Date: Fri 28-Jul-1995

Publication: Bee

Author: ANDYG

Quick Words:

Sandy-Hook-Design-District-P&Z

Full Text:

Hearing Set On Rules For New Sandy Hook District

Residents will have an opportunity to comment on the Planning and Zoning

Commission's (P&Z) proposed zoning changes for Sandy Hook Center intended to

foster the center's economic revitalization and its future viability as a

neighborhood business district.

A P&Z public hearing on the proposed zoning rule changes is slated for 8 pm on

Thursday, August 3, at the Town Hall South conference room.

The P&Z's proposed zoning regulation changes for Sandy Hook Center stem from

its August 1993 town plan of development. The plan of development lists the

area as one of several where care should be taken to protect historic value

while promoting planned and orderly growth.

The proposed regulations concern land use topics including lot area, building

height, and yard requirements. The proposed rules would put more

decision-making power on such topics with the P&Z instead of with the town's

Zoning Board of Appeals.

The zoning changes would permit mixed land uses on a single lot, allowing

combinations of uses such as commercial and residential.

New land uses for Sandy Hook Center specified in the proposed zoning rule

changes include bed and breakfast establishments and inns. Such businesses

would be allowed only in that area.

P&Z members believe that the presence of full-service restaurants in Sandy

Hook Center would be an important element in the area's revitalization. The

proposed rules would allow such facilities in the new zone being proposed for

the center known as the Sandy Hook Design District (SHDD). The SHDD would

replace three existing land use zones in Sandy Hook Center.

The zoning proposal would allow full-service restaurants which include outdoor

service but exclude drive-through facilities and outdoor entertainment.

Current zoning regulations prevent buildings housing alcoholic beverage

outlets from being opened less than 300 feet from the property line of a

school or church in Sandy Hook Center.

The proposed new zoning rules would exempt full service restaurants from the

rule on 300-foot minimum separation distances, thus allowing the sale of

alcohol for in-house consumption in such restaurants.

SHDD

To make the zoning in Sandy Hook Center more coherent, the P&Z proposes

creating the SHDD. An SHDD zone would replace existing Business/Residential-1

(BR-1); Business-1 (B-1); and Business-2 (B-2) zones. Zoning decisions by the

P&Z affecting Sandy Hook Center would be streamlined because there would be

one set of zone rules for an area which is now regulated as three separate

zones.

The SHDD zone would be centered on the intersection of Church Hill Road,

Washington Avenue, Riverside Road and Glen Road. It would extend outward from

that intersection on those streets for varying distances.

The intent of the proposed zoning rules is maximizing the usability of

existing buildings as well as legitimizing existing land uses which violate

the current zoning regulations. Through the proposed rules, P&Z members are

seeking to create a Sandy Hook center which has public walkways, bike paths,

shared off-street parking lots and landscaped public spaces.

The proposed rules are intended to encourage diverse, compatible land uses

which reinforce the area's heritage as a historic mixed-use hamlet. The P&Z

proposals are keyed to emphasizing the area's pedestrian scale, natural

resources and historic aspects.Details on the proposed zoning rule changes are

available at the P&Z offices in Town Hall South.