Commission Rejects Berdis Avenue Unit Changes, Delays Two Hearings

Planning and Zoning · Meeting of March 31, 2026

New Canaan planners reject a Berdis Avenue density trim, push two contested hearings to April. The Planning and Zoning Commission voted 8-1 Tuesday to deny developer Philip Omgrren's administrative request to cut a Berdis Avenue apartment project from 25 to 22 units, ruling that the parking relief involved required a full special permit rather than a staff-level sign-off; the town planner told the board the developer could legally provide 46 spaces against a 43-space requirement, down from 48 under the 2022 approval. The commission also heard nearly five hours of testimony on a New Canaan Country School turf-field special permit and a 14-unit Parade Hill Road affordable housing project, with residents citing traffic, backyard flooding and a lack of elevator access.

Attorney Steven Finn argued the Country School project needs "a substantial relationship" between any usage restriction and the specific permit sought, while more than a dozen Parade Hill Road neighbors called the building's scale a mismatch for a one-third-acre lot on a road with no sidewalks.

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Source: the Planning and Zoning meeting of March 31, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.

The Full Article

NEW CANAAN — March 31, 2026 — The New Canaan Planning and Zoning Commission voted 8-1 Tuesday to deny a developer's bid to shrink a Berdis Avenue apartment project's unit count without a full special permit hearing, then spent nearly five hours taking testimony on a New Canaan Country School turf field plan and a proposed 14-unit affordable housing building on Parade Hill Road.

Chairman Dan Radman presided over a four-item agenda that ran past 11:30 p.m. The commission also voted to schedule an April public hearing on a two-lot subdivision at 0 North Wilton Road without further review, and it continued both the Country School and Parade Hill Road hearings to its April 28 meeting after residents packed the room with traffic, drainage and safety concerns.

The Full Story

At 0 North Wilton Road, authorized agent William Pollack presented a plan to split an 8.94-acre parcel into two lots in the four-acre zone for owners DeForest Road Developers LLC and HT Partners LLC. Because the filing is a new subdivision application rather than the resubdivision requests the commission typically handles, members had to decide only whether to hold a public hearing in April. Commissioners Chris Herring and Eric Nolles both called the plan straightforward, citing wetlands setbacks that left the proposed lots ample buffer, and the commission voted by show of hands to schedule the application for April without a hearing.

At 15 Berdis Avenue, architect and developer Philip Omgrren sought administrative approval to cut a 2022-approved 25-unit project to 22 units and to relocate its three affordable units into different buildings, growing those units by a combined 287 square feet. Commissioners pressed him on why the number of three-bedroom apartments had grown from 10 to 15 while the total bedroom count held flat; Omgrren said bedrock encountered during excavation shrank available parking and forced him to combine smaller units. Town Planner Sarah told the commission the developer's original 2022 plan would require 48 parking spaces under current zoning, the revised 22-unit plan needs only 43, and the site provides 46. Several commissioners argued that approving the change administratively would hand the developer a larger parking waiver than he received in 2022, which they said required a full special permit hearing rather than a staff-level sign-off. The commission voted 8-1 to deny the administrative request.

Attorney Steven Finn, representing New Canaan Country School, closed out a March 9 hearing on a special permit for grading, a retaining wall and turf installation on two of the school's four athletic fields at 635 Frogtown Road. Neighbors Stephen Metler, Karen Snees and Bill Mountford argued a usage chart the school submitted overstated how rarely, not how often, the fields sit empty, and that the document contradicted the school's earlier promise not to intensify use. Head of School Aaron Cooper said the school stands by the chart. The commission continued the hearing to April 28 and asked the school to submit a detailed log of actual field use from fall 2025 and spring 2026 within seven to 10 days.

Attorney Amy Susans presented a revised 14-unit, income-restricted apartment building for 30 Parade Hill Road under the state's Section 8-30g affordable housing law. More than a dozen residents opposed it, citing a narrow, sidewalk-less road, recurring backyard flooding, and a three-story walk-up with no elevator. The commission took no vote and continued the hearing to April 28.

"In order for a condition of a special permit to be valid, it must bear a substantial relationship to the application request." — Steven Finn, attorney for New Canaan Country School

"What I heard did not pass the smell test." — Bill Mountford, Ponus Ridge Road resident

"This is not a design challenge that conditions can fix. It is a fundamental mismatch between what is proposed and where it is proposed." — Mike Campezy, Parade Hill Road resident

Why It Matters

Tuesday's votes and continuances touch three separate fights over density and affordable housing in New Canaan. The Berdis Avenue denial signals the commission wants a full special permit hearing, not an administrative sign-off, whenever a developer seeks more parking relief than it already received, a standard that could affect other in-progress projects with existing waivers. At Parade Hill Road, the commission is weighing a state 8-30g application that limits its power to reject the project on density grounds alone, even as neighbors describe a narrow road, backyard flooding and no elevator in a building aimed partly at families and voucher holders. The Country School dispute turns on whether new turf fields will intensify weekend and evening use near Wing Road and Ponus Ridge homes; the school must document its actual 2025-26 field use before neighbors respond again on April 28.

Key Motions & Votes

- Vote: Schedule April public hearing for 0 North Wilton Road two-lot subdivision, no public hearing required Tally: Approved unanimously

- Vote: Deny administrative request to modify 15 Berdis Avenue special permit unit count and sizes Tally: For: 8, Against: 1, Abstain: 0, Total: 9

• Action: Special permit hearing for 635 Frogtown Road, New Canaan Country School athletic fields — Continued to April 28, 2026
• Action: Site plan public hearing for 30 Parade Hill Road, 14-unit affordable housing — Continued to April 28, 2026

- Vote: Approve minutes of a prior meeting Tally: Approved unanimously

Source

Town Of New Canaan: Planning and Zoning Commission meeting, March 31, 2026