New Canaan may appear to be a typical small New England town, but its not. It is really two towns, a dense central village area surrounded by low density residential areas. The town recognized this is 1957 when the New Canaan Sewer District was formed to bring water and sewer services to the higher density neighborhoods. Those living within the village core enjoy reasonably priced, reliable town water and sewage services. Those not living in the high density core are forced to install and service costly septic and well systems. The town also recognized density differences when it installed new town paid sidewalks in the early 2000s. Houses served the by the sidewalks got a wonderful amenity that was also plowed and cared for with town funds.
The recently proposed gas powered leaf blower ban fails to recognize New Canaan’s unique residential makeup. The town is in essence treating noise as a Gordian Knot. The truth is noise is not an issue town wide and neither is the solution. We are all the residents of Lone Tree Farm Road, a bucolic street comprised of two and four acre lots without access to town provided water and sewage services. We also don’t have beautiful sidewalks. What we do have are large lawns and lots of trees. The proposed ban is not practical for us as the electrical blowers are not powerful enough to service our properties and landscapers will need to raise prices to account for the increased manpower and battery packs per unit, not to mention the purchase of new equipment.
The ban’s pros and cons have been appropriately identified by the many constituents who have taken the time to comment. Each side is passionate and well meaning. The problem is neither side recognizes that New Canaan is really two towns and the proposed ban seemingly benefits in town properties and burdens those who live on streets like Lone Tree Farm Rd. Interestingly, the ban recognizes the futility of electric blowers as it exempts large town owned properties, the majority of which are in the town core. Even our local neighbor, Greenwich, smartly altered its ban to exclude larger properties.
Finally, we self selected to live outside the town core. We did so understanding that our homes are not accessed by certain town services. Noise is not an issue on our street and the proposed ban will adversely impact us. We ask that the Town Council recognize our town’s unique makeup and either alter the ban based on lot sizes or outright reject it.
Sincerely,
Residents of Lone Tree Farm Road:
Dockery-Turner Family, McKenna Family, Prior Family, Queally Family, Rittenberry Family, Rosen Family, Rowley Family, Tanner Family, Wechter Family, Weingarten Family and Wood Family
