2012 Target—

Town Plan Update To Be Expedited

  By Andrew Gorosko

In view of interest among public officials in having the town be well-prepared for the future, the Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) plans to expedite its revision of the 2004 Town Plan of Conservation and Development, moving the target for the completion of the decennial planning document from 2014 to 2012.

The current comprehensive plan, which the P&Z approved in March 2004, 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 voluminous document lists a broad range of planning goals for the town.

The state requires cities and towns to update their plans at least once every ten years. A town plan is an advisory document that provides local officials with guidance for public decisionmaking. The P&Z often cites whether a given development proposal adheres to or conflicts with the tenets of the town plan when, respectively, approving or rejecting construction applications.   

In formulating the 2004 town plan, which updated a 1993 town plan, the P&Z used the services of Harrall-Michalowski Associates, a consulting firm.

P&Z Chairman Lilla Dean said this week that P&Z members would be formulating their own revision to the 2004 town plan and not hiring a consulting firm for the project.

The general format of the 2004 town plan would be the framework used by P&Z members in creating the 2012 plan, Ms Dean said.

The schedule to be used by the P&Z in revising the town plan will be different than that used when the 2004 plan was formulated.

In the upcoming plan revision, the P&Z would likely hold hourlong sessions immediately preceding its regular meetings to address individual planning topics covered in the plan, she said. When the 2004 plan was formulated, the agency held many lengthy special meetings on nights other than its regular meeting nights.

In forming the 2012 plan, the P&Z would host various local government agencies at P&Z sessions to discuss the sections of the plan which affect those agencies, Ms Dean said.

The P&Z’s membership would collectively write the planning document, she said. Individual members would be assigned to work on the various sections of the plan, based on their areas of interest.

The P&Z chairman said she expects the P&Z would start its work on the town plan revision this summer. Ms Dean said she wants the voluminous plan made simpler to use. The document would have useful indexing and would be cross-referenced, she said.

“We’re just going to bring [the plan] up to date,” Ms Dean said.

By the end of 2010, the P&Z would have access to the data collected by the 2010 US Census, she noted. Such data is a key component of a town plan.

“I don’t think there’s going to be huge changes,” Ms Dean said of the general content which the 2004 town plan holds.

Ms Dean noted that the P&Z spent much time formulating the 2004 town plan. “I hope to streamline the process,” she said.

The 2004 Town Plan of Conservation and Development is available for review at the town’s website on the Internet. The address is www.newtown-ct.gov/Public_Documents/NewtownCT_POCD/toc.