Dan Radman

‘We’ve All Endured Four Years of Agony’: P&Z Gives Formal Approval for 102-Unit Affordable Structure at Weed and Elm

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Bemoaning what the Planning & Zoning Commission’s chair characterized as the failure of a local developer and legal “intervenors” to negotiate an alternative project, the appointed body this week voted to approve a 102-unit affordable housing complex at Weed and Elm Streets, as required by a state Superior Court judge. In upholding an appeal last summer that had been filed on behalf of developer Arnold Karp after P&Z denied it, the court gave the town, applicant and intervenor neighbors the ability to negotiate a different project at 751 Weed St., a vacant 3.1-acre parcel. On Tuesday night, P&Z met to follow through on the court’s order and approve the original project, filed with the town under a widely criticized state law known by its statute number, 8-30g. Before the formal vote at Tuesday night’s regular meeting, P&Z Chair Dan Radman said, “As I have made clear, there have been ongoing discussions with the applicant and the intervenors—the neighbors who are part of the intervenor group—that have been going on a for a number of months with potential alternatives and compromises discussed and reviewed. But … they did not come to an agreement as to what a potential alternative can be.

Government

‘A Fundamental Mismatch’: Neighbors Voice Concerns About Proposed Parade Hill Road Development

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Neighbors of a proposed 14-unit affordable housing structure on Parade Hill Road during the most recent regular Planning & Zoning Commission meeting raised concerns about the building’s size and appropriateness for the neighborhood, as well as traffic, public safety, flooding, aesthetics, noise and screening. Addressing P&Z during a public hearing held March 31 at Town Hall and via videoconference, those opposed to the project at 30 Parade Hill Road said they support additional affordable housing in New Canaan, but not such a large building on a .37-acre site that fronts a windy road already overburdened by large commercial and speeding vehicles. Those speaking out against the 8-30g project—exempt from the town’s active “moratorium” from the state law, due to its size (less than 40 units) and plan to rent all units at affordable rates—told P&Z that there’s case law to allow P&Z to reduce the number of units in the building. They voiced concerns about services available for prospective residents of the development, as well as parking, and criticized a planting plan from the property’s owner—a limited liability company whose principal is Stamford resident Richard Freedman, a trustee of the Garden Homes Fund (philanthropic arm of Garden Homes Management, which owns 9,500 units of rental housing throughout the Northeast)—as insufficient. Michael Campisi, a next-door neighbor of the site, noted that new renderings brought before P&Z are “missing several important things, and those are the homes around it.”

“The single-family homes around it, who have lived here under a pretense that this is a community of single family homes so when you are placing pictures up there, be a little more accurate,” Campisi said.

Government

Two-Lot Subdivision Proposed for Vacant North Wilton Road Parcel

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The owners of a nearly nine-acre vacant property in northeastern New Canaan are seeking permission to subdivide the parcel into two residential lots. Located in New Canaan’s four-acre zone, the 8.94-acre North Wilton Road property borders Wilton to the east as well as single-family residential properties, including vacant parcels, according to a project narrative filed with the Planning & Zoning Commission. “The property contains a wetland system within the southern portion of the parcel including a watercourse that flows southwest into the parcel to the south,” said the narrative, filed by New Canaan-based Keith E. Simpson Associates, a prominent landscape architecture and environmental landscape planning firm. “The parcel previously contained an existing residence served by a well and septic system. The residence, including the septic tank and related infrastructure, was demolished and removed in 2024.”

The proposed subdivision calls for two new parcels of 4.05 and 4.89 acres.

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The Playhouse: P&Z Issues Favorable Report for New Lease/Operator

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The Planning & Zoning Commission this week voted unanimously to make a favorable referral for the town to enter into a new lease for The Playhouse—a key step ahead of the Feb. 9 public hearing where details about the prospective new operator are expected to come out. Under state law, the local P&Z is required to weigh in when there’s a proposed new lease of a public building before the town’s legislative body votes on the lease itself. Following a discussion where P&Z received very limited information about the lease itself—the Commission’s role is to decide whether leasing the building to a new operator is in line with the town’s long-term planning—members voted 9-0 in favor during their regular meeting Tuesday night. Prior to the vote, some commissioners voiced concern that they had no details about the draft lease’s contents. 

“The challenge is we don’t know the particulars of the lease, nor the term,” Commissioner John Engel said.

Business

Fitness Training Business Planned for Vitti Street 

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A new wellness center is planned for a vacant commercial space on Vitti Street. The former site of a dry cleaners and later an apparel company, the first floor at 43 Vitti St. will be converted into a “boutique coach-led training program” under an application before the Planning & Zoning Commission. The new business, which appears from a site plan application to be called “The Strength Collective”—there’s a Stamford-based company under the same name, according to Connecticut Secretary of the State records—offers services “designed to improve mobility, resilience and long-term health for adults,” the application said. “The training model uses small group sessions, personalized programming, and low noise output,” it said.