[HISTORY: Adopted New Canaan Board of Selectmen 6-25-63;
effective 7-25-63.]
Under the authority contained in Public Act No. 430, enacted
by the 1961 General Assembly of the State of Connecticut there is
established: (a) An Historic District within the Town of New Canaan,
and (b) An Historic District Commission of five members and three
alternates who shall be residents and electors of the Town of New
Canaan holding no public office who shall be empowered to perform
all functions appointed to them by said Public Act No. 430.
It is the intent of this ordinance to promote the educational,
cultural, economic and general welfare of the Town of New Canaan through
the preservation and protection of buildings, places and districts
of historic interest within the Town of New Canaan.
The Historic District Commission shall administer the provisions
of said Public Act No. 430 as implemented by this ordinance within
the limits of the appropriation made by the Town and the budgetary
allocation made by the Board of Finance.
In implementing Section 5 of said Public Act No. 430, the Commission
shall prepare a list of exterior architectural features which it shall
designate as being obviously congruous with the historic and architectural
aspects of the area. From time to time this list may be added to,
in the light of the experience and decisions of the Commission. Copies
of the list shall be placed in the office of the Building Inspector
and shall there be available to the public. The Commission shall not
prohibit any proposed exterior modification of an existing structure
on the grounds of its incongruity with the historic aspects of the
area if the proposed modification, in the opinion of the Commission,
is congruous with the exterior features of the said existing structure.
No powers of the New Canaan Town Planning and Zoning Commission
and the New Canaan Zoning Board of Appeals having to do with the use
of land within the Historic District shall be impaired by this ordinance.
[Amended 5-11-2005, effective 5-27-2005]
A.Â
No
work on any type of structure which would change the appearance of
any property within the Historic District when viewed from the street
line shall be begun until the property owner has filed an application
with the Building Inspector and has received a certificate of appropriateness
from the Historic District Commission. For the purpose of this ordinance,
the Building Inspector shall require the application to provide such
information on those forms devised by the Historic District Commission
as may be adopted or modified from time to time by the Commission.
The Commission shall hold a public hearing upon each application for
a certificate of appropriateness, unless the Building Inspector or
the Chairman of the Commission determines that the application is
substantially incomplete, or determines that such application involves
items not subject to approval by the Commission. The Commission shall
give notice of the time and place of the hearing, and shall pass upon
such application, and shall give written notice of its decision to
the applicant, in the manner and time required by Section 7-147e of
the Connecticut General Statutes, as the same may be amended from
time to time. All hearings and all meetings of the Commission at which
decisions are made shall be open to the public. The Commission may
issue a certificate of appropriateness with stipulations or conditions.
B.Â
For
purposes of this ordinance, the Building Inspector shall be the enforcement
agent of the Commission, and may (1) issue stop-work orders, (2) issue
municipal citations in the amount and manner provided by Section 7-148(c)(10)
of the Connecticut General Statutes, as the same may be amended from
time to time, (3) take any other enforcement action authorized by
the enabling statutes, Section 7-147a et seq. of the Connecticut General
Statutes, as the same may be amended from time to time. The Building
Inspector and members of the Commission shall have the right to inspect
the exterior of properties within the Historic District at reasonable
times, including, without limitation, when activity or work occurs
that might require a certificate of appropriateness, when an application
for a certificate of appropriateness is pending, while approved work
is progressing, and upon completion of approved work, in order to
determine the applicability of and compliance with this ordinance.
The boundaries of the Historic District shall be as follows:
Beginning at a point on the northerly line of North Main Street where
the westerly line of Husted Lane intersects the northerly line of
North Main Street; running thence northerly along said westerly line
of Husted Lane 200 feet; running thence in a generally westerly and
northwesterly direction on a line 200 feet northerly of and parallel
with the northerly line of North Main Street and Oenoke Avenue to
the easterly line of land of The New Canaan Historical Society; running
thence easterly, northerly and thence westerly along land of said
Society to the easterly line of Oenoke Avenue; running thence westerly
across Oenoke Avenue to the southerly line of Oenoke Lane; running
thence westerly along the southerly line of Oenoke Lane 200 feet;
thence running southerly and easterly on a line 200 feet westerly
and southerly of and parallel with Oenoke Avenue to the westerly line
of land of The Congregational Church; thence running southerly along
the westerly lines of land of said The Congregational Church and of
land of Carla Barratt-Brown to the northerly line of St. John's
Place; thence southerly across St. John's Place to the westerly
line of land of The Christian Science Church; thence southerly along
the westerly line of land of said The Christian Science Church to
Seminary Street; thence running southwesterly across Seminary Street
to the westerly line of land of Louise Van A. Frank; thence running
southerly along the said westerly line of said Louise Van A. Frank
to a point 150 feet northerly of the north line of Elm Street; running
thence easterly through land of said Louise Van A. Frank and land
of Louise S. Perkins on a line parallel with and 150 feet northerly
of the north line of Elm Street to the westerly line of Park Street;
thence running northeasterly across Park Street to the southwesterly
corner of land of Helen M. Ashwell; thence running easterly along
the southerly lines of lands of said Helen M. Ashwell, of W. Harry
Siemon and E. Tremain Bradley and of The American Red Cross Society
to the easterly line of land of said The American National Red Cross
Society; thence running northerly along the easterly line of land
of said The American Red Cross Society to the southerly line of said
North Main Street; and thence northerly across said North Main Street
to the point or place of beginning.
There shall be appointed by the Board of Selectmen a Commission
of five regular members and three alternate members. The regular members
shall serve in the following order: three from the fifteenth day of
November, 1963 and two from the fifteenth day of November, 1965 and
quadrennially thereafter for four year terms, the alternate members
to serve two from the fifteenth day of November, 1963 and one from
the fifteenth day of November, 1965 and quadrennially thereafter for
four year terms. The initial terms shall be three from date of appointment
to the fifteenth day of November, 1963 and two from the date of appointment
to the fifteenth day of November, 1965 for regular members, and two
from the date of appointment to the fifteenth day of November, 1963
and one from the date of appointment to the fifteenth day of November,
1965 for alternate members. In case of a vacancy by reason of death,
resignation, removal of residence from Town or failure to qualify,
the Board of Selectmen shall appoint a successor who shall serve for
the remainder of the term of his predecessor and until his successor
shall have been appointed and shall have qualified.
The Commission shall annually elect from its own number a Chairman,
a Vice-Chairman and a Secretary.
The provisions of Public Act No. 430 of the 1961 General Assembly
having to do with the application for and issuance of certificates
of appropriateness shall take effect when the New Canaan Historic
Commission has certified to the Board of Selectmen that a Plan of
Preservation and Protection and the necessary Commission procedures
have been developed.
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   A map showing the exact boundary lines of
the area to be included within the proposed Historic District has
been filed with the New Canaan Town Clerk for public inspection.
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