Business

Ceramic Planter Vandalized Overnight in Front of Downtown Business

Perpetual Insights of Darien adds Human Resources Consulting Division

Shake Shack is Back Before Zoning Board of Appeals with a New Application

Latest Darien Health Inspection Ratings: 3 ‘Good’, 5 ‘Fair’, None ‘Poor’

‘Going for Green’ Town Environmental Awards for Student Graphic Designers, Businesses

Latest Restaurant Health Inspection Ratings: 8 ‘Good,’ 2 ‘Fair,’ 1 ‘Poor’

Unusual Theft at Business Office: Data Service from Hotspot Device

Developer’s Hopes for Corbin/Post Road Redevelopment Described to Packed Room

For Shake Shack in Darien: Wheels Are Turning, Proposal May Be Revived

Changes in the Noroton Heights Redevelopment Projects Revealed

Latest Darien Restaurant Health Inspection Ratings: 7 ‘Good,’ 1 ‘Fair,’ 1 ‘Poor’

Find Out About the Corbin/Post Rd Downtown Redevelopment Proposal Wednesday at the Library

Eversource Sending Helicopters Over High-Voltage Electric Lines in Darien, Elsewhere

Darien’s Seana Turner Elected President of CT Chapter of National Association of Professional Organizers

Latest Darien Restaurant Health Inspection Ratings: 2 ‘Good’, 1 ‘Poor’

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By David Gurliacci | April 21, 2016

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By David Gurliacci | March 27, 2016

Businesses serving Darienites

Someone vandalized a ceramic planter with a potted plant in it in front of a Tokeneke Road business downtown in the early hours of Saturday, police said. A police officer on patrol recalled seeing nothing out of place at 1:30 a.m. with the planter, located on the sidewalk in front of the business. But by 6:30 a.m., the planter was broken, the same officer saw. It appeared that the pot was maliciously broken. Editor’s note: Bars in Connecticut close by 2 a.m.

Perpetual Insights, a Darien-based recruitment firm that places professionals at consumer brand companies, has launched a retained executive search and human resources consulting arm, Pi Executive, which will be run by Pierre Trippitelli, who joins the company from Korn Ferry.

Shake Shack is back before the Darien Zoning Board of Appeals with a new request to get approval for signs larger than the town zoning regulations currently allow. The reapplication has new arguments to justify signage slightly smaller than what the ZBA rejected in the original application for a zoning variance. The new application has a statement from a signage expert who writes that at least some of the signs need to be large enough for passing drivers to read from a safe distance before the driver decides to turn into the parking lot of the restaurant. What They’re Requesting

Other changes in the application are a reduction in the height of the front sign (Sign #1) by 2 inches (from 24 inches high to 22), moving the burger logo from spots near the top of the building walls down to where the signs are and removing a band of words from the building. Here’s what Shake Shack is asking the town to allow as variances from zoning regulations:

A sign on the southwest side of the building would remain at 15 inches high and
Putting the sign on the edge of the canopy on an angle from the side wall (from 8 feet, 8 inches to 10 feet, 6 inches away from the wall) instead of within 12 inches of the wall.

In eight recent Health Department inspections of Darien restaurants and other food-serving establishments, three were rated “Good”; five, “Fair”; none, “Poor.” The eight inspections covered in this article took place from April 8 to 13, except for one on March 28 (that report seems to have been lost in the shuffle). The list of recent restaurant inspections is at the bottom of this article, with links to the inspection reports themselves, when available. (If online reports aren’t available now, they usually are within a week.)

How Darien’s restaurants are rated

Restaurants in town are rated under the Darien Health Department’s own Good/Fair/Poor ratings system. Health inspectors also use the state health code regulations to score restaurants, with a perfect score set at 100, and demerits (of 1 to 4 points each) for various code violations.

The Darien Chamber of Commerce is pleased to announce the award winners of the 9th Annual “Going for Green” effort to promote green choices of a variety of different ways in everyday living and doing business by taking the following pledge:

“I pledge to the community to make ‘Going for Green’ part of my way of doing business and making lifestyle choices in Darien. As I make decisions for my business, or my life, I will consider green options to help make Darien and the Earth, a safe and hospitable home for present and future generations.”

This year the “Going For Green” initiative is sponsored by First County Bank. Poster Contest

The first part of the initiative is the annual poster contest with the DHS Graphics Design Class, (taught by Dorine Bosler). The students are given an assignment to create a poster to be used in the Darien Community promoting green choices. This year, First Place went to Valerie Lee and Second Place went to Cheyenne de la Rivera.

Out of 12 inspections of food-serving establishments in Darien, eight received a “Good” under Darien’s rating system, two more were deemed “Fair” and one was “Poor.” The health inspections took place from April 1 to 7. (For details, see the bottom of this article.)

How Darien’s restaurants are rated

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Pens, pads and paperclips have long been stolen from offices — even PCs, printers and Post-it notes — but a company with offices in Thorndal Circle reported the perpetration of a more unusual crime on March 30:

The theft of data service from a Verizon mobile wireless Jetpack hotspot — a device that allows wireless Internet connections. And it wasn’t just a little theft, either — it cost the company $1,200 for charges made in the month of March. That works out to almost $40 a day. When someone at the business contacted Verizon to ask about the charge that showed up on the vendor’s bill, Verizon said the hotspot had been hacked into and should not even have been in service. The device was available for activation in the event of an emergency.

Although he didn’t announce any changes in the plans to transform the Corbin Drive/Post Road/I-95 block of commercial buildings, the chief developer of the project gave out more details to a packed Community Room at Darien Library on Wednesday night, and answered a lot of questions from the audience. Some information that’s new or hasn’t been emphasized before about the project:

Developers are trying to work with the U.S. Postal Service to keep the Post Office on the block and even hope to keep the delivery postal employees based there, although the post office may need more space than the area that’s been discussed. The Bank of America building has not been bought by the owners of the rest of the site. A late-night email to the CEO of L.L. Bean started the ball rolling in discussions with that retailer to bring that store to town. That L.L. Bean store may include a bicycle shop.

Developer David Genovese said at a public meeting Wednesday night that he and others are trying to work out a way for Shake Shack to reapply to town land-use officials for a permit to open at 1340 Post Road. “We’re back in conversations with Shake Shack, and we’re working on a compromise,” Genovese said at a meeting sponsored by Darien Library about a separate, much bigger proposal that Genovese’s Baywater Properties and Penny Glassmeyer’s PG Properties are proposing — the redevelopment of a large swath of downtown Darien along Corbin Drive and the Post Road. Shake Shack came up when Genovese opened the floor to questions. About 225 people packed the Community Room of the library to hear more about the redevelopment proposal. “We’re back in a dialogue, and we’re hoping to reapply in the next couple of days,” Genovese said.

The two developers aiming to transform the Noroton Heights business district with major redevelopment proposals formally presented their ideas for zoning changes in the area and gave another description of what their projects would look like, with some revisions. A pedestrian entrance from West Avenue closer to the middle of the block between Edgerton Street and Noroton Avenue has replaced the idea for an entrance on the corner of Edgerton and West Avenue. A pedestrian entrance from Noroton Avenue would have a small pavilion. At the corner of Heights Road and Hollow Tree Ridge Road would be a small outdoor dining area. The main outdoor plaza on the Palmer’s property (roughly south of where Jimmy’s Southside Tavern is today) would be roughly 100 feet by 70 feet, said Architect Joseph Schiffer of Newman Architects New Haven office.

In recent health inspections by the Darien Health Department, seven restaurants were rated “Good” and for two others the ratings were “Fair” and “Poor.” The health inspections took place between March 24 and 31. (For details, see the bottom of this article.)

How Darien’s restaurants are rated

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Darien Library is hosting an informational meeting Wednesday night, April 6 about the downtown redevelopment proposal along the Post Road and Corbin Drive. David Genovese, principal of Baywater Properties, will present an overview of the proposal, which would transform a large section of downtown. The meeting starts at 7 p.m.

Here’s an announcement from Darien Library:

David Genovese, founder of Baywater Properties, will present to the public an overview of the downtown Darien redevelopment project proposed by Baywater Properties and its partner, PG Properties. A full presentation of the project will be given to attendees, with significant time available for questions and comments. The Baywater venture began work on acquiring the properties from Corbin Drive to the Bank of America Building, including the US Post Office at 30 Corbin Drive and 10 Corbin Drive, in 2005. In July of 2015, Baywater presented the initial concept for its redevelopment proposal to a joint meeting of the Planning and Zoning Commission and the Architectural Review Board. Baywater will soon be filing its next application to the Planning & Zoning Commission, with a goal of attaining all approvals by the end of 2016.

This week, Eversource is conducting aerial inspections of vegetation growing near its high-voltage electric lines in Connecticut.

The aerial inspections began today [Wednesday] and, weather permitting, will continue to April 8. They will take place from 7 a.m. until 4 p.m.

This semiannual inspection is an important part of the company’s ongoing commitment to providing reliable electric service. The work involves the use of a helicopter flying low over Eversource’s transmission line corridors to check for any encroachment from trees or other vegetation. “The helicopter inspections of our transmission lines are a crucial and effective part of our commitment to reducing the frequency and duration of power outages,” said Steve Driscoll, Vice President of Operation Services. “Well over a million customers in Connecticut depend on us for their electric service and that’s why we’re always working proactively to keep the system operating safely and reliably.”

Editor’s note: This article was slightly adapted from an Eversource announcement. Helicopters were doing the same work for Eversource over Darien back in January.

Seana Turner (Darien), owner of The Seana Method, has been elected president of the Connecticut Chapter of the National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO-CT). Turner has been a member of NAPO since 2010, and has been a speaker at the Darien Library, Parent Awareness and other local organizations. Turner works with clients throughout Fairfield County, and empowers readers through her blog and social media. “NAPO-CT is all about helping people bring order to the chaos of modern life,” says Turner. “Our professional members help clients in nearly 42 specialties, including residential organizing, home office and business organizing, moving/downsizing support, photo organizing, student organizing, and more.”

One Darien eatery was rated “Poor” and two were rated “Good” in the latest inspection reports released by the Darien Health Department. (See the bottom of this article for details.)

How Darien’s restaurants are rated

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