P&Z Reviews Mapping For Town Plan Update

By Andrew Gorosko

In their ongoing update of the 2004 Town Plan of Conservation and Development, Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) members on February 10 discussed how the town’s geographic information system (GIS) can be used to best illustrate the ideas expressed in the planning document.

Scott Sharlow, the town’s technology and GIS director, met with P&Z members at the workshop session to discuss use of GIS content in the updated town plan.

The P&Z intends to have the town plan revision completed by the end of this year.

The Newtown GIS is available to the public on the Internet at http://newtown.mapxpress.net. The 2004 Town Plan of Conservation and Development is available at www.newtown-ct.gov/Public_Documents/NewtownCT_POCD/toc.

P&Z Chairman Lilla Dean asked that the GIS be used to produce suitable mapping for the updated town plan, which depicts local open space areas, preferably showing deed-restricted open space. Such deed-restricted open space would show areas that will remain as open space in the future, she said. 

Mr Sharlow responded that open space mapping can be produced with the GIS with various subcategories of open space listed, depending upon the criteria specified. Such subcategories could include open space owned by the town, owned by the state, and owned privately by individuals or organizations.

Mr Sharlow noted that the town does not have a land use zone specifically for open space areas.

If needed, the GIS could be used to produce maps of open space areas that are adjacent to Newtown’s boundaries, he said.

Mr Sharlow said that existing GIS mapping can be revised, as needed, to cover the P&Z’s requirements for maps in the updated town plan. The 2004 town plan contains about 20 maps.

Ms Dean suggested that rather than depicting large amount of information on single maps, multiple maps could be produced to depict that information more legibly. She asked that mapping for the updated town plan be provided by April 15.

Mr Sharlow said that the town plan should contain a current zoning map.

George Benson, town director of planning and land use, said this week that the updated town plan will include new mapping covering the subjects of “future land use” and “natural resource areas.”

GIS is an electronic mapping system designed to provide a variety of planning information to its users through its cross-indexed, digitized format. GIS mapping collects and unifies both broad geographical information, such as the course of rivers and layout of road networks, as well as fine details, such as the location of individual utility poles and stormwater catch basins.

GIS mapping stores information on individual land parcels, roads, railroads, brooks, ponds, wetlands, open space, trails, public utilities, industrial development, and land use zones. It includes information on property boundaries, zoning boundary lines, topographic contours, tax assessments, property ownership, building sizes, and land record references, plus other data.

The town plan is a decennial advisory document that provides the P&Z with general guidance in its decisionmaking. P&Z approvals or rejections of land use applications typically state whether a given application respectively adheres to or diverges from the tenets of the town plan when P&Z members state their reasons for a decision.

The current town plan addresses a broad range of issues facing the town, including: community character, conservation, natural resources, open space, housing, economic development, community facilities, and transportation. The document lists a multitude of planning goals for the town.