On Tuesday night the Planning and Zoning commission heard a pre-application from Renamba Greenwich LLC, owner of a 2.5344 acre parcel at the end of Old Track Rd, who seeks a new zone: “Assisted Living Facility Overlay Zone,” and permission to develop the property with a 100 one-bedroom unit assisted family facility plus 30 memory care studios.

Renamba is owned by a private developer, Amba Sharma, who also owns The Ambassador at Scarsdale.

The property, located in the General Business (GB) zone, just beyond McDermott Paint and J Lofts.

Previously, the site was owned by RD&D Land Development and used as a yard for its local excavating business. They left behind a small office building, shed and storage containers and piles.

The applicant purchased the property in September 2019 for $11,650,000.

Attorney Bruce Cohen noted Greenwich has no assisted living facilities, and Greenwich residents often wind up going to Edgehill in Stamford (a CCRC) or The Osborn in Rye for assisted living.

In fact, he said there are five Greenwich residents living at The Ambassador at Scarsdale.

The new zone would allow for an overlay in the (GB) General Business zone.

Mr. Cohen said the facility would be governed and licensed as a managed residential community, which must provide assisted living facility services, which he said are spelled out clearly.

“For example, with the assisted living facility core services there must be regularly scheduled meal services three times a day, regularly scheduled laundry service and regularly scheduled transportation for shopping, social, recreational events and health care appointments, and housekeeping and maintenance services and programs of social and recreational opportunities.”

He said the offerings would be extensive and include movies, lectures, outings, exercise classes and games.

Also, Mr. Cohen said per state statute, “An assisted living facility must provide common use space sufficient in size to accommodate 50% of the tenant population. In other words, large spaces aren’t just desirable, they are mandated.”

Former Greenwich First Selectman Peter Tesei spoke in favor of the development, noting that the Town seeks to be an age-friendly and dementia-friendly community.

Tesei said in the 1990s, prior to becoming First Selectman, he was part of a homeowners association that felt strongly at that time that no development should occur on King Street.

“We were very shortsighted in our opposition to developments that in some cases included facilities similar to this,” he said. “In turn, we wound up, in future years, with more high trafficked developments – primarily educational institutions.”

Tesei said the Commission on Aging is looking to address the needs of the Town’s ever increasing older population and advocating for housing options for residents.

“This particular proposal addresses that, is consistent with the POCD, and is situated in an area with access to amenities that folks may rely upon, such as the hospital, the library and medical offices,” Tesei added.

The former First Selectman recalled that neighbors had complained about the piles of debris left from what he described as “a rock crushing business” previously on the site.

“It’s removing an industrial use, and bringing in a residential use,” Tesei said, adding that the assisted living facility would be a for-profit business that would contribute to the Town’s tax base.

Bradley Perkins, the architect on the project, walked the commission through the layout of the building.

“We designed our (kitchenettes) to be appropriate for Greenwich, which would not be as small as you might find in some other communities,” he said.

Perkins said the fourth floor would afford views of Long Island Sound and have its own special lounge.

He said most of the parking – 39 of 45 spaces – would be underground.

“We’ve done over 600 senior living communities around the US and some other countries, but in assisted living, even though the Scarsdale facility does have some drivers, there are usually no drivers,” he said.

P&Z chair Margarita Alban agreed there was a “huge” pent up demand for market-rate assisted living units in Greenwich, but after having had studied a half dozen affluent or comparably sized communities in Connecticut, she found that none allowed extra FAR for assisted living facilities anywhere near what Renamba’s proposal seeks.

“Overall, your proposed regulation appears to be well researched and and has some solid components,” Alban said.

However, she said there were issues with the proposed density and FAR.

The proposed ALF regulation seeks a residential FAR of .9, and a total FAR of 1.15 in a zone with an underlying FAR of just .5.

“Of the towns I reviewed, none, none, I reviewed offers an FAR bonus for a market-rate assisted living facility,” Alban added.

“Those towns that use FAR seem to have a maximum of about .35 FAR for this type of facility, and the buildings are generally limited to 2-1/2 to 3 stories,” she added. “Towns with inclusionary zoning require a percent of below market units without increasing the allowed size of the facilities.”

Greenwich’s elderly zone allows for a .9 FAR with four stories, but proposals for the elderly zone can only be submitted by the Greenwich Housing Authority, and would be geared toward affordability, not market-rate.

Alban said the Greenwich hospital H-1 zone allows for an FAR of 1.25, but, she said, “The use the applicant is proposing does not require as much infrastructure.”

“I recognize that land in Greenwich is likely priced higher than land in the State,” she continued. “Nevertheless, I would have the expectation that a market rate community would recover its investment through pricing rather than through a volume incentive granted by the Town.”

Alban recommended the applicant reconsider the proposed FAR of 1.15 and four story, 47-1/2 ft high building.

“I note that the underlying FAR of the GB and GBO zones is .5, which is already more generous than that provided in other Connecticut communities. I strongly suggest the applicant work within the existing regulations for a three story building with a maximum height of 40 ft.”

P&Z Chair Margarita Alban

Furthermore, Alban said the Ambassador in Scarsdale appears to be only three stories high.

Then Alban went on to say some town regulations require a minimum outdoor space per unit, to enhance resident quality of life.

She said the proposed priority for tenancy (Greenwich residents would get first priority) didn’t make sense given the facility is proposed as market-rate.

“It would be a different matter if the proposal was directed to below market-rate units,” she said.

Lastly she said one parking space per every three residents was fairly standard in assisted living facilities, but that the Town should verify that with their own traffic consultant.

Alban said her key concern was the proposed FAR bonus being sought.

“I believe you could recover your investment through higher pricing,” she said.

Commissioner Nick Macri asked where there was an example of how the text amendment would relate to another large GB or GBO site in Town – one that is either undeveloped or ready for redevelopment.

Commissioner Dennis Yeskey said this type of project violates a lot of Greenwich’s zoning.

“If it was easy it would have been done by now,” he said. “I want to encourage you strongly to keep going on this project, but listen to all the comments.”

“When you propose new regulations, our experience has been that the applicant asks for the moon and the sky,” Yeskey said. “I don’t want to discourage you. I think you’re right on the objectives. I’m not sure you’re right on the incentives.”

Yeskey also pointed out the Ambassador in Scarsdale is adjacent to a park.

“It’s a tough site to build in. It’s not in a park. It’s next to the train tracks and a rock ledge,” Yeskey said.

He also asked whether the access is via a private road.

Ms DeLuca said the road is indeed privately owned by John Fareri and there are easements and access rights for property owners to traverse the road.

Commissioner Peter Lowe disagreed with Mr. Yeskey. “I don’t think it’s a tough site,” he said. “This could become a proverbial silk purse from a pig’s ear.”

Mr. Cohen said he would consider the feedback, but that if his client had to go back to the GB standards the project would not go forward.

“Incentives are required,” he said. “To go back to the underlying zone won’t work,” Cohen said.

Mr. Cohen quoted a passage from the American Planning Association discussion overlay zones that Ms. Alban said she had happened to have shared with the commission over the weekend:

Overlay zones have the potential to be very effective governmental regulatory tools. Since they tailor regulations to specific properties and districts to meet specific community goals, they can be more politically feasible to implement and can help communities meet stated goals or address specific inequities.

“I think an overlay zone is absolutely right for this,” he said, but Ms Alban still balked at the incentives sought.

“If you can find significant incentives being given within our state for market rate assisted living, it would be very interesting to see,” she said. “What does it say that the most expensive communities in Connecticut that have assisted living are not giving incentives, and Greenwich is? I would be failing the town.”

“Please, if you can, find great examples of high-end communities where this is occurring. I’d love to see the kinds of incentives that are being given, I’d like to see the best practices, not just to be told you can’t make it work unless we give it to you,” Alban said.

“We’ll come back with an application,” Cohen said.

See also: P&Z to Discuss Proposed Assisted Living Facility Zone and 4-Story Facility with 130 Units on Old Track Rd

Property transfers are transcribed from the Assessor’s office at Greenwich Town Hall

45 Ettl Lane #406 from Julie Hedrick-LeStrange to Yvonne De Santi on June 24, 2020 for $687,500

72 Putnam Park from Robin LeScott to Nancy Capra on June 24, 2020 for $585,000

293 Stanwich Rd from Christopher and Courtney Belhumeur to Forbes Hopper on June 24, 2020 for $3,372,000

35 Leeward Lane from Forbes and Patricia Hopper to Red Dog Returning LLC on June 24, 2020 for $5,830,000

609 Round Hill Rd from Janet Stellilng Menoher Estate to Ye Cao XY Wang Trust on Jun 24, 2020 for $1,395,000

Putnam Hill Apartments East Putnam Ave Apt 2G from Mathew Jewett Executor to Ihsan Essaid on June 25, 2020 for $587,500

252 Overlook Drive from blank to blank on June 25, 2020 for $4,500,000

154 Putnam Park from Estate of James Patrick Sexton to Elmarita Pearson on June 25, 2020 for $410,000

16 Suburban Ave from US Bank National Association as Trustee to blank on June 25, 2020 for $611,100

613 Round Hill Rd from Edward and Karen Chaplin to Scott Mitnick on June 26, 2020 for $2,775,000

2 Winthrop Drive from Black Kats LLC to Jason Brown on June 26, 2020 for $3,400,000

24 Round Hill Rd from Susan Roper to Alexander Shender on June 25, 2020 for $1,055,000

32 Grahampton Lane from Howard and Deborah Steyn to Meadowpoint LLC on June 25, 2020 for $2,200,000

90 Riverside Lane from Jose Ignacio Cerrilla Cardona to William King on June 26, 2020 for $1,550,000

80 Cedar Cliff Rd from Richard Lewis Trustee and John Musicaro Trustee to Cedar Cliff Rd LLC on June 26, 2020 for $2,500,000

78 Cedar Cliff Rd from Richard Lewis Trustee to 78 Cedar Cliff Road LLC on June 26, 2020 for $5,200,000

434 North Street from Lisa H Davies Trustee to John C Gammage Jr on June 26, 2020 for $3,850,000

116 Havemeyer Place from Wendy and Craig Friedman to Laura Feda on June 26, 2020 for $1,350,000

4 Highgate Rd from William and Mary King to Kristin Kallergis Rowland on June 26, 2020 for $3,050,000

6 Caroline Farms Rd Unit 4 from Edward and Kelley Moore to Eric Vineyard on June 26, 2020 for $745,000

See also:

P&Z Watch: Proposed Luxury Assisted Living Facility May Be Too Big, Too High

HOUSE OF THE WEEK: Move-In Ready, Fully Renovated in the Heart of Milbrook

Up to the Minute Greenwich Property Transfers, June 22, 2020

Up to the Minute Greenwich Property transfers, June 17-19, 2020

Amendment to Greenwich Nuisance Ordinance Would Add Muscle in Abating Blighted Properties

HOUSE OF THE WEEK: Chic Two-Bedroom Condo in Downtown Greenwich

HOUSE OF THE WEEK: Live in a Picturesque Country Home in Greenwich

Greenwich Property Transfers, June 10-17, 2020

52 Lafayette Place #3B from Robin Adamson and Jacob Friedman to Anna Gippious on June 29, 2020for $272,500

16 John Street from Susan Pollack Trustee and Samuel Pollack to Helen Doyle Yeager on June 29, 2020 for $3,050,000

17 Willowmere Circle from Estate of Joan R Crossman to Jacob Rosenschein on June 29, 2020 for $2,500,000

112 Indian Head Road from JKLR LLC to Aprazivel LLC on June 29, 2020 for $12,500,000

34 Indian Point Lane from Stinson Holdings, LLC to Loraine Slavin, Trustee of the Marion Family Trust on June 29, 2020 for $42,175,000

51 Forest Ave Unit 41 from Estate of Dennis E Hewitt and Disclaimer Trust UWO Kathryn D Hewitt to Gloria Huang on June 29, 2020 for $1,125,000

351 Pemberwick Rd #603 from Emilo Takeno and Todd Brooks to Anthony Desiato on June29, 2020 for $645,000

46 North Ridge Rd from Christine M Brandt Trustee to Zachary Lowe on June 29, 2020 for $1,395,000

39 North Ridge Rd from 39 North Ridge Road LLC to Nader Joseph Shwayhat on June29, 2020 for $2,000,000

19 Meadow Drive from Quincy Capital Funding LLC to Bristol Meadow LLC on June 30, 2020 for $7,650,000

130 Field Point Circle from Lance and Jannell Bakrow to RPR & ESR Field Point, LLC on June 30, 2020 for $21,750,000

We have all heard about New Yorkers flocking to Greenwich since the pandemic began. Most were looking for short term and summer rentals, hoping that by September, Covid-19 would be a thing of the past. Instead, many of those NYC families are now scrambling to find either long term rentals or they are buying homes, often they’re cash deals for quick closings so they can get in before school starts.

Some say they’ll keep their NYC apartments in hopes of returning one day. Those who can afford to have 2 homes, like the idea of having a country home to escape to anytime they need or want to get out of the city while many are abandoning NYC altogether.

It’s a seller’s market, demand is high yet inventory is low, at times resulting in biding wars as we see home prices climb.

What about school? I’ve heard a range of plans from enrolling their kids in local public schools or local private schools to keeping their kids enrolled in their NYC schools and driving them into the city 2 days a week until schools shut down again.

Clients often ask me about the process of enrolling their children in Greenwich Public Schools. You need to be a Greenwich resident before you can register. You’ll also need to provide the following information:

• Child’s birth certificate
• Immunization record
• Two forms of proof of residency

For more details, go to the GPS website: https://www.greenwichschools.org/district-information/registration

The increased demand from NYC families moving to Greenwich and surrounding areas probably won’t slow down soon so if you have been considering selling your home, this is a great time to do so. Reach out to your agent and ask what your house is worth as well as what you need to do to prepare your house for a sale.

149 Weaver Street, Open house, Sunday 7/19/20 – 1:00-3:00

149 Weaver is a fabulous farmhouse with charming details inside and out! The beautiful grounds feature a saltwater pool, stone walls, waterfalls, goldfish pond, fenced herb garden and compost bin just to name a few. Modern renovations include a cathedral ceiling great room that is perfect for entertaining, large dining room with fireplace, large eat in kitchen, den, possible bedroom with fireplace and a full bath. Upstairs the ensuite master bedroom features a cathedral ceiling, fireplace and extra closets. 2 additional bedrooms and 2 full baths. Finished basement with radiant heat tile floor with large full bath could be bedroom/office. Many options for work from home include additional heated space behind garage for studio, office or gym. Potting shed too. Tesla charger in garage. Possible subdivision! Convenient to everything!

There are 67 public open houses in Greenwich this weekend. Please bring a mask and gloves if you plan to attend.

Please click HERE for the most up to date open house list.

This week’s highlights in Greenwich real estate:

• 41 new to market listings
• 22 sold properties
• 41 price reductions
• 20 contingent contracts
• 31 pending

Stefanie Lacoff is a licensed real estate agent with Berkshire Hathaway Home Services New England Properties in Greenwich, CT. Contact Stefanie for assistance selling your home or purchasing a new one.

Text/call: 203-536-9403, email: slacoff@bhhsne.com, stefanielacoff.bhhsneproperties.com

During Tuesday’s P&Z meeting the owner of a baseball field at 56 Clapboard Ridge Road sought a special permit under 6-94 after receiving two violations from the town zoning enforcement officer.

Several advocates of youth baseball who know the applicant, Ray Bartozek, testified with their support, including former American professional baseball player and manager, Bobby Valentine.

At the last public hearing on the ball field, the commission left the item open and asked Mr. Bartozek to try to come to an agreement with his neighbors.

Mr. Bartozek gave a timeline since the previous meeting.

“When we last met on June 2 you asked that the coalition of neighbors and I work out a compromise. I have made every effort to do so, but we’ve been unable to reach an accord mainly due to the fact my neighbors have been unresponsive and unreasonable.”

He said the day after the hearing, he wrote to the neighbors offering a compromise in which he would eliminate their complaints about traffic, safety, noise and fertilizer runoff into the lake.

On June 9 he received a response from Art Sanders who confirmed receipt of the letter on behalf of the neighbors.

On June 11, Bartozek said Mr. Sanders called to say he was removing himself from the coalition because he thought the neighbors were being unreasonable.

Bartozek said by June 29 he still had not heard from the neighbors but in “a good faith effort” he installed 45 evergreen trees as screening of his neighbors, despite his attorney John Heagney advising him not to.

On July 1 he reached out to the neighbors again and offered to meet face to face.

On July 3 he received a response and on the same day responded with compromises to their demands, some of which he said were new.

On July 4, Bartozek said, “One neighbor of the 8 in the coalition against me met me face to face at my home. It was nice to meet Mr. JT Coe for the first time. We thought we had up to 90% of this situation agreed, but we couldn’t get an agreement over the finish line.”

“The coalition followed up on about July 9 with a response to me stating their new demands and said they’d rather go to the board (P&Z commission) to arbitrate than to speak to me to discuss a potential compromise,” he said.

Bartozek said the neighbors requested that if a special permit under 6-94 were issued, that it expire on Sept 30, 2021 and be non-transferable to a third party if 56 Clapboard Ridge were to be sold.

Bartozek said he would agree to the caveat on transfer of property, but that point is moot because special permits are attached to a property.

He said would not agree to a 15 month time limit.

A second unresolved complaint involves the use of aluminum bats, which Bartozek agreed to to use at any practices on the field.

“Going from aluminum to wood would change the entire ping experience to nothing, and take care of any noise issues except for the sound of children, and should put that to rest,” he said, adding, “The coalition came back and asked that there never be use of an aluminum bat on the property. I’m not willing to do that. …If I’m outside with my 3-year old son and he can only swing an aluminum bat because it’s lighter, I’m not going to be looking over my shoulder…”

He said despite his planting 45 evergreens, the neighbors’ latest request was for him to screen the lake.

Attorney Heagney said doing so would require a Wetlands permit, and that Wetlands had heavily vetted the property when it was redeveloped in 2017, including impacts to the lake.

Heagney said Wetlands staff are reluctant to permit plantings along a lake or watercourse unless unless they are for the purpose of restoring a canopy or for ecological purposes.

Bartozek said the fourth demand from neighbors concerned removing signage from his property including the CT State Championship 2019 banner from his outfield fence.

“I certainly will listen to you, but I’m not going to listen to the neighbors who are asking me to remove that very sentimental sign,” he said.

Another unresolved point he had agreed to when he met with Mr. Coe on July 9 concerned regading Mr. Coe’s property across the street.

“He said that trucks that were building my house caused de-leveling of the street area. I was happy to accommodate such a small, petty request until yesterday when his wife harassed my workers and screamed across the street, ‘What are you doing at that stupid house now?'”

Bartozek said he had yet to hear a response, but was no longer willing to re-grade the Coe’s property unless the commission required it.

Another item unresolved involved the neighbors’ complaint that the applicant spends too much time on maintenance of the ballfield and requested that maintenance be limited to one day a week.

As for the complaint about usage, in his June 3 letter of compromise Bartozek said he offered to limit practices to four times a week.

“The response from the coalition was to request two practices, no weekends, and to end practices by 5:00pm. My response, I think very reasonable, was during the school year – April, May, June – I can’t end practices by 5:00pm because kids can’t get to my house til 4:30pm. I’d like to compromise to stay within the noise ordinance, which I believe is 6:00pm. …I suggested Saturdays, but not Sundays, but we never got back and forth to negotiate that to an agreement because their letter said they didn’t want to talk to me anymore.”

Bartozek said even though he had offered to compromise and limit practices to three times a week, he changed his mind about that, and would instead defer to the P&Z commission.

Ms Alban recommended the commission review the application under special permit standards and set the conditions.

She noted that the criteria was whether the use is compatible with surrounding uses, and whether it adversely impacts traffic and safety in the streets.

Alban said the noise ordinance is not under P&Z control, but the regulations are, “to provide for public health, comfort, general welfare…”

Commissioner Dave Hardman suggested the applicant go back and try again to work with neighbors. “I don’t think we should be the arbitrator,” he said.

Peter Lowe suggested the neighbors and Mr. Bartozek each hire legal representation for “a de-escalation through third parties.”

During public hearing JT Coe read a statement on behalf of the immediate neighbors, saying they sought a denial of the application.

“While the neighbors appreciate the value of children’s sports, we do not agree with the concept of permanent, organized team sports in a residential area. In an attempt to be good neighbors and due to the changes brought on by Covid, we’re going to agree to a temporary use to allow team practices to continue, but we do not agree with the highly unusual request to allow team sports. Nor do we think the Town of Greenwich would benefit.”

JT Coe statement from neighbors

Mr. Coe said the Sept 2021 sunset clause was central to the neighbors’ offer.

“We are far apart at this point,” he said.

Neighbor Victoria Melly said, “We are a neighborhood, not a coalition.”

She said Mr. Bartozek had previously talked about the special permit expiring when his son aged out of the Cal Ripken under 12 program.

“We based our negotiation upon this,” she said. “Now what I learn tonight is in fact he really wants nine more years because he has a three year old who wants the same use.”

Belinda Badcock said the enjoyment and value of neighbors’ properties had been impacted.

“We’re not the bad guys here,” she said, describing the application process as “backwards” because the ballfield was already in use when a violation from the zoning enforcement officer was issued, followed by a second violation.

James Ritman, who is not a neighbor, but is a coach in town and has friends whose children are on the team, said he was speaking on behalf of coaches.

“Over 60% of practices have been at the coaches’ houses with kids on the teams,” he said, adding that that spoke to the larger issue of lack of fields in town.

“This is going on in the town at a very large level all of the time. To say you can’t do that would almost shut down team sports,” he said. “These gentlemen, these coaches, deserve praise for what they’ve done for this town, for the kids on the team, for providing a field…”

George Holdefehr agreed. “Let the children play. This is a safe environment,” he said.

“If we’re going to nitpick about children playing in a yard during daylight hours, as opposed to parties at night, fireworks, animals, it’s bad for Greenwich and bad for America,” he said. “If we’re going to become Orwellian in the way we manage our town, it’s very scary.”

“It’s about wholesome fun and there’s plenty of parking,” said Maxwell Vanderslice. “

Bobby Valentine described himself as a bystander, friend of Mr. Bartozek, executive director of athletics at Sacred Heart University, and owner of a sports academy.

“Probably the two greatest problems we have in our community – from Darien through Greenwich – is, a, the lack of facilities and, b, the lack of coaches,” Valentine said. “This application seems to check both those boxes.”

“In the environment we’re living in right now, it would be almost sinful if this team, and this group, and those who follow them, wouldn’t be allowed to have a safe, well-coached environment where they can excel… and I really hope the neighbors are not intruded on in any way at all,” Valentine added.

At the end of the hearing, the item was left open. The commission will take two weeks to mull over whether to deny the application or accept it with conditions.

Residents are invited to submit emails to Katie DeLuca P&Z director at katie.deluca@greenwichct.org.

“I do believe we have a permitted use in the zone,” Heagney said in closing, adding that many conditions had been agreed to by Mr. Bartozek to address neighbors’ concerns. “My client made a good faith offer to limited practices back on June 3.”

See also: P&Z Watch: Proposed Luxury Assisted Living Facility May Be Too Big, Too High

Due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, Governor Ned Lamont signed an executive order allowing all registered voters in Connecticut to vote absentee in the August 11, 2020 primary.

Secretary of State Denise Merrill mailed every registered Democrat and Republican in the state an application that they will need to fill out and return in order to obtain an absentee ballot.

According to the Greenwich Town Clerk’s office, that application which will be sent via US Postal Service, will include a postage paid return envelope. Beginning July 21, 2020, all voters who requested an absentee ballot will receive the ballots in the mail, which will also include a postage paid return envelope.

Greenwich will also have two secure ballot drop boxes: one located at the public safety complex lobby on Bruce Place and one located at the Town Hall guest parking lot at 101 Field Point Road. These will allow voters to deliver their absentee ballots in person without close personal contact.

For those who would still like to appear in person to cast their votes, polling stations will remain open. However, the ability to vote absentee will ensure that the democratic process continues safely and securely.

At Wednesday’s Board of Selectmen meeting Alan Monelli, DPW’s Superintendent of Building Construction & Maintenance, presented the project to replace the Eastern Greenwich Civic Center building for a “first read.”

The Selectmen are asked to confer Municipal Improvement status on the project so it can go forward.

The building is operated and staffed by the Parks & Recreation Dept, who provide a variety of recreation programs for all age groups. They also schedule and rent space in the building for events and programs.

The existing building and property were acquired from Electrolux in 1966 for $432,000. The budget for a new building is $15million.

Originally Electrolux opened the building as an employee recreation center in 1950.

The two story masonry structure is about 31,765 sq ft.

The new building would be slightly larger at 35,482 sq ft.

The Town owned property is about 13.22 acres, including playing fields, though improvements to the fields are not included in the project.

The parking lot across the street on Harding Road currently is 2 acres and holds about 216 cars.

The town originally considered rehabilitating the building back in 2000, but after exploring existing conditions of the concrete structure itself, including lack of air conditioning and non compliant restrooms, windows and flashing and lack of thermal insulation, deteriorating subterranean plumbing, and the non-ADA compliant second floor, Monelli said the Town determined the cost of rehabilitation would be high and replacement building would provide efficiencies in all aspects of operation.

In 2018 the First Selectman established a committee to study desired amenities for a new building. A sport facilities advisor was hired to inspect the existing facility and to interview stakeholders. There was a townwide survey. Public hearings were held including a standing room only input session in June 2019.

Connecticut licensed architects responded to an RFP and Tai Soo Kim Architects (TSKA), the architects who designed the new New Lebanon School, were selected after a months long process.

The new, modern, single story structure will utilize the southern most 4-1/2 acres and be constructed on the location of the existing building.

The building will be a steel-framed structure with masonry and glass exterior walls. It will be entirely ADA complaint.

Monelli estimated the entire project will take roughly 24 to 28 months.

The building will have a beach card window at the front where the public can purchase passes for Tod’s Point during the week.

The full size gymnasium will be 8,100 sq ft, which is slightly larger than the existing gym, and will feature roll out spectator seating.

There will be a multi-use event space of 8,100 sq ft with a kitchen. There will be three activity rooms, 1,000 sq ft each, that can hold about 49 people each. Two of them will share a folding partition that can be opened to create a mid-sized room.

There will be an expanding vending area with a lounge area as well as storage room, updated restrooms and separate family restrooms in the building and exterior rest rooms to support the field activities, administrative offices, interior waiting areas and lease space for OGRCC.

Existing children’s playground and tennis courts will not be touched.

There will be a new south parking lot with a turnaround to increase vehicle pick-up and drop-off, and a functional loading dock for deliveries, a main vehicle drop off at the front of the building. There will be a vehicle “drop off and pick-up” lane at front of building.

Across the street the parking lot will be regraded into its own retention pond. Parking will be reconfigured to maximize the number of spaces to comply with zoning regulations and there will be aesthetic improvements as well.

The playing fields will remain in use throughout construction and the treeline between building and playing fields will be retained.

An environmental analysis of soils surrounding the building was conducted and there were no issues found.

DPW is working on a storm drain solution for flooding on Harding Road.

The building will be energy efficient and have latest technology to apply both sustainable and energy conservation systems. It will have the maximum insulation to meet or exceed the CT state energy code.

The roof and internal electric system will be designed to incorporate future installation of photovoltaic cells. Systems will be installed by an independent provider of the town’s choosing through a power-purchasing agreement.

The presentation was a first read, and will come back before the board at their next meeting. At that time the Selectmen expect to vote on the proposed Municipal Improvement.

A two hour presentation to the Board of Estimate and Taxation by representatives of Axon, took place Thursday.

Axon was previously named Taser International because its initial product was a line of electroshock weapons.

Today, the Arizona based company develops technology products including body cameras for police, tasers, patrol car video systems, and even surveillance drones.

Axon’s Josh Bowling said the company is on its fifth generation of body cameras and have already partner with thousands of agencies worldwide including NYPD and Hartford Police Dept, and over has over 300,000 body cameras in the field.  

The agencies range from small departments with as few as 27 officers to Metro London police, with 40,000 officers who don’t carry lethal weapons, but instead carry tasers and wear body cams.

Axon’s “Evidence.com” is a digital management system they license to police agencies, but also to prosecutors’ offices including Westchester County.

BET questions touched on issues of privacy and FOIA requests, costs, who would be responsible for training police in their use and what manpower would be required at GPD to manage the program.

Matthew Karsten, an engineer at Axon, reviewed information about the camera, its software, and data storage.

The cameras each contain a lens, battery, embedded GPS, 2 SIM chips and operate on both AT&T and Verizon networks, which Karsten said offer the best coverage in the country.

The cameras are tamper proof as well.

“If they did (tamper), there’s nothing they could do with it without software,” Karsten said.

With the embedded GPS an officer can map a foot chase.

There is a large button over the lens, which means that if an officer is wearing gloves in the winter time or has a critical incident, he or she simply double presses the button to activate the camera. To deactivate it the officer simply presses and holds it down. Because of the double-press feature the camera can’t be turned on by mistake when a person it putting on a seatbelt, for example.

The camera has a volume control and a marker button that can be tapped to mark a video in a particular moment such as when a piece of evidence is collected.

The camera has a displays that shows whether it’s in ready or recording state, as well as battery status.

There are 27 different mounting options, including one for a pocket and one to attach to a detective’s button down collar.

The batteries are guaranteed to stay charged for a minimum of 12 hours, which will last throughout an officer’s shift.

Karsten said the cameras have a “rugged wearability” and have not failed despite winding up in a lake or being hit by a bullet.

Karsten said Axon cameras simply do not get breeched.

“We’ve never been breeched,” he said. “We have full time team in security operations center. When we see someone trying to hack into the system, we can notify the agency.”

Further he said Axon offers a pre-event buffer which can be set up to two minutes before an event to capture activities that occur prior to the officer activating the event mode.

The 5th generation cameras now work well in low light situations.

“We want it to show what the officer saw during the incident,” he said, sharing examples of the video clarity including a screenshot take from a video.

The body cams have four built in microphones.

“It’s like noise cancellation within a headset,” he said.

The software makes it possible to redact other faces or children in a video quickly in order to release the photo or video for an FOIA request or to get it out to the public quickly, for example in the case of a missing person.

“You can click on a video and find all the faces in it and redact them all,” Karsten said, adding, “In Chicago there were a couple incidents they could get their video back quickly and redact quickly and and have gotten it out to the public and it’s prevented protests.”

There is another button on the camera that allows an officer to speak into it following an incident before proceeding to another call. The software has a transcription feature which makes it possible to cut and paste a transcription directly into a police report at the end of a shift.

There is also a ‘find my camera’ feature so that even if a camera is lost in the snow or stuck on the magnet of a snowplow it can be retrieved.

The contract for the body cams run for five years, at which time both cameras and docks are replaced with brand new ones. The hardware is on a 2-1/2 year replacement cycle, and Axon supplies each agency with spare cameras to use as backups.

BET member Karen Fassuliotis asked how many police or personnel are necessary to manage the equipment? Karsten said that would vary depending on the number of FOIA requests an agency expects to receive.

There is a support representative assigned to each agency.

There are options for data storage packages, though Karsten recommended having unlimited data, and that was included in the original the quote in fall 2019.

The request is for $310,022 for 160 police body cameras and other equipment.

BET chair Mike Mason noted town officials save their emails indefinitely.

After talking about body cameras, Karsten talked about a variety of software Axon products and services.

‘Citizen for Communities’ allows agencies to creates a public portals where citizens or businesses can submit evidence. Police can relay the portal to the public via social media or news agencies. People can log in from a phone or computer and upload information with or without their name and contact information.

Axon ‘Citizen for Officers’ allows officers to send out individual invites through text or email to witnesses directly from Axon Capture or Evidence.com.

The resident or business can receive a link and through a couple of button clicks that allows them to upload the video or picture without any other interaction with the officer. This means police don’t have to confiscate cell phones.

They also offer a Fleet System with cameras for patrol cars that have rear facing cameras so the officer driving doesn’t have to turn around to see if the prisoner is trying to hurt himself or has a weapon. The front facing cameras have a zoom feature to capture license plates.

Karsten said Greenwich Police could use the system to get “hot lists” of stolen vehicles by integrating with NCIC or Amber Alerts for the make and model of a driver with an abducted child, for example.

As for the patrol car fleet camera options, Captain Robert Berry explained the initial plan is to purchase body worn cameras.

“And then we’ll look at other options down the road,” he said. “With contemporary events the urgency is on the body worn cameras.”

“And it’ll depend on that happens today in the legislature,” he added, referring to Thursday’s special session of the General Assembly that included a bill on police reform.

BET chair Mike Mason said the board’s two liaison will work with Greenwich police and Axon to finalize the quote and that the next step would be for the request to go before the RTM in September.

Chief Heavey said his department had been studying body cameras for many years.

“I think it’s an important part of 21^st century policing and there’s going to be state legislation that this program will meet, if not exceed,” he said. “I think it’s a positive thing.”

“I think this is fantastic,” Mason said. “There is enlightenment about how far this can go …It helps us with a more long range plan.”

First Selectman Fred Camillo announced on Thursday that after an intensive five-month search, a new Commissioner Human Services, Demetria Nelson, has been hired. She will start on August 24.

Since 2016, Ms. Nelson has been the Administrative Director for the
Addiction Treatment Services at the BronxCare Health System where she has been responsible for the administration and oversight of five addiction treatment programs (outpatient addictions, inpatient rehabilitation, inpatient detoxification, methadone maintenance, and community residence) and one supplementary grant-funded TCE-HIV
program.

Ms. Nelson holds a LCSW and has 18 years of experience in the field of human services, 15 years of experience in addiction and mental health, and 13 years of increasing supervisory/managerial experience.

Ms. Nelson earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from Boston University. She went on to earn a Master of Social Work from Columbia University and a Master of Arts in Organizational Psychology from Columbia University, Teachers College.

“We believe Demetria will provide the strong leadership and vision the Department of Human Services needs to move into the future,” said Board Chair Alan Gunzburg.

Ms. Nelson succeeds Dr. Alan Barry who is retiring after leading the department for 10 years. Dr. Barry was set to retire in May but delayed his departure to see the department through the pandemic and assist with the transition to a new Commissioner.

First Selectman Camillo said, “I look forward to working with Demetria as the Town continues to address and serve the needs of our most vulnerable residents. I have confidence in her ability to lead the Department of Human Services and the staff in providing critical services to our residents.”

Mr. Camillo thanked Dr. Barry for his dedicated service to the Town’s residents during the past decade.

“His dedication is evidenced by his unselfish decision to delay his retirement as the global pandemic took hold months ago. Under his leadership, the department has been able to provide for the growing need for services for our residents.”

“We are indebted to Dr. Barry for his sage leadership and counsel over the years, especially in these last few months. He raised the bar and changed the face of the Greenwich Human Services Department over the last decade and we will be forever grateful,” Mr. Gunzberg said.

The Search Committee worked with The Strategy Group, LLC of Darien, CT, to conduct a “focused, regional search” over the last several months. Ms. Nelson was chosen from a field of highly qualified applicants during a rigorous interview process with the board and town and administrative leadership.

“The positive feedback from Search Committee members about Demetria was overwhelming,” Mr. Gunzburg said. “Some of the adjectives used to describe Ms. Nelson were ‘engaging, intelligent, conscientious, hardworking, genuine, and kind.’”

A former colleague said that “Demetria has many strengths, but what sets her apart from others is her excellent capacity to build relationships – people really like her.”

Ms. Nelson’s mother, Nonia Pauline Nelson, was a home health aide in the Greenwich Department of Human Services several years ago.

Ms. Nelson was a case worker for a brief time from 2002-2004.

Thursday night around dinner time the robocall from Greenwich First Selectman Fred Camillo came through with a message for younger residents and their parents reminding them of the 4 W’s: wash your hands; watch your distance; wipe down surfaces, and wear a mask.

The recorded phone call was followed by an email a news flash.

“You know that we cannot enter a store, restaurant or any public building without a face mask. You get the message and we comply with that rule,” Camillo said adding, “We cannot be complacent, lax, irresponsible and disrespectful by not following that mandate.”

Camillo said his office had received multiple complaints about young people going to large gatherings, picnics, cookouts and pool parties while not wearing masks or social distancing to prevent the spread of Covid-19.

“You may be with friends and family, but you don’t know who they all have had contact with,” he warned, adding, “And if you have traveled out of state, we want you to follow quarantine guidelines as outlined by the Governor’s executive orders.”

Indeed, Facebook brimmed with frustration on the part of parents this week, and some were pointing fingers.

One Greenwich mother said it felt like parents of young children were pitted against parents of teens, telling them to ‘just keep their kids home.’

Meanwhile young people were posting photos of large parties in Greenwich on social media.

One Facebook group had hundreds of comments about teen parties last weekend that resulted in Covid positive tests this week.

There comments about “knowing where your kids are” and even a debate about whether “beer pong” was safe to play since people only drink out of their own cup, but on his Friday morning radio show Camillo said people shouldn’t touch items other people have touched. That would certainly include a ping pong ball.

Given the heated debate about school reopening, some commenters said they feared the positive cases among young people might impact fall school reopening plans.

In Darien there were 6 new confirmed virus cases on Wednesday, and 5 of them were people aged between 10 and 19. The last time that town reported 6 cases in one day was back in April.

As of this week Darien has had 226 confirmed Covid-19 cases and 5 deaths.

Camillo said the Health Dept reported were 13 new cases in the week leading up to July 21, with a cumulative total of 871 residents who had tested positive and 52 deaths.

Responding to a request for comment Friday morning Camillo said, “Our Health Department has been doing contact tracing for months, but it’s only as effective as the cooperation and information they get from the residents. They need the names and contact information of people who were infected in order for their mission to be successful.”

Multiple sources in Greenwich, including teens from the class of 2020 and 2021, and parents replied to a GFP request for information. They said a group of graduating high school seniors in Greenwich returned from a trip to Nantucket and at least one of them attended a large party last weekend. Then, people from that party attended a second large party over the weekend.

Those parties were attended by teens from Greenwich High School and two Greenwich private schools, and resulted in positive Covid-19 tests this week.

The parent of a member of the GHS class of 2020 said it didn’t feel fair for parents of young children to pass judgement on parents who let their teens go out at night to parties. She said it was simply impossible to keep teens and college students at home.

Another mother said her child’s summer camp at a country club suspended operating and that counselors were being tested and are under quarantine.

Some sports leagues and teams have suspended practices.

A boy from the GHS class of 2020 who attended parties last weekend said he and his classmates were under the impression Connecticut had “flattened the curve” and they felt like they were no longer in danger.

Parents are urging other parents to get their teens tested if they attended any of the parties.

“If your child went to the three parties this weekend, you know who you are,” one parent wrote on Facebook, adding. “Stay home and quarantine even if you have a negative (test) from Urgent care. Incubation of symptoms and viral shed is 2-5 days…meaning now their families are exposed and will be hit with virus if they are in another 2-5 days.”

On his radio show Friday Camillo said, “I think people are unfortunately getting complacent and we’re getting reports of parties, large gatherings and infections involving younger residents. The reverse 911 call was to parents and young adults who maybe think they’re not vulnerable. …They could infect someone with a compromised system and it could kill someone. …Why take the chance. Why be selfish. Why be reckless?”

Camillo said he did not want to have to reinstitute closures.

“That’s the last thing anybody needs. We need to establish some sense of normalcy,” he said. “Don’t have parties. Not yet. It just doesn’t make sense. If you have to go to a gathering, keep your distance, don’t touch things – if you do, wash your hands – and wear a mask.”

Camillo urged small scaled down events where people follow the protocols.

“If there are large gatherings where you can’t control the contact, put it off to another time,” Camillo said.

Up to the Minute Greenwich Property Transfers July 1, 2020 transcribed from the Assessor’s office at Greenwich Town Hall

263 Riversville Road from US Bank National Association to Donald Selinger on July 1, 2020 for $860,000

43 Mianus View Terrace from Baywatch Partners LLC to Alexander Burn on July 1, 2020 for $1,800,000

28 Stiles Lane from Stiles Lane Holdings LLC to Applejack Ball LLC on July 1, 2020 for $3,100,000

444 Old Church Road from US Bank Trust National Association TRS to Anastasia Gianopoulos on July 1, 2020 for $1,990,000

2 Knoll Street from John Bomann and Amanda Bomann to Patrick Reed Staub on July 1, 2020 for $1,950,000

1 Quaker Lane from Muriel Putnam Smith Trust and Pamela P Smith, Trustee to Khalilur Rahman on July 1, 2020 for $1,015,950

70 Oneida Drive from RHCH Limited Partnership to 70 Oneida B LLC on July 1, 2020 for $5,500,000

70 Oneida Drive from RHCH LP to 70 Oneida A LLC on July 1, 2020 for $5,500,000

45 Field Point Circle from R2-G2 Holdings LLC to 45 Field Point Circle LLC on July 1, 2020 for $12,800,000

175 Riverside Ave from Christophe Armero to Richard Swersky on July 1, 2020 for $1,657,500

3 Owenoke Way from Lauren and Andrew Cuneo to Jamison Ely on July 1, 2020 for $2,557,500

4 Brookside Place from Serena Bechtel to Ryan Arthur Hosie on July 1, 2020 for $1,937,500

See also:

P&Z Watch: Split Vote is Defacto Denial of Historic Overlay Proposed for 21 Calhoun Drive

P&Z Watch: Proposed Luxury Assisted Living Facility May Be Too Big, Too High

P&Z Watch: Bobby Valentine is Surprise Guest in Saga of Illegal Baseball Field

Up to the Minute Greenwich Property Transfers, June 29, 2020

Up to the Minute Greenwich Property Transfers, June 24, 2020

Up to the Minute Greenwich Property Transfers, June 22, 2020

At Thursday’s Board of Selectmen meeting First Selectman Fred Camillo asked to add an item to the agenda: the extension of outdoor dining to Dec 21, which is the weekend before Christmas.

In the long run Camillo has said he hopes outdoor dining would run April 1 to December.

Town attorney Vin Marino said it was proper to add an item to the agenda of a regularly scheduled meeting by way of motion with a second in favor.

Camillo gave a update on outdoor dining on Greenwich Avenue, saying restaurateurs had reached out with feedback.

“They really like being able to be outside and offer outside dining. It’s been our plan all along to make this a permanent part of the Greenwich landscape in all our business districts to do so, but we have to let them know sooner than later about this year so they can start preparing and then circle back and vote on making it permanent.”

He said rather than wait two weeks to put the item on the agenda in advance, adding it immediately to the July 22 agenda would give restaurant owners reassurance and ability to plan ahead for fall.

Camillo made the motion to add the item to the agenda and Jill Oberlander seconded it.

Camillo said the Governor’s executive order on outdoor dining goes through September 1, but he expected that to be extended.

“We want to let them know so they can start preparing for the fall months,” he said.

“Everyone is so excited about that we probably won’t have trouble making this a permanent arrangement,” he continued. “It’s been very successful and added a real different look and feel to the town.”

“Every once in a while we get a merchant who is having difficulty and would like and adjustment,” Camillo said, adding that one merchant requested that restaurant tables be removed from in front of his store. “Every time we get a complaint or concern we go down there.”

“I’m a strong proponent of this plan,” Oberlander said. “We talked about it last year, even before Covid.”

Governor Lamont’s Executive Order 7MM (May 12, 2020) made it possible to expedite the process to allow restaurants, retailers, and other small businesses to use sidewalks or other areas that are in the state’s right-of-way.

Oberlander noted no one from P&Z was on the Zoom call, and wondered if extending outdoor was within the Selectmen’s jurisdiction, or whether approval would come via P&Z.

The town attorney said the Selectmen’s jurisdiction was limited to road closures.

He said extending outdoor dining would be a two-step process and that while P&Z grants the permits for outdoor dining, the selectmen vote on access and road closures

Selectwoman Rabin asked how outdoor dining would work on cold nights.

Camillo mentioned outdoor space heaters and recalled having gone to the Crab Shell in Stamford to eat outdoors, on the water, even after Thanksgiving.

He said some restaurant owners had asked about creating a platform to make outdoor dining a little “easier or fancier,” but he said he did not want to speak for P&Z.

The three Selectmen voted unanimously to approve the continued road closure at the bottom block of Greenwich Avenue through Dec 21, 2020.

Stay tuned.

“The hardest working man in show business,” Regis Philbin, a longtime Greenwich resident, died in Manhattan on Friday, July 24 of natural causes, a month short of his 89th birthday.

Philbin, who held the Guinness World Record for the most hours on US television, was a media personality, actor, and singer, who hosted both talk shows and game shows.

He got his national start in 1967 on the Joey Bishop Show where he was Bishop’s sidekick and announcer.

Philbin hosted Miss America pageants as well as ABC’s “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire,” (1999 to 2002), and season one of “America’s Got Talent,” but he was especially known in Greenwich as the co-host of “Live! with Regis and Kathie Lee,” the morning show he and Kathie Lee Gifford, also a longtime Greenwich resident, hosted together.

He subsequently hosted “Live! with Regis and Kelly” with Kelly Ripa and retired from that show in 2011.

Philbin and Gifford will be remembered as a staple of morning television, sharing jokes and anecdotes about their lives and interviewing celebrities.

Philbin and his wife Joy recently made local headlines when they sold their mansion in back country and moved to California to spend more time with family.

Philbin, who is survived by his wife and four children, will be remembered for his humility, sense of humor and tremendous energy.

GHS boys varsity hockey coach Chris Rurak died on Friday.

Rurak, 47, lived in Greenwich with his wife Jennifer Walsh-Rurak and their boys Christopher and Matthew, members of the GHS class of 203.

In an email to the Greenwich High School community Saturday morning, Ralph Mayo, GHS headmaster wrote, “Coach Rurak made a lasting impact upon the sport of hockey, and his genuine love for the game and his support of his players has been felt throughout our town.”

“Our community is deeply saddened by this loss and our thoughts and prayers will be with Coach Rurak and his family,” Mayo added.

Rurak was originally from Canada, where he became passionate about ice hockey. His family moved to Australia where he continued to play hockey before moving to the US.

He received a BS from SUNY Cortland, where he played varsity hockey for four seasons. He served as captain of the team and was  selected to represent the school on the All-SUNYAC team.

As an undergrad Rurak represented Australia in the IIHF World Championships which took him to South Korea, Lithuania, South Africa, Andorra, Barcelona, Spain, Bendigo, Australia and Cardiff Wales.

Rurak received an MBA from Medaille College in Buffalo and started his company Breakaway Transport in 2009.

He and Jennifer settled in Greenwich where he shared his passion for hockey.

“I view it as my civic duty as a high school coach that if a kid wants to play hockey, we should find a way for them to play,” Coach Rurak told GFP in a 2019 interview. After tryouts and cuts, Rurak would meet with each boy to make sure they had somewhere else to play hockey.

“We’re trying to cater to all kids. I’m not partial to any one. I care about them all equally and all the programs equally,” he said.

At GHS Rurak modeled hockey off a Division 1 college experience, acknowledging there was only a small chance a high school player would play at a Division 1 level.

When Rurak arrived in time for the 2016-17 season, the JV team was limited to scrimmages against other JV teams. He reached out to 6 FCIAC teams and started a JV league.

Another idea of Rurak’s was to create a “hockey prom” with the girls and boys teams mixing it up for coed teams with at least two girls on the ice at all times.

He was also the head coach at the Greenwich Skating Club and a member of the Greenwich Athletic Foundation.

“There is a certain atmosphere with high school sports you can’t get anywhere else. It’s unique because it’s community based and includes your friends, your family and your parents’ friends. This is your home. It’s intimate,” Rurak told GFP in the 2019 interview. “That’s why they always say high school sports are the time of your life. We’re trying to make the experience the best and most fun as it can be.”

NEW LAND LISTING! 28 Meeting House Road.

Buyers are excited about land these days. This property is the perfect place to build your quarantine friendly home with plenty of room for multiple work spaces and ensuite bathrooms for all. People are putting a lot of thought into their living spaces after having spent so much more time in their homes recently. Build your dream home on this beautiful, peaceful and quiet property.

Listen to the sounds of silence on this beautiful park-like land of 4.4 acres in an estate section of Greenwich. Plenty of room to build a stunning new home and recreational amenities such as a pool and a tennis court. The property is open and level with several stands of mature specimen trees offering privacy near the front. No known wetlands and the FAR will accommodate a home up to about 11,000 sq. ft. (subject to Town approvals). Close proximity to schools and only 6 minutes to the Merritt Parkway. 

OPEN HOUSE – Sunday, July 26 from 1:00-3:00

For those who prefer a finished product, Dearfield Lane is like new construction, built in 2013. This house has multiple work spaces and ensuite bathrooms in every bedroom.

Great location with little to no traffic. Dearfield Lane consists of 11 classic homes EST IN 1929. This 5 bedroom 5 1/2 bath home sits on a private, quiet lane close to train, town, shopping, library and highway. Minutes to Greenwich Ave. Fine craftsmanship and details throughout. Master suite with luxury bath & fireplace. Gourmet kitchen with island. Living room with fireplace. Formal dining room. Family room with fireplace & French doors Leading to stone terrace. Finished lower level with family room, bedroom & full bath & separate entrance. Outdoor terrace & fireplace. square footage includes 1933 square feet in finished lower level.

There are 60 public open houses in Greenwich this weekend. Please bring a mask and gloves if you plan to attend and please wait your turn until the group ahead of you has completed their tour of the home before you enter in order to ensure social distancing.

Please click HERE for the most up to date open house list.

Please click HERE for the most up to date open house list.

This week’s highlights in Greenwich real estate:

• 56 new to market listings
• 33 sold properties
• 25 price reductions
• 22 contingent contracts
• 40 pending

Stefanie Lacoff is a licensed real estate agent with Berkshire Hathaway Home Services New England Properties in Greenwich, CT. Contact Stefanie for assistance selling your home or purchasing a new one.

Text/call: 203-536-9403, email: slacoff@bhhsne.com, stefanielacoff.bhhsneproperties.com

Written by Darian Fauser, Greenwich High School class of 2021

This week, Allegra Dance Greenwich filmed their students performing in Roger Sherman Baldwin Park in order to compile their dances into an exciting virtual recital for parents.

Allegra was forced to postpone their annual recital at The Palace Theatre in Stamford to August due to Covid-19. Owner Carrie Page was not satisfied with an August date, and sought out an alternative way for her dancers to perform sooner to conclude their extended spring semester.

Ms Page was able to secure permits from the Town of Greenwich so that from Monday, July 20 to Sunday, July 26, Allegra dancers could perform at Roger Sherman Baldwin Park with the beautiful backdrop of Greenwich Harbor. This allowed for the perfect video for their recital compilation.

After finally reuniting with her students this past Monday, Page has been extremely cautious abiding by social distancing guidelines. She explained that when students arrive at the park, “they get their temperature taken, they go and find their circle, they have a health questionnaire so that if they’ve visited another state, they have to quarantine for 14 days no matter what state they went to.”

Allegra Dance Greenwich has been doing everything they can in order to continue teaching their students, even if it means dancing in a virtual setting. Since March, they have been holding 45 minute dance classes on Zoom.

Continuing classes was extremely important to Page. She explained how she interacted online with owners of dance studios across the country in order to come up with a solution.

“I’m on Facebook with different dance studios, just kind of picking each other’s brains as to what we can do to keep these kids engaged and dancing,” she explained.

Transitioning to virtual classes was a challenge for Allegra, but they were able to successfully teach their students despite the setbacks. Of to her youngest students, who are two and a half years old, Page said, “It was very hard for them to understand the socialization, and that they couldn’t physically touch their friends.”

Additionally, dance teachers are forced to teach everything in a thoughtful way. For instance, on Zoom, if the teacher puts their right hand up, the students see it as their left hand.

Unfortunately, Allegra did lose some students after going virtual. Some were forced to leave because of economic hardship. However, it was mainly the younger dancers who were having trouble navigating Zoom.

In addition to the recital video, Allegra Dance Greenwich also held a costume parade on June 28th at the town hall for students to pick up their costumes while staying safe from Covid-19. The students drove up and collected their costumes from their cars so they didn’t have to go into the studio.

Moving forward, Allegra has come up with multiple different reopening plans for the fall.

One plan is based off of their current Zoom schedule with 45 minute classes and a 15 minute break to clean the dance studio. This plan would utilize just one of their two studios for classes, while the other will be used for checking temperatures and health questionnaires.

The second plan is a semi-normal schedule with two classes going on simultaneously with a break between to clean the studios. Page said based on their square footage and rules of being at least six feet apart, they will have room for 11 students in their larger studio and four students in their smaller studio.

Not only was the virtual recital an innovative, safe solution, it was heartfelt for Page who grew up taking lessons at Allegra herself.

She recalled dancing in an annual, end of year June show in Roger Sherman Baldwin Park, in the same spot under the massive metal sculpture where her students were performing.

This was an amazing way to keep Allegra’s legacy alive and continue teaching dance during stressful times.

Despite the challenges of remotely learning and practicing their recital dances, the Allegra dancers were able to come together to perform beautifully. 

Allegra Dance Greenwich is located at 37 West Putnam Avenue, Greenwich, CT 06830. Tel (203) 629-9162

Travel Advisory

As of Tuesday, July 28 Connecticut’s travel advisory list was expanded to include Illinois, Kentucky, Minnesota, Puerto Rico, and Washington DC.

Anyone traveling from a state with a new daily positive test rate higher than 10 per 100,000 residents, or with 10%+ positivity rate over a 7-day rolling average is directed to quarantine for a 14 days.

At his Monday press conference Lamont said over the three preceding days there were 207 positive cases out of about 32,000 tests, which is about .6%.

“We’ve now had a 1% positivity rate over the past month,” Lamont said. “We’re not an island, but we’ve worked very hard to limit the number of folks coming into our state from those very highly infected states.”

Lamont noted it was helpful none of the states on the list were neighbors of Connecticut.

Anyone entering from one of the identified states must now fill out a travel health form upon arrival.

The form is available online at ct.gov/travelform, which means that travelers arriving by car can fill out a form.

“Maybe they catch a flight in LaGuardia Airport and drive up from there,” he said. “So the online form allows us to track and see who is coming into the state and where they’ll be staying.”

As of Thursday, 5,000 forms had been received, with the biggest chunk, 25%, filled out by people leaving Florida to come to Connecticut.

“Some time ago we thought about a lot of people leaving Connecticut for Florida,” he recalled.

Governor Lamont implemented the travel advisory in collaboration with the governors of New York and New Jersey to keep slow the spread of Covid-19 while cases were spiking elsewhere.

Since late June the list has grown from 8 states to 34 states, and, taken together they account for over 80% of the US population.

Parties

The Governor said there had been a number of large parties attended by young people.

“Those parties have carried with them a fair number of infections,” Lamont said. “A couple of them down in Fairfield County involved young people coming from out-of-state to party.”

He said at one party attendees were vaping.

Smokers as a group are at higher risk for severe illness if they contract the disease. Vapers are also more likely to cough and exhale more forcefully, making them more likely to spread their droplets to surfaces. Plus, when you’re vaping you cannot wear a mask, which can prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Lamont said he’d spoken to students and superintendents, and planned to reach out to parents about the rising number of cases of teens and people in their 20’s getting the virus.

“We’ve got to really strict about this.  I looked down in Florida and Arizona and the governors say if often started with young people,” he said.

“It’s incredibly risky behavior not only for yourself, but for the broader community. Fellow parents are getting this message loud and clear that this is not acceptable behavior,” he said.

“I’ll tell you, the folks who find out who is hosting these parties – people were not happy with them – so there is a fair amount of accountability informally,” he continued, adding that his team is producing PSAs, and would even consider sanctions.

“If there is a big party that doesn’t meet basic guidelines and not an attempt at social distancing, and passing around a JUUL vaping product to share, that is dangerous behavior,” Lamont said.

See also: After Weekend of Teen Parties, Greenwich First Selectmen Asks, “Why take that chance? Why be selfish? Why be reckless?”

On Wednesday afternoon, New York City cab drivers traveled to Greenwich to protest in front of Marblegate Asset Management, a hedge fund that owns thousands of taxi medallions and loans.

Medallions are the city permits that allow people to own their own cab.

The town hall guest parking lot, largely empty since the onset of the pandemic, was awash in yellow.

Cabs had posters taped to their windows saying, “Debt forgiveness now,” “No More Suicides,” “No More Bankruptcies,” and, “It’s not charity; it’s loan forgiveness.”

Marblegate is headquartered across from Town Hall at 80 Field Point Rd. Andrew Milgram is the managing partner and chief investment officer.

New York City cabbies purchased the medallions only to watch their value plummet. Saddled with debt, they were struggling before the pandemic. Several cabbies have committed suicide. Many have declared bankruptcy.

Since the onset of the pandemic, cabbies, many who drive six days a week, 12 hours a day, have few fares.

Several cabbies taking a break in the shade across the street from the protest said they typically lease their cabs during their off hours to other drivers to help cover expenses and loan payments, but now there are no drivers.

“There are no bars, no flights, no hotels, no bookings,” one cabbie explained, raising his voice over his fellow protesters across the street chanting, ‘Stop your greed now!’ “They’re still pushing us to make payments with interest.”

One cabbie said he has has virtually no income since the pandemic, but still has to pay over $3,000 a month for his loan. He said didn’t want to declare bankruptcy because he didn’t want to lose his house.

“We were making good money,” another cabbie said. “But now, no one is taking cabs.”

“The medallions have zero value now,” said another cabbie. “But Maplegate is not reducing the 5% interest rate. The City of New York limited medallions to about 12,000, but then they allowed in Uber and Lyft. We can only pick up fares on the street. The city created this.”

One cabbie said he bought his medallion in 2010 for $620,000. “The value is zero now,” he said.

One cabbie said his monthly payment for his medallion is $3,200.

“And we have expenses including gas and repairs,” one cabbie said, adding some days he drives for an hour before there is a fare.

During the protest one person left the building in a BMS convertible and was booed. As they returned to their cabs at town hall, one Greenwich Police officer chatted with a cabbie. “Good luck,” he said.

Rose E. Presto, a longtime resident of Greenwich passed away peacefully on July 28, 2020 after complications of Parkinson’s. She was 85.

Rose was born March 21, 1935, to Fred and Margaret Decker in Middletown, NY. Rose is the beloved wife of the late, Orlando Presto.

Rose is survived by her daughter, Cynthia Parelli and her husband Frank III, her son Lee Presto and his wife Cindy, loving grandchildren, Frank Parelli IV and his wife Alyssa, Michael Parelli and his wife Dana, Christine Presto and Daniel Presto and her great grandchildren, Frank Parelli V and Olivia Parelli.

Her family gathered privately in her honor.

Memorial donations can be sent to the Boys and Girls Club of Greenwich 4 Horseneck Lane, Greenwich, CT 06830 www. bgcg.org.

For more information or to place an online condolence, www.coxeandgraziano.com

Previously, an application for a private baseball field in a residential neighborhood being used for practice by the owner’s son’s Cal Ripken team had been cited twice for a zoning violation.

The applicant hoped to get permission from the Planning & Zoning commission for the field after the fact, but at two public Zoom hearings neighbors expressed their objections based on noise and traffic.

After the commission asked the applicant, Ray Bartoszek, back in June to try to work out a compromise with his neighbors, he returned in mid July to say they failed to come to an agreement.

As a result, on Tuesday night the commission discussed conditions they would make if they were to approve the application:

No commercial use, no paid coaches, no games or umpires, and no more than one Greenwich based team allowed to practice at the field.

Also, no parking allowed outside the property during practices, or for drop off or pick up.

Overflow parking must be accommodated by the main driveway at existing residence.

Aluminum bats are prohibited during scheduled practices, but are permitted for use by the resident and his children.

Also, the property owner shall limit fertilizer and pesticides as much as possible to limit runoff to adjacent pond. The material used on the field must be organic, and of course follow all the conditions of the applicant’s original wetlands approval.

Practice times prohibited on Sundays, with a maximum of 3 practices (not greater than two hours each) every 2 weeks including one practice every other Saturday, coincident with the town of Greenwich League Play. Practices shall end by 6:30pm on weekdays and 5:00pm on Saturdays.

The commission noted that the team also has access to town fields one evening during the week and one two-hour block on the weekend, on either a Saturday or a Sunday.

“They can ask for more time, but he (Don Mohr of Parks & Rec) tries to be fair as possible across all the teams,” said P&Z director Katie DeLuca.

Team signage and banners should not be visible across the street or to adjacent properties or across the pond.

Ground maintenance and work on the playing field, equipment and accessory structures shall be limited to once a week, excluding maintenance on grounds of the residential property.

Evergreen screening around the practice area shall be maintained in good health at all times and replaced in kind if necessary.

If conditions are not met, then the special permit is subject to being revoked.

There had been discussion about off site repairs to a neighbor’s private property across the street from 56 Clapboard Ridge where guests visiting the baseball field had damaged the lawn and grading by the shoulder. However, the commission declined to include this as a condition. “You can’t impose something on someone else’s property,” said Katie DeLuca, P&Z director.

P&Z chair Margarita Alban described the two sides of the controversial application.

“One side is minding the invasion of privacy and felt the use has been too intense,” she said. “The other side said it would be ‘Orwellian’ to stop kids from having fun and playing baseball.”

“I love to hear the sound of children playing, but at the same time, just listening to all the conditions you’re putting on this special permit, you’re making so many restrictions because it’s really beyond what should be going on in this neighborhood. You’re changing it to make it acceptable, and in your view it becomes acceptable, but how does one enforce this?”

Also Alban said she was concerned about a precedent being set, saying it was not a natural use to the zone.

“If we get 10 more of these we’d have to have a zoning enforcement squad dedicated to making sure there are only two practices here, and no aluminum bats there, and that someone is not having a hockey championship,” she said.

“Are we opening a door? Where does this go? We’re saying it’s okay to have playing fields and team events on private property,” Alban said, noting that several prominent attorneys were present at the Zoom meeting.

P&Z commissioner Dave Hardman said he saw a distinct difference between team practice and team competitions.

“Are you comfortable with this type of use becoming pervasive in residential zones?” Alban asked.

She noted that P&Z conditions special uses in schools zones, but noted this was for a private activity in a residential neighborhood.

Alban said that if the vote were to come out in favor of approving the special permit with conditions, that if the conditions were subsequently not met that the commission would retain the right to revoke the special permit.

“A revocation would again mean that the zoning enforcement officer would have to go out. It’s not enough to have neighbors report a violation. It has to be verified. It’s tying up our staff,” Alban said.

Peter Levy said although he was concerned about “creep,” given most of the commission was willing to condition an approval, he said, “I’m willing to go along with it.”

Commissioner Nick Macri made the motion. Dave Hardman seconded. In favor were Peter Levy, Dave Hardman, Nick Macri and Peter Lowe. Margarita Alban voted no.

See also

After Zoning Violation, Application for Baseball Field to Top P&Z Agenda Tuesday Night

June 2, 2020

P&Z Watch: Bobby Valentine is Surprise Guest in Saga of Illegal Baseball Field

July 18, 2020