Government

Town Council Eyes Narrower Scope to Listing of Waveny on National Historic Register

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Raising questions about the exact scope of a proposal to list Waveny Park on the National Register of Historic Places, as well as some concerns about just what might follow from the designation, the Town Council on Wednesday night decided to postpone a vote for at least one more month. At one time, an effort led by the nonprofit New Canaan Preservation Alliance focused on listing just Waveny House and that century-old structure’s immediate environs on the National Register, though—with the thought that the park’s outbuildings and grounds, too, could benefit from an opportunity to get matching grants from the state for capital projects—the proposal has since expanded to include the entire park. But just what encompasses the “entire park” among the five contiguous parcels that form Waveny (see image at right) and whether New Canaan should seek to list all of it on the National Register in one shot are open questions, Town Council members said at their regular meeting, held in the Sturgess Room at the New Canaan Nature Center. Town Council member Kevin Moynihan said he was concerned about “potential negatives” of the listing, such as limiting what could be done on properties abutting Waveny if the designation was granted. “I recall that if you were following the Connecticut Siting Council’s approval of the Armory location for cell towers and the state historic preservation office used the Merritt Parkway’s designation on the National Register of Historic Places as a basis for restricting what could be done on state property adjacent to the National Historic place,” Moynihan said.

Government

Waveny Poised for Listing in National Register of Historic Places

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Waveny Park—crown jewel of New Canaan, gift of the Laphams and site of so many community touchstones, from youth sports, Mosley Hill and weddings to fireworks, nature hikes and sledding—is poised to take an important step toward listing in the National Register of Historic Places, following an informative public hearing Thursday night. Inclusion in the register puts no restrictions on the property and would allow New Canaan to apply for funds in the form of matching dollar-for-dollar reimbursement grants that could go toward restoring parts of the original Olmsted-designed landscape or work on Waveny House and its many outbuildings—planning, conditions assessments, architects’ fees and feasibility studies, state officials said during a meeting of the Town Council Land Use & Recreation Committee. Waveny is “in wonderful shape right now as far as its integrity is concerned, so you’re starting with a really good product,” said Mary Dunne, administrator of the State Historic Preservation Office. “And so I’m assuming you want to keep it that way,” added Dunne at the hearing, held in the Training Room of the New Canaan Police Department. Attended by more than 20 guests, the hearing followed two public meetings on the matter of listing Waveny on the National Register of Historic Places —first before the Park & Recreation Commission in May, then the full Town Council in July.

News

All Eyes on Roger Sherman Inn with New Prospect of Sale, Development

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As news spread this week of the Roger Sherman Inn hitting the market at $6 million, one major question that preservationists and other locals are asking concerns the Oenoke Ridge property’s future—specifically, whether the inn itself could face the wrecking ball, to be replaced by a housing complex of some sort. Mimi Findlay, chairman emerita of the New Canaan Preservation Alliance notes that in recent years, New Canaanites have lost the Melba Inn on Park Street, Maples Inn on Oenoke and Silvermine Tavern. “So sad for New Canaan, architecturally, culturally and personally—where do my in-laws stay when visiting us?” Findlay told NewCanaanite.com in an email. Though the 1.8-acre property at 195 Oenoke Ridge Road cannot be subdivided because it’s in a one-acre zone, Town Planner Steve Kleppin said, concerns linger about development under the Affordable Housing Appeals Act, a state law that allows developers to skirt local planning decisions by designating a certain percentage of units in a proposed development as affordable. The law is triggered in municipalities where less than 10 percent of the housing stock is considered “affordable,” by the state’s definition.

Government

Town Council to Preservationists on Waveny House: ‘The Public Needs Time’

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Saying any change to New Canaan’s most treasured asset merits inclusive and careful consideration, town officials on Wednesday called for a full public vetting of a proposal to place Waveny House on the National Register of Historic Places. In thanking the nonprofit New Canaan Preservation Alliance for its drive, research and conscientiousness in gathering information on what inclusion on the register could mean for the town (more on that below), members of the Town Council also agreed to proceed slowly in order to inform and hear from residents. Chairman Bill Walbert said that when New Canaan deals with a “treasure” such as Waveny House, “the public needs time to digest things.”

“As much as your group is absolutely to be commended for all the volunteer work you do to move this ball forward and the sincere interest you take in the historic facilities in this town, to preserve them for all of us—thank you so much–I think a political reality is when dealing with Waveny House, the public needs time to digest things,” Walbert said during a special meeting of the Town Council, held in the Douglas Room at Lapham Community Center. Ultimately the Town Council decided that it would further research what inclusion in the National Registry entails, offer the matter up for public hearing and make a formal decision no sooner than September. Addressing the council, NCPA President Rose Scott Long described inclusion on the National Register as “largely ceremonial” though “it does increase the recognition of an area’s historic relevance and encourages preservation.”

The nonprofit group in 2012 held a 100th anniversary celebration at Waveny House, attended by the actor Christopher Lloyd, a Lapham who grew up there.

Around Town

Local Preservationists Seek Historic Designation for Waveny House

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A nonprofit group’s effort to place one of New Canaan’s most treasured public buildings on the National Register of Historic Places took a step forward this month by gaining support from the Park and Recreation Commission. The head of the New Canaan Preservation Alliance said at the commission’s May meeting that the town will qualify for grants and matching funding on the state and federal levels for upkeep and improvements at Waveny House if the group’s application for registry succeeds. After raising funds through a 2012 event marking Waveny House’s 100th birthday, the alliance formed a committee that includes an architect, preservation architect, engineer and a former owner of a major New York City-based construction firm to focus on the town building, Rose Scott Long, current president of the NCPA, said during the commission’s May 14 meeting. “This team has been working with the town of New Canaan on a number of potential projects for Waveny House,” she said during the meeting, held at Lapham Community Center. “Together we’ve developed documents for the restoration of the veneer wood flooring and the limestone fireplace in the Great Hall.”

Designed by Greenwich’s W.B. Tubbs and built in 1912 under the Laphams, Waveny House is named for the River ‘Waveney’—part of the Norfolk Broads, an area of eastern England from which the Lapham family hails, historians say.