What more can be said about Fordor Farm. I’m not sure. While Matt “Mad Max” Breslow’s article implies there’s then dar wrangling to be had, that’s not quite the case. Fordor Farm will be preserved as mostly open space with the buildings put up for sale as being deed restricted. The only issue is whether to create a historic district, to manage the space, or not. From the NOrwalk Advocate article:
The council has charged the land-use committee with evaluating how to protect the historical integrity of three 100- to 200-year-old homes at Fodor Farm the city plans to sell. One option is creating a historic district; an alternative involves deed restrictions.
The city plans to create four lots - one for each building that will be sold and another for open space - from the 9-acre Flax Hill Road property, which it bought in 1998 to save from development.
The study committee voted to hold a public hearing June 20 on creating a historic district at Fodor Farm. Under the proposal, an architectural review board - possibly a subcommittee of the city’s Historical Commission -Êwould oversee the exterior aesthetics of the buildings at Fodor Farm.
The study committee held a similar public hearing in the fall but then failed to file its report with the town clerk within 65 days, as required by state statute.
In an interview last night, Bryant said an official of the Historic Preservation Council, which is part of the Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism, told him the missed deadline derailed the historic district process.
However, Bryant said the official told him the study committee could restart the process by resubmitting the same draft report it previously gave the Historic Preservation Council.
The committee complied, and the Historic Preservation Council again approved the report, Bryant said. The report also was resubmitted to the city’s planning and zoning officials, who gave the same feedback as they did the first time around, he said.
Bryant and other study committee members attended the land-use committee meeting, where Nolin said he did not accept the opinion Bryant received from the Historic Preservation Council official. Nolin said he would heed an opinion overrruling his if it came from the state attorney general’s office or a Superior Court judge.
Otherwise, he said, the Common Council must create a new study committee, which would be appointed by the mayor, to restart the historic district process.
Selling the Fodor Farm properties with deed restrictions would be quicker, Nolin said, although he stressed he was not advocating one historic preservation option over the other.
The public hearing will be held on June 20th.
source: Norwalk Advocate, Committee and city counsel wrangle over Fodor’s fate, By Matt Breslow, June 1, 2007
