Government

Main Street Building Owner Seeks To Create Residences on Second Floor

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The owners of a long-vacant commercial building on Main Street are planning to convert its second floor from offices to apartments, according to a new application on file with the town. The “bank” building at 87 Main St. — a prominent 1911-built brick structure that used to house the Indian restaurant Thali — would see its cathedral ceiling filled in order to convert the second floor into four one-bedroom apartments, according to a letter to the Planning & Zoning Commission dated Sept. 12. “The project will also include adding an elevator within the existing footprint that will access both floors including a new street level access door located at the southeast corner of the building,” according to the letter from architect James Schettino.

Bruce MacLear

Private ‘Finch Club’ Proposed for Historic Park Street House

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The New Canaanite 2024 Summer Internship Program is sponsored by Karp Associates. A group of local residents are seeking to build a private club in the historic ‘Maxwell Perkins House’ on Park Street. The three-floor house—long owned by the late architect Richard Bergmann—would be called ‘The Finch Club’ under a plan that was presented recently to the Planning & Zoning Commission. The Greek Revival-style house at 63 Park St. once was occupied by Maxwell Perkins, the great Scribner’s editor of Ernest Hemingway, F.Scott Fitzgerald and Thomas Wolfe.

Government

Amid Lawsuit, P&Z To Consider Proposed Settlement in Tennis Court Denial

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Town officials will consider a settlement offer made on behalf of a Rilling Ridge woman who sued the Planning & Zoning Commission last year after the appointed body denied her application to build a tennis court. Under a proposal filed by Amy Tucci’s lawyer, Joel Green of Bridgeport-based Law Offices of Green and Gross, P.C., the tennis court would move two feet closer to an existing swimming pool than originally proposed, would include more robust landscape screening and would have a four-millimeter-thick pad “applied to the entire surface of the court” to “significantly reduce the noise level associated” with its use. The proposed settlement also calls for no lighting, use from 6 a.m. to sundown and no commercial use (Tucci originally had filed an application to operate a boutique commercial gym at home, later withdrawn). P&Z denied the application one year ago. At the time, Tucci applied to P&Z for a Special Permit that would allow a tennis court to be located within a 150 feet of the street (see page 55 here), and for a second permit allowing for soil disturbance of more than 10,000 square feet of area in order to (page 149).

Business

‘The White Buffalo’ Seeks Permission for Twice-Weekly Outdoor Music through October

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Saying the business has met a number of Planning & Zoning conditions, the owners of a popular bar in downtown New Canaan are seeking permission to have outdoor music twice-weekly from May through October. Located down an alley just past Chef Luis on Elm Street since it launched in 2019, The White Buffalo has reviewed letters of complaint about past outdoor events, established an acceptable decibel level, produced a site plan for the access, talked to neighbors and produced documentation requested by the Planning & Zoning Commission, owners Rich Hewitt and Chris Meier said in a letter to P&Z. “We have combed through each complaint and made sure that we have addressed each complaint with sensitivity and empathy,” their letter said. “We feel we have addressed those complaints with our compliant actions. We have met with Chef Luis and feel we have come up with a great compromise to work together in order to generate business for both our restaurants.

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New Bakery and Café Planned for Main Street

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A new bakery and café is planned for downtown New Canaan. The owners of a vacant commercial space on Main Street are seeking approval from the Planning & Zoning Commission for a new food use at 90 Main St. Formerly home to Sorelle Gallery, the 2,085-square-foot space would have café seating closest to the street, with a serving counter that has pastry display cases and an espresso machine located behind it, deeper into the store, according to plans submitted to P&Z by Joseph Thompson of Peekskill, N.Y.-based Joseph Thompson Architect. Under the New Canaan Zoning Regulations (see page 77 here), food shops are permitted in the Retail A Zone with site plan approval from P&Z. In her memo to P&Z on the application, Town Planner Sarah Carey said the proposal “also includes façade changes to the first floor.”

“The applicant proposes to remove the existing first floor windows and a portion of the brick façade to replace them with retractable glass doors to have an indoor/outdoor seating area,” Carey said.