NEIGHBORHOODS
What’s going on in your part of Greenwich
Downtown
The Planning and Zoning Commission will be considering municipal improvement status for two intersection improvements on Greenwich Avenue.
On Thursday, the Board of Selectmen unanimously approved allowing the project to proceed to the MI status it needs to be able to work on town property. Under the current plan, work is slated for the intersections at Havemeyer Place/Arch Street and Fawcett Place/Grigg Street, including new bumpouts, shorter pedestrian pathways, landscaping and other aesthetic improvements.
Additional parking spaces have also been promised; the Department of Public Works has committed to adding in 12 parking spaces and assuring the town the project will not have an impact on three war memorials near the Havemeyer/ Arch intersection with Greenwich Avenue.
“We’re increasing the amount of green space and we’re making it much safer while improving ADA accessibility,”
DPW Deputy Commissioner James Michel said.
Similar work was completed last year at Greenwich Avenue’s intersection with Elm Street.
The discussion around the intersection improvements has been heated. The $2.8 million allocation for the project narrowly survived a budget vote in May before the Representative Town Meeting; and there has been continued opposition from some residents.
On Wednesday, the DPW brought the project before the town Historic District Commission. Michel said the resulting three-and-ahalf-hour discussion was a productive one.
“We’re trying to keep as much as we can of the historic nature of the area,” Michel said. “They gave us some great suggestions. There was a lot of backand-forth discussion about things they felt were important and what things we might want to consider as we fine-tune our design.”
First Selectman Fred Camillo has been a major proponent of the project and said at Thursday’s meeting that he had received letters of support from the town Commission on Aging, Greenwich Communities, the Greenwich Fire and Police departments and the town’s community of people with disabilities.
“We’re very happy that a broad section of the community and our most vulnerable users have weighed in on this,” Camillo said.
Downtown
The Planning and Zoning Commission is seeking public input on town-crafted legislation to allow for more outdoor dining.
The public will be able to take part in a workshop set for 7 p.m. July 12 over Zoom.
Outdoor dining was credited with keeping restaurants in business during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. For 2020 and 2021, the town allowed outdoor dining under an executive order from Gov. Ned Lamont. For 2022, the town is able to allow outdoor dining under a new state law.
For the 2023 season, town Director of Planning and Zoning Katie DeLuca said the town wants to use local zoning regulations to set policy.
DeLuca said the town wants public input on several questions, including the zoning regulations, whether public or private parking should be used for dining and whether there should there be different rules for Greenwich Avenue and other areas.
The commission also wants to hear from retailers, residents, customers and employees.
“The input from the public will have a very significant impact on how we move forward,” she said. “We need to understand the desires of the community first and then study the impact of any potential changes.”
DeLuca said that once regulations are drafted they will be shared with the public; a public hearing will be scheduled for additional input.
“Transparency and inclusion are the two most critical ways of ensuring an effective regulation,” DeLuca said. “That is also why we hold all our meetings on Zoom. We have found that we consistently have significantly more participation in our meetings than we did when they were in person in Town Hall.”
The Zoom link for the workshop is at https://greenwichct.zoom.us/j/83227679442?pwd=2UgRotmqTJDsnAzfUSTcixh37tW7Kr.1 with the password 6829119.
Comments can also be sent to her via email at Katie.DeLuca@greenwichct.org.
Old Greenwich
On June 10, the Garden Club of Old Greenwich held its annual meeting and awards ceremony at the Riverside Yacht Club with an elegant tea, award presentation and horticulture competition.
The meeting celebrated the club’s accomplishments, including decorating and maintaining the gardens in Old Greenwich Village, the Gateway Garden and the Butterfly Garden at Greenwich Point; beautifying the Old Greenwich Train Station; decorating the village for First Light and the holiday season; doing community outreach programs at Hill House and Pathways; holding design and horticulture workshops and lectures; completing a garden project at Old Greenwich School with the Girl Scouts; planting trees for Arbor Day; and holding a joint sponsored lecture series with the Perrot Memorial Library.
The club also thanked its award winners for “their hard work, great skills and dedication to gardening, the environment and to the beautification of our town.”
The winners were Helen DeLago, who received the Carter Trophy for the greatest number of points in the horticulture competition; Susan Wynne, who received the Dogwood Horticultural Award for the second highest number; and Betsie Harkins, awarded the Barbara Bainbridge Trophy for outstanding work in horticulture.
The Evelyn E. Marshburn Trophy went to Louise Weber for the greatest number of flower design competition points; Wendy MacDonald received the Harriet Benner Design Award for the second highest number of points earned.
Wendy Yu received the Jane Sargent Trophy for her garden-related skills in perpetuating the aims and purpose for which the Garden Club was founded. The Bradford N. Clark Award went to Linnea Stenberg for her work in civic and community betterment and the Harriet Benner Volunteer Award was given to Kelly Fosberg for outstanding volunteer service to the Garden Club and other outside volunteer organizations.
Diane Fox got the Adelaide Radford Award for youth activities and achievement in horticulture while Sheila Goggin and Joann Lambos shared the Robert Soule Kieffer Memorial Trophy, which is given to members with not more than three years standing for a significant contribution to the Garden Club.
Ellie Bowman and Mary Bishop won the Nicole Standish Award for outstanding service to the Garden Club; the Council of Presidents Award went to Karin Nye for her dedication in furthering the purposes of the Garden Club. The Louise Weber Bowl was given to Barbara Freeman for introducing a new project that benefits the Garden Club’s programs, management or role in the community.
Central Greenwich
After more than two years of hard work during the COVID-19 pandemic, Greenwich Hospital held a celebration of staff on May 20 at Greenwich Country Club. The annual benefit raised funds for the hospital’s oncology, behavioral health, heart and vascular, children’s and neuroscience departments.
The guests of honor for the benefit were former Greenwich Hospital Board of Trustees Chair Arthur Martinez, Elizabeth Martinez and family and Greenwich Hospital physician James Brunetti.
Singer, former television host and longtime town resident Kathie Lee Gifford served as the master of ceremonies. The event included a live auction led by Lydia Fenet of Christie’s Auction House.
“Our sole purpose is to help those in the community who depend on us to provide quality health care, no matter what,” Greenwich Hospital President Diane Kelly said at the benefit. “In everything we do, it is the talented people — our staff, clinical partners and volunteers — who are the bedrock upon which our work flourishes.”
Kelly added that they were, “thrilled to honor this team and our treasured friends for all they have contributed to this hospital’s continued growth and to this community.”
Remarks were also delivered by board Chair W. Robert Berkley Jr., who talked about having the gathering after more than two years of COVID-19.
“This is a moment that is especially worthy of celebration,” he said. “And in light of what the hospital has done for its communities over these past two years and its extraordinary trajectory forward in various clinical areas, it is a moment that should give us pride and gratitude.”
During the benefit, a poem was read from a book created by Greenwich Hospital’s Emergency Department staff about their experiences during the pandemic accompanied by images of Greenwich Hospital’s employees taken during the height of COVID-19. Members of the Greenwich Hospital frontline team took the stage to a standing ovation while standing before a reproduction of the mural created by artist Rick Garcia, commissioned by C. Parker Gallery, signed by the community at the Reindeer Festival and presented as a gift to Greenwich Hospital in recognition of the hospital’s work over the past two years.