Date: Fri 12-Jun-1998

Publication: Bee

Author: ANDYG

Quick Words:

land-use-pre-application

Full Text:

Town Institutes Pre-Application Conferences For Land Use Proposal

BY ANDREW GOROSKO

The town has begun unifying the process through which applicants for

development project seek town approvals for their construction plans.

To provide guidance to development applicants and potential applicants, on

June 8, the town started scheduling pre-application conferences at which

preliminary plans for development applications are discussed, said Rita

Macmillan, the town land use department's director.

"The conference will be informally structured to maximize discussion and

participation. It is expected that this process will facilitate the formal

application process and be of benefit to both you and the Town of Newtown,"

Mrs Macmillan wrote in a letter to surveyors, engineers and design

professionals doing business in Newtown, as well as all prospective applicants

to the Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) and Conservation Commission.

Mrs Macmillan explains that the pre-application review isn't required by the

town, nor is it a substitute for required reports and department approvals

which normally are submitted as part of any formal application.

A formal application will still be required before any action is taken by the

P&Z.

The pre-application conferences do not constitute the acceptance of a

development application or "start the clock running" on the mandatory time

periods for review of an application or action on it, according to Mrs

Macmillan.

"The purpose of the pre-application conference is to encourage an exchange of

ideas, guidance and comments on proposed projects, in early planning stages,

between the town's technical review staff and an applicant, before an

application advances beyond the pre-application stages," she said.

According to Mrs Macmillan, the following town departments may be present as a

group for the review of pre-application and design developments: land use,

town engineer, health district, fire marshal, zoning board of appeals, borough

zoning, building department, community development, public works, and the

police department for traffic flow.

In the past, town land use agencies have conducted such pre-application

conferences with applicants to learn the general nature of development

applications which would be submitted for town review. The town has used such

conferences in the past to correct any major deficiencies in development

projects before those projects are submitted to land use agencies for official

review and action.