Government

Prospect of Seventh Public Hearing for ‘Merritt Village’ as Cemetery Questions Linger for P&Z

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The owner of the future ‘Merritt Village’ apartment-and-condo complex on the edge of downtown New Canaan is in talks with Planning & Zoning officials about whether yet another public hearing will be needed to sort out whether any of the property to be developed constitutes a cemetery. Approved with 60-plus conditions by the P&Z Commission in November following six public hearings, Merritt Village is to include 110 total units. In December, property owner M2 Partners filed an administrative appeal citing several of the conditions that involve the ‘Maple Street Cemetery.’

The conditions regarding the burial ground are objectionable to M2 because, if upheld, they would require the property owner to seek approval for an amended site plan. P&Z is asking the hopeful property developer to return for a hearing in February, according to New Canaan resident Arnold Karp, a partner in M2. “We are on hold because if they are going to go take a piece of my property, I can’t design a building,” Karp told NewCanaanite.com.

Government

Property Owner Appeals Six Conditions Attached to P&Z’s ‘Merritt Village’ Approval

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The group that owns Merritt Apartments is appealing some of the conditions placed on its hard-won approval to develop the downtown New Canaan site with up to 110 units. M2 Partners is “aggrieved” by six of the 65 conditions that the New Canaan Planning & Zoning Commission imposed on construction of the planned ‘Merritt Village’ complex near Maple and Park Streets, according to an appeal filed Dec. 22 in state Superior Court in Stamford. The conditions—which deal with the ‘Old Burial Ground’ or ‘Maple Street Cemetery,’ underground parking and fencing during construction—have no legal or factual basis and should be revised or deleted, according to the appeal, filed on behalf of M2 by attorney Steve Finn of Stamford-based Wofsey Rosen Kweskin & Kuriansky LLP. A series of conditions regarding the burial ground would appear especially objectionable to M2 because, if upheld, they would require the property owner to seek approval for an amended site plan.

Government

Questions About Well Water Prompt P&Z To Postpone Decision on Proposed Two-Level Pond for Weed Street Estate

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Seeking more information about how a proposed well might affect neighbors, town officials on Tuesday night continued a public hearing regarding a Weed Street property owner’s dramatic plan to install a two-tiered pond behind a new house. One neighbor who spoke out against plans for a recently formed 22-acre estate at 386 Weed St. voiced concerns to the Planning & Zoning Commission about the removal of 426 trees on the property—a criticism that would appear somewhat hypocritical, according to a landscaping professional representing the applicant. Sean Keating of TLC Lawn and Landscaping conceded that the 6-acre section that’s been cleared “does look quite devastated at the moment,” though he noted that 4,000 shrubs and trees are planned for the property. “The six acres will be absolutely lush and luxurious when it’s done, and the neighboring properties actually are clear-cut,” Keating told P&Z members at their regular meeting, held in Town Hall.

Around Town

Introducing the ‘Grace Farms Hub’: Interactive Timeline, Articles, Letters

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Grace Farms in a thick, complex application now before the Planning & Zoning Commission is seeking to change its operating permit. To help our readers navigate the organization’s complicated history and public record, we’ve published a ‘Grace Farms Hub,’ complete with an interactive timeline that’s expandable and includes embedded videos of meetings, transcripts and minutes, as well as news articles and letters submitted to the New Canaanite from members of the community. TIMELINE    *    ARTICLES    *    LETTERS
If approved as proposed, Grace Farms would have broad latitude among New Canaan organizations to host programs and events across the wide range of topics covered by its “core initiatives” of faith, arts, community, nature and justice. Since opening to the public in the fall of 2015, Grace Farms has drawn both high praise from visitors using its facilities, attending its programs, walking its grounds and admiring its architecture and fierce criticism from neighbors and their supporters who worry about non-permitted, robust, intense uses of its campus. Those who have voiced concerns about Grace Farms say it won P&Z approval in early 2013 to put up its multi-structure ‘River’ building on the strength of promises that the organization would pursue only ancillary uses to a church.

Government

Ferris Hill Road Homeowner Moves Boat Out of Driveway Following Neighbor’s Complaint, Notice of Violation

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A Ferris Hill Road homeowner has removed a winterized boat that had been parked in his driveway, following a municipal notice of violation issued last week. A neighbor of the 2.27-acre property, where a boat had been parked just outside a garage east of the house (and largely out of view from the road), prompted a Planning & Zoning inspection by lodging a complaint with the town, officials said. “In response to our recent conversation regarding the violation of the town of New Canaan Zoning Regulations Section 3.3.B.5 you remain in violation of this section for storing of a recreational vehicle (boat), I offer the following: Removal of the boat from the premises or a total screening of the boat satisfactory to this department within 7 days from the date of this notice,” said a Dec. 6 letter from a New Canaan zoning inspector, obtained by NewCanaanite.com through a formal request. It continued: “Failure to comply with this notice will result in further enforcement action.”

Under the New Canaan Zoning Regulations, a “recreational vehicle” is defined as “any type of vehicle used primarily for recreational pleasure including but not limited to motor homes, travel trailers, campers, camping trailers, boats, snowmobiles and associated trailers.”

Under the regulations, up to two such vehicles may be parked in a residential lot under a zoning permit, though they must either be parked or in a “fully enclosed structure” or else, if parked outside, must “not be located in the front yard of the existing dwelling or other principal building on the same lot,” must “not be located within any required accessory building yard space” and must “be effectively screened from view of adjacent premises to the satisfaction of the Zoning Inspector” (see page 48 here).