Greenwich Free Press (https://greenwichfreepress.com/tag/mary-jenkins/)
The commission had concerns about the streetscape. They also asked applicant to have their consultant study traffic patterns, especially with an eye to preventing the development from being used as a cut-through from Neil Lane. Continue Reading →
P&Z asked if the disused loading area and access drive from Brookside Ave could be removed and landscaped. Other focused on on-site vehicle and pedestrian circulation, queuing, parking, and left turns into and out of Dayton Avenue. Continue Reading →
Commissioner Mary Jenkins said, “The building there now has sky and space and air around it. And frankly with two distinct, contemporary taller buildings, it looks to me like a Tudor sandwich.”
Commenting on the two additional buildings, Arn Welles said, “They seem out of place with the original ones. You’ve got those enormous, I’d call them space windows, they look like spaceships.” Continue Reading →
The GCDS Schwarz Campus is 41.5 acres in the RA-1 zone and the school does not receive any FAR bonus for educational use. The Schwarz Campus at 23 Fairfield Road was originally part of the F.A.O. Schwarz estate, which goes all the way to Cardinal Road. Even if the school added the requested units, they would still have remaining FAR, but the discussion revolved around the proposed multi-family apartment building in the RA-1 single family zone. Continue Reading →
“It’s a very large space and you’re saying you’re going to have small classes. We have had not positive experience with that – where people have filled the space to overflowing, creating parking problems. When you have the space, human nature fills it.” – Margarita Alban, Greenwich P&Z chair Continue Reading →
In the motion to deny Berkley Insurance Co’s large office building, Greenwich P&Z noted that 1976 zoning restrictions put the brakes on large scale office development and encouraged residential uses wherever possible to create more housing opportunities. Berkley already has their global HQ at 475 Steamboat. The new office building would have been an adjacent satellite on the parcels home to the former CT Iron Works, a two family house and two older office buildings. Continue Reading →
“It seems to me that with the loss of the trees, it begins to me to resemble Arlington Cemetery. We have monument, monument, monument, and a monument across the street – all at an intersection with great historic quality and beauty.” – P&Z Commissioner Mary Jenkins Continue Reading →
The applicant referred to on Oxer Place as a “de facto cul-de-sac,” but neighbors described it as a dead end with maxed out on-street parking at night, a history of flooding and pedestrian traffic via path to Henry Street. Continue Reading →
“If you’re successful, there may be a lot of stress in these areas. You may find that you are parking deficient and you may find that you have brought in a lot of traffic…What troubled me the most about this process is everything is based on your operating assumptions.” – Margarita Alban, P&Z chair Continue Reading →
After word of the proposal spread to public schools families in Greenwich, there was a strong response on social media. Continue Reading →