‘Preservation’ Is Watchword At Planning Workshop

By Andrew Gorosko

Residents participating in a recent planning workshop on revising the Town Plan of Conservation and Development have listed “preservation” as a watchword for the coming decade.

Community Development Director Elizabeth Stocker said this week the workshop proved to be a worthwhile event in refining the content of the town plan.

“We did not have any preconceived idea of what the results would be,” Ms Stocker said.

 The planning concepts raised by the public at the session would be incorporated into the town plan, after review by the Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z), Ms Stocker said. The revised town plan is slated for publication next fall.

At the P&Z planning workshop, which was held March 8 at Newtown Middle School, the participants’ four broadest planning goals all focus on “preservation.”

Participants recommended as broad goals the preservation of town’s scenic character, its rural appearance, local open space areas, and the town’s historic appearance. Those recommendations came from a discussion group, whose members focused on fashioning a “vision statement” for the town plan. The vision statement forms the core of the town plan, from which more specific planning goals emanate.

P&Z members are reviewing scores of comments that were made at the workshop, in refining the issues, goals, and strategies of the town plan. Such workshops are nonconfrontational events intended to allow residents to build a consensus of opinion on worthwhile public planning policy.

Harrall-Michalowski Associates, Inc, (HMA) of Hamden, the town’s planning consultant, has analyzed the workshop comments on future growth and land conservation.

David Hannon, HMA’s director of planning and transportation, has made some recommendations to P&Z members on how the many public comments could be integrated into the evolving town plan revision. The P&Z is expected to again discuss the matter on April 17.

State law requires municipalities throughout Connecticut to update their town and city plans once every ten years to help local governments plan for the future. A town plan is a conceptual framework for land use agencies in making decisions on development applications. The P&Z often cites whether a particular development application conforms with or diverges from the principles of the town plan in approving or denying the application.

A town plan includes policies, goals, and standards to be used in regulating the physical and economic development of the town. A town plan is intended to promote coordinated development, toward the general welfare and prosperity of residents.

Mr Hannon provided P&Z members with a 22-page document containing suggestions on how the issues raised by workshop participants could be integrated into the revised town plan. Mr Hannon urged P&Z members to modify those suggestions, as needed, to aid HMA in formulating a final draft of the plan.

“You got some really terrific contributions from the community,” he said of participants’ comments at the workshop. About 40 people attended the session.

At the workshop, participants split up into seven groups, which tackled various aspects of the town plan update. Topics discussed included: a vision for the future, preservation, open space, housing, economic development, community facilities, and transportation. Individual P&Z members led the discussion groups.

Workshop participants have a keen interest in public planning policy and are in a good position to advance the planning process during the coming decade, Mr Hannon has said.

The town plan revision comes during a period of rapid growth. The town’s population grew by more than 20 percent between 1990 and 2000, reaching 25,031 people in April 2000. The town has experienced rapid growth for the past 40 years, with a lull in that expansion coming during the 1980s, when an economic downturn reduced the rate of new home construction.

HMA has prepared memoranda on the various planning topics to be included in the town plan, which are available for review on the Internet at www.newtownct.org/.