Some Ideas For The Future

When the call went out last month for the public to participate in three hours of workshops March 8 on Newtown’s Plan of Conservation and Development, about 40 people showed up. It was a Saturday morning, and 99.8 percent of Newtown’s population had other things to do. In the currency of time, three hours on a Saturday morning is the most valuable denomination. Fortunately, those dedicated 40 were willing to pay the price for the good of their town, making a significant contribution toward securing the integrity of Newtown’s future.

The town’s professional planning consultants and volunteer members of the Planning and Zoning Commission had hoped for some direction from the public that would help them set priorities for their future work in guiding the town’s growth while protecting its resources. What they got was a reaffirmation of priorities the town has set for itself time and again in its plan of conservation and development: the preservation of Newtown’s character; the preservation of its rural character; the preservation of open space; and the preservation of its historic appearance. These four goals were given the highest priority on March 8 by the workshop group charged with making suggestions for a “vision statement” for Newtown. The planning and zoning commissions will not have to make room in the town plan for them, however. They are already there. As always, the challenge is moving from ideas to action, and to that end still more ideas were gathered at the workshops for strategies for preserving open space, the natural environment, and the historical aspect of the town. All in all, it was three hours well spent.

Despite all the brainstorming and strategizing, however, the Newtown Plan of Conservation and Development is in the end only a catalog of ideas. As we have seen in recent years, all the worthy goals set out in a town plan are scattered and lost quite easily in the whirlwind of a booming real estate market. In the past five years, the Planning and Zoning Commission has set meeting room endurance records just plowing through endless agendas filled with residential subdivision applications, special exceptions to the zoning regulations, and site plan reviews of development allowed under existing rules. They have not had much time to lay the regulatory groundwork that is needed to make the town plan’s “vision” visible.

As the Planning and Zoning Commission commits these important ideas to writing in a town plan, it also must commit itself to follow through with the work necessary to realize these ideas. And the burden will not be the P&Z’s alone. Protecting scenic areas, establishing contiguous greenways, safeguarding historic assets, and appropriating the resources to accomplish these goals will require a team effort, including the Conservation Commission, the Board of Selectmen, the Legislative Council, and even our state legislators. This kind of work will take a lot more than three hours on a Saturday morning, and it is going to require the support of a lot more than 0.2 percent of the town’s population. If we believe in these ideas and want them to find a place in the real world, all of Newtown is going to have to pitch in to make it happen.