Wetlands panel approves Michigan Road violation cleanup plan
Inland Wetlands · Meeting of May 18, 2026
New Canaan wetlands panel approves Michigan Road cleanup, splits off bridge plan for later review. The Inland Wetlands Commission voted unanimously to approve a mitigation plan for 266 Michigan Road LLC, resolving a violation first flagged in October 2025 by South Norwalk Electric and Water watershed inspector Wes D'Angelo after debris was dumped onto the utility's reservoir watershed property. Owner Avi Barkai, who bought the house in August 2025, said "I paid the penalty, I paid the application fee" and agreed to remove a proposed masonry bridge replacement after Director Kathleen Holland said it would require a $1,000 flood plain permit.
Commissioner Katie Alsley pushed back on blaming landscapers, saying "that's on me." The panel required a 10-foot no-mow buffer, up from 5 feet, and barred new wood chips in the wetlands.
In the full story:
- The complete report — 870 words
Source: the Inland Wetlands meeting of May 18, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.
The Full Article
NEW CANAAN — May 18, 2026 — The New Canaan Inland Wetlands Commission voted unanimously to approve a mitigation plan for a wetlands violation at 266 Michigan Road, resolving a case that began with a cease and desist order last fall, while pushing a proposed bridge replacement into a future, separate application.
The violation involved tree removal and debris dumping into wetlands and an upland review area, including onto land owned by South Norwalk Electric and Water, the utility that supplies Norwalk's second taxing district and whose property abuts the site. Commissioners approved the application, filed by 266 Michigan Road LLC, subject to a lengthy list of special conditions drafted by Inland Wetlands Director Kathleen Holland.
The Full Story
Holland told commissioners the case originated as a complaint last October, when South Norwalk Electric and Water watershed inspector Wes D'Angelo flagged apparent clearing on the property during a routine patrol. The town's planning and zoning staff investigated and issued a cease and desist order to the property owner. Property owner Avi Barkai, who bought the house in August 2025, worked with engineer Rob Frangion of Frangion Engineering and licensed landscape architect Kate Throckmorton of Environmental Land Solutions to develop a mitigation plan after the violation was discovered.
Under the plan, debris and brush piles east and south of the property's pond will be removed largely by hand and hauled to a dumpster near the Somerset Lane entrance, while larger material on the west side will be extracted using protective mats to allow limited machine access. The commission required a no mow buffer of at least 10 feet along the steepest portion of the property's water course, up from the 5 feet originally proposed, plus a wider 15 foot meadow buffer elsewhere around the pond. The plan calls for planting 24 new trees, a native seed mix and a hand laid woodland walking path using only material already on site, with no new wood chips placed within the wetlands boundary.
Commissioner Katie Alsley, sitting in for absent regular member Don Mesterardi, pressed the applicant's team on early comments attributing some of the dumping to landscapers.
"Pinning stuff on landscapers is not to me an acceptable excuse. I have landscapers who work at my house. It's my responsibility. If they are doing something illegal, that's on me, and I can't deflect that blame onto them," Alsley said.
Barkai told the commission he was taking full responsibility regardless of who physically dumped the material.
"I'm not looking to justify, I didn't do it, they did it. When I'm becoming the owner, I'm taking responsibility on everything. I paid the penalty, I paid the application fee," Barkai said.
Commissioners spent significant time on a proposal to replace a foot bridge on the north side of the pond with a larger masonry structure, based on a 2010 design on file with the agency. Holland told the applicant's team the bridge sits in a FEMA flood zone and would require a $1,000 flood plain management permit, and said she could not confirm the 2010 design had ever received final approval.
"It is a flood plane until FEMA says it isn't a flood plane, and a flood plane is an inland wetland under the Connecticut statute and New Canaan's inland wetlands regulations," Chair Angela Jameson said.
Barkai offered to move the proposed bridge 10 feet north and 50 feet from the pond to get outside the flood zone, but commissioners said they lacked sufficient detail to act that night and recommended he pursue the bridge separately, potentially through an administrative review if all work can be kept out of the flood plain and wetlands. Barkai agreed to withdraw both bridge replacements and the gazebo rebuild from the current application. Commissioners approved relocating the existing southern foot bridge about 5 feet to the south at its current elevation, with before and after photos and an inspection by the wetlands agent, and agreed the gazebo would only be cleaned and repainted, not rebuilt.
Why It Matters
The approval closes out an enforcement case that began with an unauthorized clearing complaint from a neighboring water utility protecting a drinking water reservoir watershed, and sets conditions, including expanded buffer strips and a ban on new wood chips in the wetlands, that commissioners said could serve as a reference point for future applications involving similar informal walking paths. The larger question of whether a wider masonry bridge can be built near the pond remains unresolved and will require a new application or administrative review, meaning residents should expect the Michigan Road property to return to the commission's agenda later this year.
Key Motions & Votes
- Vote: Approve May 18, 2026 meeting agenda Tally: Approved unanimously
- Vote: Approve minutes of the April 20, 2026 regular meeting Tally: For: 7, Against: 0, Abstain: 1, Total: 8
- Vote: Approve minutes of the May 6, 2026 site visit Tally: For: 6, Against: 0, Abstain: 2, Total: 8
- Vote: Approve application IW26-9, 266 Michigan Road LLC, mitigation plan subject to special conditions Tally: Approved unanimously
- Vote: Adjourn meeting Tally: Approved unanimously
Source
Town Of New Canaan: Inland Wetlands Commission meeting, May 18, 2026