Date: Fri 06-Feb-1998

Publication: Bee

Author: STEVEB

Quick Words:

council-ordinance

Full Text:

Ordinance Panel Votes For A Moratorium

BY STEVE BIGHAM

The Legislative Council's ordinance committee voted Wednesday to put a

short-term moratorium on all ordinances until it can come up with a better

process for writing these local laws.

As ordinance committee chairman, Will Rodgers, points out, "We only did two

ordinances in the past year, and they're both screwed up.

One of the laws now allows residents to apply for scenic road status, which

essentially protects their road from any major alterations. Sounds good, but

several town officials are up in arms over its many flaws.

There are also problems with some pending ordinances, which are being drafted

without consulting with the town's paid experts. For example, the ordinance

committee forgot to bring in the fire marshal when it drafted an ordinance

regulating underground oil tanks. Then, there is the proposed litter

ordinance, which, if passed, would be enforced by the Newtown police.

"The police don't even know about it," Mr Rodgers said. "We have to come up

with some internal rules on how to go about drafting ordinances. We need to

get our house in order."

Mr Rodgers only recently took over the committee, and the other members -- Ed

Lucas, Tim Holian and Peggy Baiad -- are all new.

Wednesday night, several town officials showed up at the ordinance committee

meeting to urge that the scenic road ordinance be given a major overhaul.

Portions of the law create confusion and may pose problems for the town down

the road, they said.

As Planning & Zoning Commission Chairman Stephen Koch pointed out, the law

cuts his board completely out of the process, and he questions the motive of

having scenic roads.

"I'm just here to say, `Hey guys, we've got to take a look at this thing,'" Mr

Koch said. "It seems to me, the real interest in this was to affect

development."

Currently, Sanford Road is the town's only scenic road after receiving council

approval late last year. He expects the road's scenic road status to come in

to play as the P&Z begins discussion on a pending application for the Tamarack

Wood subdivision.

"This will be the first time we'll be dealing with a scenic road," Mr Koch

said. The P&Z was scheduled to hold a public hearing on the proposed

development Thursday night.

Mr Rodgers said he attempted to make suggestions on ways to improve the

ordinance. However, "there was a lot of pride in its authorship."

First Selectman Herb Rosenthal is concerned that, if a road is deemed scenic,

developers will be left off the hook from having to make any road

improvements. Then, five years later, if residents start complaining of the

poor condition of the road, it will be the town's responsibility to make

repairs.

"Somewhere down the road, someone will have to pay for road improvements if

the road is scenic. The developer will be long gone by then," Mr Rosenthal

noted.

Currently, there are two scenic road applications before the town -- New

Lebbon Road and Washbrook Road. One wants its road paved, the other does not.

Council member Melissa Pilchard warned the committee not to wait too long

before taking any further action on ordinances. She said underground oil tanks

are leaking throughout Newtown, and the government needs to take action soon.