Week in Review: Affordable Housing Document Deluge

As first reported by Patch, the big story of the week was that Darien's inclusionary zoning regulations have been under investigation by the Civil Rights Division of U.S. Department of Justice since the spring—something several selectmen said they weren't aware of until contacted for comment. First Selectman Dave Campbell told Patch that he and town counsel Wayne Fox "didn't think a lot about it" when the town was notified in May, given the preliminary nature of the inquiry and the fact that the regulations under scrutiny, adopted in 2009, had never been implemented.

That report followed on two other significant disclosures in the realm of affordable housing. Developers Chris and Margaret Stefanoni, who have been locked in a battle with the town over its application for an 8-30g moratorium, filed two new senior affordable housing proposals with the town over the past month. Land use attorney Timothy Hollister, meanwhile, filed comments with state officials challenging portions of Darien's moratorium application, a stark departure from an influential opinion written on the town's behalf in February.

In school news, the Board of Education voted to double the Darien High School's senior internship program after the apparent success of its inaugural run. Less rosy were standardized test scores from the sophomore class, which featured prominently in Tuesday's meeting following an across-the-board decline from 2009 results.

A Darien man arrested for stealing the tip jar from Michael Joseph's Catering reportedly made the police's work easier by leaving his contact information at the deli to apply for a job. Elsewhere in town, firefighters responded to a brush fire, while just two properties showed up on this week's transfer report.

It was a big week for Darien sports, however, as many of the Blue Wave's teams kicked off their regular season. Among the notable results: field hockey routed Stamford, 9-0, football trounced Fairfield Warde, 31-0, and girls soccer battled a tough Westhill team to a 0-0 tie. Patch also took a look at prospects for this year's boys soccer team and girls cross country squad, along with an upcoming reunion of Darien's legendary 1970 Babe Ruth baseball team.

And if you haven't had a chance to read it, Patch's Jim Cameron took a look this week at CarMD, a diagnostic tool for your vehicle now on loan at the Darien Library.