Applicants seek small front-setback variance for 995 South Ave.; neighbors raise traffic, septic and scale concerns

The New Canaan Zoning Board of Appeals on Aug. 4 continued public hearings on a revised redevelopment application for 995 South Avenue, where the applicant seeks a variance to increase building coverage within the front setback by about 160 square feet while eliminating an existing height nonconformity and reducing front-setback nonconformities.

The applicant, represented by attorney Andre Gomes of Hinckley Allen, presented a second redesign intended to reduce the project’s nonconformities while keeping a preexisting three-unit use. Developer Dan Riccio, principal of 995 South Avenue LLC, told the board he and his team scaled the plan back after earlier hearings, saying, “I assure you that I do not take this responsibility lightly.” The application proposes two new structures yielding three residential units total (one single-family and one two-family), with three bedrooms planned in each unit.

Why it matters

The site is tightly constrained: the applicant’s team said the 1.1-acre lot contains a watercourse and wetlands, requires a 25-foot wetlands buffer and drops roughly 20 feet from front to rear, leaving roughly 9.5% of the lot buildable after required septic, stormwater and slope stabilization areas are set aside. The applicant and the board’s technical consultant explained those physical limits shaped where septic, retaining walls and infiltration systems can be located — and why the team says a modest coverage variance is needed to permit a feasible redevelopment that…