Government

‘You Ultimately Fell Victim To a Bait and Switch’: Pound Ridge Town Supervisor To P&Z on Grace Farms

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Grace Farms is operating as something substantially different from a church and its president was less than “brimming with Christian charity” in addressing concerns from the town located immediately to the north, the highest elected official in Pound Ridge, N.Y. told members of the Planning & Zoning Commission in a recent letter. Pound Ridge Town Supervisor Richard Lyman often hears people recommend that “you must really go to Grace Farms for lunch, it is terrific,” he said in a letter received Aug. 1 by P&Z and obtained by NewCanaanite.com. That “seems a rather upscale if not perverted twist on the proverbial church basement soup kitchen,” Lyman said in his letter. “Thank you, I’ll pass.”

He added that P&Z members “after all of your hard work on this application … ultimately fell victim to a bait and switch,” saying: “Some of you may recall that I publicly stated in one of your site plan review meetings that following my reaching out to Ms. [Sharon] Prince, president of the Grace Farms Foundation, to open a dialogue between the Town of Pound Ridge and the Foundation to address our concerns, I did not find Grace Church to be exactly brimming with Christian charity.”

Sent a copy of the letter (embedded below as a PDF) and asked for a response, Prince through a spokesperson said: “Grace Farms Foundation will address concerns and questions at the October Planning & Zoning hearing.”

That’s when the commission is expected to discuss publicly a widely anticipated application from Grace Farms to amend its permit.

Government

After Strained Meeting with Neighbors, Grace Farms Faces Questions About Transparency at Past Public Hearings

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Though Grace Farms intends to “work” planning officials regarding complaints that its varied, robust and non-religious activities violate what’s allowed at its 80-acre site, the organization is failing to collaborate in earnest with its own next-door neighbors, according to records of a meeting the two parties held this month. Representatives from Grace at a June 16 meeting with the owners of six abutting properties said out loud that they wanted to understand the neighbors’ concerns, according to minutes of the meeting sent to the chairman of the Planning & Zoning Commission, as well as the town attorney, town planner and first selectman. Yet, for example, when the neighbors “voiced concerns about the impact of the significant scale, intensity of use, and scope of Grace’s activities on their property values,” representatives from Grace responded “that they understood that Grace Farms was generally perceived as having a positive impact on New Canaan property values,” according to minutes of the meeting taken by a neighbor and sent June 20 to town officials. “The neighbors noted that visitors to their properties have likened the view of Grace Farms to that of an industrial park or an airport, depending upon the time of day, and noted the detrimental impact of regular and virtually unrestricted use of Grace Farms on their safety, security and privacy, which have resulted in a material negative impact on the value and salability of their properties. The Grace representatives continued to emphasize their view that Grace Farms enhances general public perceptions of New Canaan and property value generally in New Canaan, as if the points we just raised relative to our specific properties—all of which directly abut Grace Farms—had not registered with them.”

The discussion also touched on a looming 2-story structure originally depicted as a “shed” in site plans, as well as noise, lighting, long hours and volume of visitors—concerns that Grace personnel previously had dismissed, according to the minutes, obtained by NewCanaanite.com, making it seem “disingenuous for them to be interested in acting like good neighbors now.”

Based on past dealings with people at Grace, “we had not been interacting with an organization whose ‘tone at the top’ was focused on being a good neighbor,” the minutes said.

Around Town

Did You Hear … ?

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Town officials on Tuesday night approved plans for a new business’s sign and awning at 31 Vitti St.—known for two years as the home of Eclectic, which recently closed (locals may recall chef Robert Milano’s delicious cheesesteak, which recently made our Top-10 New Canaan Sandwiches list). With a planned launch about two weeks away, the new business at 31 Vitti, Good2Gourmet, according to its website, will offer convenient home delivery and curbside pickup from foods on its “tantalizing menu providing maxim flavors with minimum sodium and no additives.” Led by a renowned chef and founded by a mother of four, Good2Gourmet has joined the New Canaan Chamber of Commerce and defines its mission as providing “a variety of healthy and delicious dishes for the entire family.” Read more about the company here. ***

The male Maltese mix found on the night of June 15 on Lakeview Avenue is up for adoption as of Wednesday, June 24 through New Canaan Animal Control. He’s about two years old and Officer Maryann Kleinschmitt said she’s calling him ‘Finnegan.’ “Finn for short,” Kleinschmitt told NewCanaanite.com. “He is so cute.”

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The New Canaan Board of Education on Monday night bid farewell to two administrators who earned high praise at their final school board meetings.