Town Asks For A Zoning

Regulation Change

By Steve Bigham

The Board of Selectmen has requested that Planning & Zoning change its regulations to allow the transfer of 2,500 cubic yards of excess topsoil from the 5/6 school site to the rear of Newtown High School.

Town officials hope the monetary savings of being able to use existing topsoil at other town projects would outweigh the benefits of enforcing the standard land use practices applied to other applicants.

The Board of Education is currently in need of large amounts of topsoil for the reconfiguration of its rear athletic fields at the high school and the site of the new school has plenty to go around. However, local land-use laws prevent the movement of topsoil from one place to another and the town is subject to the same rules as everyone else.

Superintendent of Schools John R. Reed said allowing the school board to move the topsoil to the high school will save the town as much as $55,000. In a June 28 letter to First Selectman Herb Rosenthal, Dr Reed asked the first selectman to work with the Planning & Zoning Commission to “help us achieve this.”

On Monday, the Board of Selectmen recommended that the regulation be changed. It passed on the proposed amendment to the land-use laws, which, if adopted, would allow the town to transfer surplus topsoil from one town-owned property to another when the surplus is incidental to construction that has P&Z approval.

Community Development Director Elizabeth Stocker wrote the proposed amendment, which states that the movement of topsoil is allowed if it is in the public interest and that it is subject to approval by a land use officer.

The issue is expected to show up on a Planning & Zoning Commission agenda later this summer.