The Planning & Zoning (P&Z) Commission would like to broaden zoning regulations, allowing drive-through window service at shopping centers. What a surprise.

Reworking zoning regulations has become a habit in this town, with special zoning and overlay zones regularly applied to allow development that does not fit existing zoning regulations. So why not expand on the approval of a drive-through Starbucks at the new exit 10 retail outlet to cover shopping centers?

Courting new businesses that appeal to the population to fill empty spaces in three struggling shopping centers in town is a challenge; is it easier to assume that allowing drive-through food service establishments will prop up a concept that is stumbling in cities all across the country? E-commerce, the death of many malls, is not going away; rethinking what kinds of brick and mortar stores will tempt local shoppers to step back from the apps and into a storefront will take creativity. Drive-through windows that herald the arrival of fast food enterprises do not fall into “outside the (big) box” thinking.

“Times are changing,” according to one P&Z member, August 2, at the first of what we hope will be well-attended public hearings. But changing times do not mean changes that detract from Newtown’s character, that encourage transient shoppers — and that may negatively impact independent food businesses in town that rely on repeat business and add to the unique face of Newtown.

Heidi Winslow, a former P&Z member, raised similar concerns at the August 2 meeting, noting as well that driving from Bethel into Newtown on Mount Pleasant Road “is a breath of fresh air.”

What draws new residents to Newtown is the rural atmosphere, the small-town feel, the sense of community: local businesses supported by local people. Potential newcomers are excited to find a town that lacks drive-through establishments with impersonal interaction via speakerphone and the litter that can accompany drive-throughs. It is the sense of history that is felt driving down Main Street, the energy emitted by a renewed Sandy Hook Center, the meandering roads that take people past farms and pastures and flower-filled meadows that creates a sense of pride for old and new residents.

It is not access to drive-through establishments such as abound in adjacent communities, moments away for anyone desiring that “convenience.”

Realtors have in past years touted Newtown’s having a singular drive-through, the grandfathered-in Botsford Drive-In, as a selling point. It is a selling point lost when zoning does not support an aspect of the community that distinguishes it from so many others.

Drive-throughs are not the answer to ailing shopping malls. They cannot be the best answer that town officials, charged with protecting the character of Newtown, can come up with to strengthen the economy.

The next hearing on allowing drive-through windows at shopping centers is at the September 6 P&Z session, scheduled for 7:30 pm at the Municipal Center at Fairfield Hills.

Your opinion matters — aye or nay. Driving Newtown’s future is the responsibility of all.