[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. 
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. 
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.
   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.