Will the Lumberyard Grant Application Become Avalon Redux?

How many of you remember the Avalon–Lumberyard Parking Lot controversy from the 1990s? Remember the vitriol of residents pitted against one another over high density housing on Elm Street by the railroad station?

After years of litigation and legal fees, a solution was found that benefitted the Town of New Canaan and Avalon Properties. In the September 1999 referendum, residents voted overwhelmingly in a 2-to-1 margin to uphold a compromise deal to swap the town-owned land along Millport Pond and Lakeview Avenue for the Avalon-owned lumberyard Lot. New Canaan residents said “no” to Avalon’s construction of an apartment complex by the railroad station. Commuters had their parking lot. Worries of traffic congestion were assuaged. Avalon built their apartment complex on the east side of town. Perhaps most importantly, New Canaan preserved its small New England town character. Case closed…or maybe not.

Once again, the lumberyard parking lot is the target for possible housing construction. This threatens to be as divisive to New Canaan residents today as the Avalon fiasco was over a decade ago. However, it is not a private developer that is putting this in motion. It is our own to the State of Connecticut a Transit-Oriented Development grant proposal to study the parking lot as ostensibly a mixed–use site for senior housing, private medical facility, and tiered parking. Why are they risking opening up old wounds over a matter that voters settled over a decade ago?

Citizens to Preserve our Village Character (CPVC) observed that and meetings dealing with this issue occurred during the height of the summer with little publicity resulting in minimal public input. Therefore, CPVC members have arranged with for an informative meeting to raise public awareness in Auditorium on August 31, 2011 at 7 p.m.

The TOD grant application and attachments may be viewed here (Select “workplan” to go to 2011 application). Any questions or comments please email CPCVCPCV looks forward to seeing you on August 31.