Business

New Restaurant Planned for Elm Street

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A new restaurant is planned for a vacant commercial space on Elm Street, documents show. 

Floor plans submitted to Planning & Zoning show a 21-table restaurant with a 15-seat bar at 105 Elm St., most recently accessories retailer FatFace. 

The proposal for the commercial space has received a letter of support from Z Hospitality Group, according to P&Z. The company owns six restaurants, according to its website, including Solé in New Canaan, located next door to the proposed new business. It’s unclear what type of restaurant is planned. The property’s owner, Donald Hersam Jr., is seeking an exception to section of the New Canaan Zoning Regulations in order to allow the restaurant. 

Under the zoning regulations, the gross floor area of the second floor of any building in the business district cannot exceed by more than 15% percent of the gross floor area of the first floor of the same building (see page 89). According to a narrative that accompanies Hersam’s application to the Zoning Board of Appeals for a variance, the project requires 20% of the gross floor area of the first floor.

Government

Orchard Drive Homeowners Seek ZBA’s Permission for Pool Equipment Storage Area

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The owners of a Cape Cod-style home on Orchard Drive are seeking permission to use a concrete pad on the side their house to store equipment for a planned pool. The concrete pad at 100 Orchard Drive currently is used for an above-ground oil tank, according to an application for a variance filed on behalf of the property owners by attorney David Rucci of New Canaan-based Lampert, Toohey & Rucci LLC. Under the New Canaan Zoning Regulations, the minimum side yard setback for accessory structures in the A Residential Zone is 10 feet (see page 59 here). The existing concrete pad is five feet from the property line, while the pool equipment itself will be about 4.5 feet from the property line, the application said. “The applicant’s proposal is to construct a 14-by-14-foot small pool in the rear yard of the property,” Rucci wrote in a narrative that forms part of the application, filed on behalf of property owners Pieter and Rowena Bergmans. 

“While the pool itself will be in compliance with all zoning regulations the pool equipment location is proposed to be sited on an existing concrete pad in the side yard setback.

Government

Kimberly Place Homeowners Seek ZBA Permission for Planned Second-Floor Addition

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The owners of a Kimberly Place home are seeking permission from the town to allow for two exceptions from the New Canaan Zoning Regulations in order to allow for part of a planned second-floor addition. Under the New Canaan Zoning Regulations, the minimum side yard set back for homes in the A Residential zone is 15 feet (see page 59 here) and the maximum side yard height is 20 feet of building height (page 63). The addition planned for the home at 26 Kimberly Place would be 10.9 feet from the side yard property line, and would be 21.8 feet high, according to an application filed with Planning & Zoning at Town Hall. “The existing structure on the property is a single-family residence constructed in 1949 and is currently a non-conforming structure,” homeowners David and Kristin Costello said in a letter that is included in the application. “The existing structure is not sufficiently sized for our growing family, and the variance would be to allow construction of a bonus room for working from home, bedroom and bathroom in the space over the current un-utilized space over the garage.”

The Zoning Board of Appeals is expected to take up the application for the variances at its regular meeting scheduled for 7 p.m. Monday.

Government

Park Place Homeowners Seek Permission to Relocate Driveway

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The owners of a Park Place home are seeking permission to relocate a driveway from a paved area out front of their house to one side of their property. Creating a driveway along the southern side of 27 Park Place will allow the homeowners “to restore the mostly paved front yard into a tasteful lawn and landscaped area,” according to an application filed on their behalf by attorney Jacqueline Kaufman of Stamford-based Carmody, Torrance, Sandak and Hennessey LLP. “The requested relief will allow for the continued use of the Property for residential purposes consistent with those around it,” Kaufman said in a narrative that accompanies an application for two variances. “The location for the driveway has been sensitively selected to be compatible with layout on surrounding properties. We further believe it presents an improvement to the quality of life on the street by restoring the mostly paved front yard with lawn and landscaping and relocating family vehicles to the rear yard which is buffered from  neighbors views with landscaping and fencing (and a future garage structure).

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Covered Porch Applicant: ‘Trend Toward Bigger Houses Has Eliminated Our Outdoor Privacy’

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Saying their privacy has eroded as larger, taller homes have gone up around them, the owners of a 1.5-story Cape on South Avenue are seeking permission from a municipal body to create an approximately 12-by-22-square-foot covered patio at the back of their house. The owners of 411 South Ave. in a letter to the Zoning Board of Appeals said their hardship is that “the inexorable trend toward bigger (surrounding) houses has eliminated our outdoor privacy.”

John and Hutton Cole, owners for 30 years of the 3,315-square-foot brick house at the corner of Crystal Street said they “wish to partially reclaim” that privacy with the porch. “When we bought our house in 1991 the prevalent architectural style of the neighborhood was either single story ‘ranch’ or 1.5-story Cape and the code would have allowed the coverage we now seek,” the Coles said in their April 7 letter. “Today, our abutting neighbors as well as most of the homes in the area have converted to 3 stories and the increased verticality and bulk has reduced the privacy of our yard.