Jelliff Mill Decision Delayed Until September

The fate of the old Jelliff Mill will be decided at the Planning & Zoning Commission meeting in September. 

Satisfied that questions about flood plains, fences, parking, real estate values and dam repair have been sufficiently explored, the Commission wants clarification about traffic in the vicinity of the property at 47 Jelliff Mill Road before it makes a final determination on the application.

The property's owner, 47 Jelliff Mill, LLC, has applied for permission to restore the building's appearance and to allow a change from its nonconforming use as a mill to a nonconforming office building. A mill has stood on the property for 300 years.

At the Commission's request, Judith Larson of 47 Jellliff Mill, LLC, agreed to underwrite the cost of hiring an independent traffic engineer to investigate discrepancies between traffic studies conducted by engineers she hired and findings from a study engaged by neighbors who oppose her application.

"We are not traffic engineers," Planning & Zoning Commissioner Laszlo Papp said at Tuesday night's meeting. "We will have professional evaluation of the traffic situation and take this issue off the table as a debatable issue."

Peter Wray, who lives on nearby Bickford Lane, spoke for the neighbors who oppose the plan.  He painstakingly pointed out inconsistencies in the different traffic reports that led to the Commission's decision to request further information.

New Canaan Zoning Regulations stipulate that a nonconforming structure may only be changed to a conforming use or another nonconforming use of a "less objectionable character." Residents who are unhappy with Larson's plan say the option most palatable to them has not even been considered.

 "Nothing prohibits her from putting a residence on there," Wray said to the Commission. "That would be totally conforming use of that property.  Please don't insult us by saying these are the only two options. They're clearly not.  There is no application to reactivate this in any way people would find the least bit offensive."

The next meeting of the Planning & Zoning Commission will be held on Tuesday, September 28.