South Main Corridor Zoning Project

Seeks Controlled Growth

By Andrew Gorosko

Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) members are again considering their proposal to revise the zoning regulations to better shape commercial growth along the 4.2-mile-long South Main Street corridor.

The proposed zoning rule changes would affect properties alongside South Main Street (Route 25) between its intersection with Borough Lane and the Monroe town line.

On June 7, P&Z members reopened three public hearings on the subject that had been continued since March 15.

The P&Z proposes creating a South Main Street Village Design District (SMSVDD) zone for the area. Such a SMSVDD zone would be an “overlay” zone, whose requirements would modify the existing various Residential, Business, and Manufacturing zones lying beneath a SMSVDD zone. The zoning project’s intent would be to better shape future commercial development and redevelopment, with the overarching goal of preserving the town’s “New England character.”

Under the proposal, the town’s Design Advisory Board (DAB) would review most proposed commercial construction in the corridor and make aesthetic recommendations to the applicants.

The underlying aims of such zoning regulations would be: limiting traffic congestion, encouraging quality design in new commercial development, and preserving the thoroughfare’s remaining residential character, with the broad goal of preserving the local quality of life.

P&Z Chairman Lilla Dean said P&Z members need to continue reviewing the proposed SMSVDD zoning rules with a eye toward making them a workable set of zoning regulations. Such rules would provide the P&Z with more regulatory latitude in reviewing proposed growth along the South Main corridor, she said.

Land use attorney Robert Hall told P&Z members that he represents the owners of Sand Hill Plaza and the owners of the planned Plaza South shopping center, both of which are on South Main Street. Mr Hall added he owns land along northern Huntingtown Road that would be affected by the proposed zoning rule changes.

Mr Hall objected to the P&Z using the mechanism of the state’s “village district” zoning law to accomplish its desired land use controls for properties along South Main Street.

Employing that state law would provide the P&Z with far too much discretion in reviewing and acting upon proposed development and redevelopment projects, he said. The proposed zoning regulations should be “more specific” than what is currently proposed, he said. 

The lawyer said he does not object to the P&Z’s seeking to preserve the residential appearance of existing houses, which would be converted for commercial uses along South Main Street, but objects to the legal mechanism that the P&Z would use to regulate such conversion projects. He termed “village district” zoning an “inappropriate tool” for such purposes.

In order to employ “village district” zoning, the P&Z would need to have a “village,” and the South Main corridor does not constitute such a village, the lawyer said. The applicable state law does not provide municipal zoning commissions with the power to self-define what constitutes a “village,” he argued.

Ms Dean responded that she believes the P&Z is on firm legal ground in categorizing the South Main corridor as a “village” for the purposes of “village district” zoning.

Although using the “village district” law would provide the P&Z with more discretion in ruling on commercial development and redevelopment than is provided by conventional zoning regulations, it would not give the P&Z too much discretion, Ms Dean said.

Village district zoning rules would allow the P&Z to more tightly control architectural designs, building placements, the effects of traffic on projects, and the maintenance of views from public places.

Ms Dean said the P&Z would discuss the issues that were raised at the June 7 public hearings with Community Development Director Elizabeth Stocker and with P&Z attorney Robert Fuller.

The three public hearings on proposed SMSVDD zoning are scheduled to resume on June 21.

Since approving the 2004 Town Plan of Conservation and Development, P&Z members have been considering how best to manage commercial growth along South Main Street, a heavily traveled corridor that has seen continuing commercial development and redevelopment during the past several years.

The corridor contains zones for residential, farming, business, and industrial uses. Much of South Main Street lying south of Borough Lane has commercial development, but sections of the western side of the street retain some single-family houses.

The southern section of South Main Street lies in the town’s Aquifer Protection District (APD), an area above the Pootatuck Aquifer where development is tightly regulated for environmental protection reasons. The aquifer is the source of two public water supplies, plus many individual domestic water supplies.

Continuing growth along South Main Street has created increased traffic volume, a situation that the P&Z hopes to better regulate through revised zoning rules that would encourage the flow of traffic between adjacent commercial properties via private driveway links.

In 2003, the Borough Zoning Commission created Village District zoning regulations for some commercial areas in the borough. Village District zoning seeks to have new commercial construction be aesthetically compatible with its physical surroundings. The borough zoners retain an architectural consultant who makes aesthetic recommendations to applicants on commercial construction projects.

The town has two specialized commercial zoning districts — one in Sandy Hook Center, known as the Sandy Hook Design District, and the other in Hawleyville Center, known as the Hawleyville Center Design District.

In 1995, the P&Z created Sandy Hook Design District (SHDD) zoning to better regulate the mixed land uses in that area, which centers on the intersection on Church Hill Road, Washington Avenue, Riverside Road, and Glen Road. SHDD zoning seeks to enhance the appearance of the area, encourage pedestrian amenities, and foster improved parking, with the goal of enhancing that area’s economy.

In 1999, the P&Z created Hawleyville Center Design District (HCDD) zoning for the commercial section of Hawleyville Center. HCDD zoning has purposes similar to that of SHDD zoning.

The Design Advisory Board, which was formed in September 2004, reviews new commercial construction proposed for areas which have SHDD and HCDD zoning. Such design reviews seek to have commercial development conform with the P&Z’s aesthetic standards for new commercial construction.