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The Greenwich Weekly Newspaper: local, local, local.
March 11, 2022
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Scouting for Food for N2N
The Local News You Need to Know Edited By Emma Barhydt DAYLIGHT SAVINGS 2022 Prepare to lose an hour of sleep this weekend as we all spring forward. Daylight savings will be going into effect on Sunday, March 12th at 2:00am. There is an approximately 6% increase in automotive accidents due to Daylight Savings, so be extra careful and alert when driving. GREENWICH LIONS DISTRIBUTES $20,000 IN LOCAL GRANTS The Greenwich Lions Club has reported that despite cancellation of its annual spring fundraiser, it will distribute over $20k this year in Foundation grants. Projects which will be receiving funding include: GSA Scholarships, Neighbor to Neighbor, Meals on Wheels, Abilis, Coffee for Good, Wheel if Forward and GADC -River House. Also, $3000 to help local children and seniors access eye care and eye glasses. FRED CAMILLO DECLARES FRANCES CARINO DAY AS SHE TURNS 100.
Scouting for Food volunteers gathered outside the Greenwich Police Department headquarters on Saturday morning. Their food drive garnered 130 crates - over 4,000 pounds of food - and $900 in cash donations for our local food bank, Neighbor to Neighbor. Photo by John Ferris Robben.
GREENWICH CARDINAL CHEERLEADERS ARE HEADING TO THE REGIONALS ON MARCH 19 IN WORCESTER, MA.
COLUMN
CROCUSES IN BLOOM Despite the snow this past Wednesday, harbingers of spring are still to be found– the yellow crocuses have begun to bloom all over Greenwich. See them in particular splendor at the Founders’ Monument at the junction of North Maple Avenue and East Putnam Avenue or at Chestnut Allé in Cos Cob.
In Fighting 8-30g, Does Beauty Matter? Every demolition of a century-old building and the prompt raising up a mega luxury-cum-affordable complex is a kind of unmooring of ourselves from our history.
INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY Greenwich (and the world) celebrated International Women’s Day this past Tuesday, March 8th.
By Kimberly Fiorello
AQUARION OFFERING UPCYCLED RAIN BARRELS As part of a new water conservation initiative, Aquarion is offering Greenwich Residents upcycled rain barrels. Residents can place orders for rain barrels online now, and pick them up May 14 at Town Hall. Each barrel costs $75. GREENWICH FOOD MATTERS CHALLENGE The Town of Greenwich, in partnership with Waste Free Greenwich and the Center for EcoTechnology, is challenging local businesses to reduce food waste through prevention, rescue and recycling by participating in the Greenwich Food Matters Challenge. For information and to sign up visit the Town of Greenwich Website. GR EEN W ICH FIR E DEPA RTMENT R EMINDS RESIDENTS ABOUT FLOOD SEASON Spring flood season is here. Join FEMA region 5 for
Please turn to page 7
Illustrated by Wajih Chaudhry
Marriage Coaching
By Jill S. Woolworth, LMFT
Ma r r iage cou nseling often has a negative connotation: something is broken and needs f ixing. L e t ’s c a l l i t m a r r i a g e coaching instead. Coaching i s s o m e t h i n g e ve r yo n e welcomes, often for skills we are already good at, such as playing a sport or leading a team at work. Just as we wouldn’t g ive a car to a 16-year-old without driving instructions, we shouldn’t set out in marriage confident that our intelligence and our love for each other will conquer all differences. We are not the exception. O u r we d d i n g d ay i s the f irst day of our most challenging relationship, one that we hope will last a lifetime. Most of us haven’t seen it well modeled. Weddings are an industry. We spend a lot of money getting married, but there
Baseless claims that local zoning decisions are being made in order to keep Connecticut towns racially segregated continue to drive the latest spate of heavy-handed zoning bills pending in the General Assembly. This offensive insinuation is a blunt tool being used by activists to demand that virtually all towns dramatically increase the density of their housing. Real estate developers are seizing this moment, when towns are under attack by housing activists, to try to build, build, build. In places like Greenwich, this means, demolish, demolish, demolish. With each over-sized, multi-unit luxury apartment complex proposed by developers using state statute 8-30g, more century-old homes and buildings (many of which provide housing for lower- and middleincome residents) are at risk of being demolished. 8-30g allows builders to, in effect, ignore local zoning regulations governing height, lot coverage, setbacks, and the impact on neighboring property values of their projects as long as 30% of the developers’ units are “affordable” as in government subsidized and deedrestricted. 8-30g also puts the burden on zoning commissions to justify denials of applications, making it that much easier for builders to build what they wish. W h at ’s m o r e , l a s t ye a r t h e legislature passed a bill that struck down use of the word “character” in consideration of local zoning decisions. State Senate President Pro Tempore Martin Looney said at the time that, “character” is “shorthand for white and wealthy.” In the face of such a charged attack, it is hard to know what to do. For those Greenwich residents who want to do something but aren’t sure it’s worth the fight to risk being labeled ugly epithets, perhaps, the clarity of a simple question can show the way: does beauty matter? The Fourth Ward Historic District is one of Greenwich’s most cherished neighborhoods. It was once the center of an African American enclave where
is little support for staying married, and many worthy but time-consuming factors, such as work and children, to pull us apart. If we’re smart, we’ll get coaching. After all, divorce is an industry, too. Li z a n d Jo rd a n , b oth wi t h a d v a n c e d d e g r e e s , were certain that they didn’t need marriage coaching. For the f irst ten years of their relationship, they focused on their careers and on their children , not on each other. Their “marriage tank” slowly emptied. When they f inally met with a marriage counselor, they wi shed the y h ad sta r ted coaching years before. Excerpted from Greenwich resident, Jill Woolworth's, b o o k , T h e Wa t e r w h e e l , By Anne W. Semmes available at Diane’s Books, Years ago, this reporter compiled Dogwood Bookstore, Amazon, and barnesandnoble.com. Jill an anthology of quotations of care is a therapist at the Greenwich and concern for the earth stretching across 2000 years of environmental Center for Hope & Renewal. awareness. Henceforth we will share
one of only two African American churches in town is still located, as well as home to the town’s early Irish population, where it’s first Roman Catholic Church and cemetery were established. Nine buildings in the Fourth Ward Historic District that contributed to the neighborhood being listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2000 – homes on Church Street, Sherwood Place and Putnam Court – are now at risk of being torn down and gobbled up by a monstrous seven-story, 192 apartment complex with underground parking for 288 spaces and amenities such as a pool, lounge, fitness center, and rooftop recreational area. The Fourth Ward’s application to the National Register describes 39 Church Street as “19th Century vernacular, built in 1889.” 43 Church Street is the “Samuel A. Moshier House, Italianate, built in 1884.” And, 47 Church Street is “Second Empire, built in 1884.” Under 8-30g, their historic significance does not matter. Still, the unique roof lines, interesting architectural details here and there, painted shutters on the windows, front porches for hanging out and space for sky in between and above the houses does matter to the neighbors. A local resident I bumped into while taking a walk on Church Street said to me, “These houses tell you how our great-grandparents and grandparents lived.” Tears came to her eyes, as she said, imploringly, “Greenwich is a town, not a city.” Nearby off of Greenwich Avenue behind St. Mary’s Church is a mewslike neighborhood of small dwellings originally carriage houses and garages built in the early 1900s. Twelve of these are slated to be demolished to make room for a six-story 110-unit apartment complex, plans for which were submitted to the planning commission as an 8-30g project. To be sure, discovering these tiny houses along Benedict Court and Benedict Place are a delight for anyone strolling in the neighborhood. Their
human-sized proportions and modest scale feel restful to the soul. Not surprisingly many old houses near Greenwich Avenue are finding new uses and being re-purposed as places to set up businesses that include a law firm, a realtor, a bank, a bakery, and more. The scale and form of these old structures are inviting to people and many of us want to be in the spaces they offer. Will the same be said a century from now when these mega-monolithic apartment complexes are old? Will a future generation find calm and peace in these block-wide, block-high edifices? I wou ld li ke to sug gest that perhaps our town is at a tipping point where it could lose its identity. Every demolition of a century-old building and the prompt raising up a mega luxury-cum-affordable complex is a kind of unmooring of ourselves from our history. If we ignore this, we will find ourselves in a spiritual desert. Again, the question is: does beauty matter? There are three fronts upon which we can take action: (1) legislatively, as politicians in Hartford work to change the laws; (2) grassroots-wise, as the public becomes informed and engaged on the issue; and (3) legally, as attorneys invoke state laws to protect historic structures and to seek injunctive relief. S.B. 169, An Act Concerning A Study Of The Effects Of Affordable Housing Policies In The State, is a one-paged bill to mandate the Commissioner of Housing to “conduct a study of the affordable housing policies, as set for in section 8-30g of the general statutes, and the effects of such policies in the state.” The fact that this bill was even raised is an acknowledgment from politicians in Hartford that they know 8-30g is a problem. But we must stay vigilant as to what remedies to 8-30g the majority party will come up with. R i g h t n o w, t h e G r e e n w i c h Representative Town Meeting is considering a Sense of the Meeting Resolution, a non-binding declaration
that 8-30g is a flawed law and that it must be f ixed. The SOMR was brought up by citizens who drafted it and gathered signatures to support it. How the RTM votes will send a clear signal to those in power what is the will of the people of Greenwich. A nd a new g roup ca lled the Greenwich Preservation Network is sponsoring an online petition to oppose the demolition of the houses in the Fourth Ward Historic District. You can find a link to the petition at the Greenwich Historical Society’s website, www.greenwichhistory.org. On the legal front, however, little to no action is taking place. And yet, this is as vital a tool as any that should be used. We need the town executive or a group of regular citizens to explore the use of state statutes 22a-19a “Historic Structures and landmarks” and 22a-16 “Action for declaratory and equitable relief against unreasonable pollution,” which may legislate historic structures and landmarks being protected by the public trust. And not to be overlooked is the opinion in Connecticut Historical Commission vs Wallingford (2011) in which the court wrote “the statue extends the protections afforded by the Connecticut Environmental P r o t e c t i o n A c t (C E PA), w h i c h encompasses the aforementioned sections, to historic structures, landmarks, and contributing structures. Under CEPA, there is a public trust in state resources and it is within the public interest to prevent such resources from unreasonable destruction.” Love of our town and wanting to protect it from obliteration for prof it by developers having the advantage of a special interest law like 8-30g is hearkening to the spiritual connection human beings have to our understanding of home. Winding roads, stone walls, steepled churches and grave yards, century-old homes that represent New England. Beauty matters. Stop 8-30g. Kimberly Fiorello is a State Representative.
Green Thoughts a quotation weekly, with a bit of background from time to time. This week: “There was a strange stillness. The birds, for example – wh e re h a d th e y gon e? Ma ny people spoke of them, puzzled and disturbed. The feeding stations
in the backyards were deserted. The few birds seen anywhere were moribund; they trembled violently and could not fly. It was a spring without voices.” Rachel Carson, “Silent Spring” 1962. Carson’s book led to a nationwide
ban on DDT for agricultural use and helped inspire an environmental movement that led to the creation of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. On March 6, this reporter happily heard her first dawn chorus of early spring sung by a robin.
INSIDE A Look Into The Search Process For The New Conductor Of The Greenwich Symphony - Page 3
The Most Consumed Beer In Ireland Is Not Guinness - Page 7
The Human Tree By Rabbi Menachem Feldman - Page 10
How To Prevent, Evaluate And Treat Concussions In Youth Athletes - Page 12
Editorial Page - Page 8
Sports - Pages 12 & 13
Why There Are So Few Female Wildlife Photographers - Page 5
Sister Hospitals In Greenwich: Why So Different? By Bill Drake - Page 9
It’s Time For Americans To Sacrifice On Behalf Of Ukrainians By Patricia Chadwick - Page 11
Bistro V Takeover In Honor Of Red Cross Month - Page 6
News Briefs Page 9
Why Our High School Seniors Are Stressed Out - Page 6
Worship Calendar- Page 10
Local Public Market Watch - Page 9
How Can People of Faith Respond To Putin’s Invasion By Marek Zabriskie - Page 11 Where To Find Some Good News By Terry Elsberry - Page 11
The Real Scoop By Carline Martin - Page 14 Real Estate Dashboard - Page 15 Puppetry As An Art Form – The Legacy of Jim Henson - Pages 15