Hearing Slated On Borough Village District Zoning Proposal

By Andrew Gorosko

The Borough Zoning Commission has scheduled a public hearing on its proposed Village District zoning regulations for Thursday, May 29. The hearing is slated for 7 pm at Town Hall South, 3 Main Street.

The proposed regulations are intended to preserve the appearance of areas in the borough with business and professional zoning designations. The Village District zoning regulations and design guidelines would “protect the distinctive character, landscape, and historic values” of those areas.

Following the public hearing, the commission is scheduled to discuss public comments, and then possibly modify and act on its Village District zoning proposal.

Areas that would be covered by the proposed Village District overlay zone include properties with business and professional zoning designations along both sides of Church Hill Road, lying between the Housatonic Railroad overpass and Wendover Road; areas with business zoning along both sides of Queen Street, lying between its intersection with Church Hill Road and the traffic signal at the main entrance to Newtown Shopping Village; and the several individual properties with business zoning lying along the west side of Main Street, between Newtown General Store and the intersection of Main Street and Sugar Street.

In April, Borough Zoning Commission members unanimously endorsed the Village District zoning proposal, forwarding the matter to the Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) for its review and comment. Because the borough has no planning commission, the P&Z serves as the borough’s planning agency, commenting on such proposals.

On May 15, P&Z members reviewed the matter.

P&Z members supported the Village District zoning project, saying that the proposed rule revisions represent progress toward meeting the P&Z’s planning concepts for the borough, according to Elizabeth Stocker, the town’s community development director.

P&Z members said the Village District zoning concept amounts to a “very wise idea,” according to Ms Stocker. The P&Z offered several technical comments on the zoning initiative, she said.

Under the provisions of a 1998 state law, areas in such districts that are visible from public roads may be controlled through special zoning regulations, plus a series of design guidelines, pertaining to new construction, to substantial reconstruction, and to rehabilitation of properties.

Broadly, the zoning project would provide the Borough Zoning Commission some of the visual controls that are in place within designated historic districts.

The intent of the proposed Village District design guidelines is selectivity, and occasional restrictiveness, “to exclude designs that would erode the historic, cultural, and economic resource built up over generations,” according to the borough zoners.

The revised regulations seek to have new buildings and additions to existing buildings be visually compatible with the district in terms of size, scale, building materials, and site planning.

Through the proposed rules, the commission seeks to limit building sizes to preserve the architectural scale of the area. Under the proposal, new office buildings would be limited to 6,500 square feet of floor area.

Through its proposed Village District zoning regulations, the commission would require that new buildings and modifications to existing buildings be constructed with “appropriate” materials and that construction designs be “appropriate” for a scenic and rural town in New England, observing “appropriate” architectural scale, rhythm, and proportion, and also avoiding monolithic forms.

“The color, size, height, location, proportion of openings, roof treatments, building materials and landscaping of the property that is to be improved, and any proposed signs and lighting, shall be evaluated for compatibility with the local architectural motif and the maintenance of views, historic buildings, monuments, and landscaping,” according to the proposed regulations. “The removal or disruption of historic, traditional, or significant structures or architectural elements shall be minimized,” it adds.

Broadly, the regulations call for the architectural scale, proportions, massing, and detailing of proposed new construction to be in harmony with the architectural elements of existing structures in the Village District.