environmentalists to preservationists, planners, and parents, all agree that walkable communities are better in just about every way. Speck explains why walking is useful, particularly regarding land-use, zoning, transit, and parking, and then focuses on how, by sharing examples of places where walking is safe, comfortable, and interesting.
The Planning & Zoning Commission on Tuesday approved a special permit for 1124 Valley Road that will enable the New Canaan Land Trust to establish its headquarters in the circa-1750 farmhouse located on the property, which abuts the Grupes Reservoir. The approval of the special permit follows the Land Trust’s purchase of the antique home from the First Taxing District (FTD) of Norwalk, which acts as a municipal water company. The town contributed $150,000 toward the purchase. In terms of acreage, the Land Trust and FTD are two of the largest land owners in New Canaan. Under the terms of the private land deal, 1.82 acres of the four-acre property will be deeded to the Land Trust by FTD.
The NewCanaanite.com Summer Internship Program is sponsored by Carriage Barn Arts Center. The Board of Selectmen last week approved a request from the Conservation Commission to disburse $150,000 toward the New Canaan Land Trust’s purchase of a historic home, located next to the Grupes Reservoir on Valley Road. The Board of Finance and Town Council also must approve the $150,000 allocation for the Land Trust’s purchase of 1124 Valley Road, officials said at the June 20 selectmen meeting. The money will be paid out of the town’s Land Acquisition Fund. The property is currently owned by the Norwalk First Taxing District, and had been slated to be demolished.
The First Taxing District has agreed to sell the house and adjacent property for a total of $500,000, according to Art Berry, treasurer of the New Canaan Land Trust.
This week on 0684-Radi0, our free podcast (subscribe here in iTunes), talk to Jack Winalski, a New Canaan resident and St. Luke’s School sophomore who has taken on a unique Eagle Scout project, installing beehives on New Canaan Land Trust preserves throughout town.
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