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.
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