Conservation Commission (abbreviated) Meeting Notes 01/14/2010

The Conservation Commission meets on the second Thursday of every month. The January meeting was held on 1/14.

A member of the public, Janet Brooks, addressed the Commission regarding the New England National Scenic Trail project. The project has representatives from many towns along the Trail and is seeking more representatives for committees. An upcoming meeting is scheduled in March to inform municipal planners. The project website is www.newenglandnst.org and it is explained there that the National Scenic Trail is a 220-mile trail route that has been in existence for over half a century and was designated on March 30, 2009 as part of Public Law as a National Scenic Trail. The designation enables trail management and maintenance. Other organizations involved include the CT Forest and Parks Association, Appalachian Mountain Club, and the National Park Service. The trail begins (or ends, depending on perspective) right here in Middletown. The Commission agreed that this presents many potential positive opportunities for the City and that Middletown should have representation. Representatives must be appointed by the Mayor and a request to that end has since been communicated.

Catherine Johnson also visited the Commission to discuss the schedule for updates to the Plan of Conservation and Development (POCD) and to determine a single point of contact from the Conservation Commission for streamlined dissemination of information. Ms. Johnson also graciously volunteered her mapping and drafting skills and time for collaborating with Commission member Eric Mosher who has been hard at work on updating Middletown's Trail Guide.

At this month's meeting I did not take the detailed notes that I normally do, but the minutes are available as always online at www.middletownplanning.com. I have also drafted a short essay about my first two years of service on the Conservation Commission which you can read in the next article up: Why Be Involved?

Planning and Zoning Discusses Transportation

The Planning and Zoning Commission spent most of their Wednesday meeting on transportation issues relating to the Plan of Conservation and Development (POCD). Director of Planning Bill Warner, and Commissioner Catherine Johnson took turns leading the discussion, which ranged from the regional to the very local.

"How do we get connected to the rest of the world?"

That was the first question posed by Warner. He said there was a real possibility, in the long run, of developing rail connections from Middletown to connect with train service to Boston and New York. He pointed to movement in the state and federal governments to extend commuter rail from New Haven through Hartford to Springfield and urged commissioners to consider how Middletown could position itself to connect to that line, at stations in Meriden or Berlin, when there is an increase in rail service.

The other rail possibility which Warner brought up would revive the light rail from Middletown through Cromwell, Wethersfield and up to Hartford. The railway rights of way are largely intact, according to Warner, and he said of a train between Middletown and Hartford, "that's an economic development magnet."

Warner told the commissioners that including plans for rail in the POCD would be the first in a long series of steps necessary to move forward. Commissioners were receptive to developing rail, but also wanted to see less ambitious and expensive transportation alternatives considered. Commissioner Carl Bolz suggested that a dedicated bus with pre-set stops could serve as a stepping stone for the later development of trains.

Sidewalks and Bicycles

Warner told the commissioners that if the POCD includes a plan for which streets should have sidewalks, it would be a relatively trivial matter to include a very small extra sum of money in street paving bonds to add sidewalks to those streets. He gave a few examples of streets where a short stretch of new sidewalks would connect two isolated neighborhoods each with sidewalks.

Warner also presented a map with what he termed "bike sheds, with drainage into downtown." He said the addition of short bike paths in each of these areas could allow 80% of the city's residents to bicycle downtown.

Johnson also proposed new bike routes, but hers were targeted not at bringing bicyclists to the downtown, but rather at fostering bicycling to schools, parks, and grocery stores. She showed a map (reproduced at the bottom) of a route which uses smaller streets and occasional short new paths to create a loop. This loop of bicycle-friendly streets and paths would allow easy bicycle travel between Middlesex Community College, Xavier High, Mercy and Vinal High, and Middletown High, as well as Stop and Shop, Waldbaums, and Veterans, Chrystal Lake and Wadsworth Parks.

Other Business

During the public comment period, Attorney Ralph Wilson, who sometimes represents clients before the Commission, expressed his heartfelt thanks to the Commissioners for their part in his effort to get compensation for damage to his house on Bow Lane. The damage was caused by blasting associated with nearby construction. Wilson indicated that three lawyers observed the commissioners during their visit to his house, and that he received a settlement shortly thereafter.

The Commissioners scheduled for October 28 a public hearing on a proposal to operate a dialysis center at 100 Main Street, the site where Pelton Drugs was.

"I am flabbergasted"

Those were the words of a very happy Commissioner Catherine Johnson as the Planning and Zoning Commission finished agreeing on a set of principles to guide the new Plan of Conservation and Development.

The Commission met in a workshop format, facing each other around a table set up on the floor of the Council Chambers. Commissioner Johnson led off the meeting with a 30 minute presentation on Smart Growth, laying out its goals and principles. She said these include creating a range of housing opportunities, fostering neighborhoods which have a strong sense of place, providing a variety of transportation choices, and building compactly to efficiently use land.

Smart Growth planning would relax the zoning of specific regions of the city to allow mixed use, but would tighten restrictions on the design of new developments. This would invert the current land use philosophy, which has tight restrictions on zoning (for example, only residential developments are allowed in an R60 zone), but has few restrictions on the design of a new development. Johnson illustrated her talk with examples which contrasted neighborhood based design and planning with the sprawl that a pure zoning approach has led to.

Johnson echoed many of the points made in a presentation by the town planner of Hamden, Leslie Creane, at a May meeting of the P&Z (New Approach to Zoning Regulations Presented at City Hall). The Commissioners were enthusiastic about Creane's presentation, and responded

very positively to Johnson's as well. Commissioner Deborah Kleckowski commented that she had heard many residents complain about the lack of retail and cultural attractions in Middletown. Commissioners seemed to agree that in the long term, neighborhoods with a mix of different kinds of housing (apartments, duplexes, and detached homes), offices, and retail, would increase the quality of life for residents.

The Commissioners worked on a set of principles from lists provided by City Planner Bill Warner. After a general discussion that revealed only minor differences of opinion on what kind of city Middletown should be, the Commissioners efficiently reached unanimous agreement on preliminary language for the guiding

principles for the POCD. [Note, what follows may not be the final versions of the principles, my notes were less than complete, and the commissioners felt that some of these "principles" might be better as examples or goals, rather than over-arching principles. I include them all to give a sense of the Commissioner's approach to the POCD. The final language will be refined by Warner with input from the Commissioners.]

Environment

• Encourage environmentally responsible and sustainable development
• Introduce new road standards in rural areas to reduce impacts of impervious pavement
• Preserve and connect open space, farmland and critical environmental areas.

Urban Design

• Improve design quality of development with design standards.
• Encourage compact building design.
• Promote development compatible with the unique character of neighborhoods to create a strong sense of place
• Create walkable neighborhoods.
• Provide a mix of uses in neighborhoods to ensure a city's vitality: commercial, civic, residential, recreation.

Transportation

• Encourage transit to provide a variety of transportation choices, including public transit, cars, bicycles, rail, and pedestrian.
• Invest in sidewalks, road connections, bike paths, and street trees to encourage walking and biking.
• Invest in infrastructure to increase rail, to provide linkages to neighboring communities.
• Locate jobs near housing, transit, and services.

Concentrate Development

• Reinforce downtown as our economic and cultural center.
• Concentrate development along major transportation corridors already served by water and sewer.
• Offer incentives to rehab brownfields, preserve historic structures and rehab housing and schools.
• Encourage compact development.
• Mix land uses.
• Create a lively mixed-use downtown, connect to the riverfront.
• Limit the sprawl of low-density housing.

Housing

• Create a range of housing opportunities and choice.

Economic development

• Increase the commercial tax base, lowering tax burden on residential property owners.
• Attract office, light industry, retail, and entertainment.
• Create partnerships between Education and Industry.
• Expand on the existing medical infrastructure.

After reaching consensus on these draft guiding principles, the Commissioners enthusiastically agreed to hold another workshop on the POCD at their next meeting, on October 14.

Public Comment About Schools Redistricting.

Under the regular item at the end of the meeting ("Public comment on topics which are not or have not been the subject of a public hearing"), I spoke as a member of the public. I commented that the Board of Education will be making a decision about possibly significant redistricting this year. I urged the Commissioners to work with the Board of Education on this issue, which is impacted by (and has impacts on) neighborhoods, transportation, and development.

P&Z Public Input

PUBLIC INPUT WANTED
Middletown Plan of Conservation & Development

Until the end of June, the Middletown Planning & Zoning Commission will host a series of public forums to share ideas about Middletown’s future land use and conservation, all at Russell Library.

The THIRD of 4 public input sessions will be held:

Thursday
May 21, 6:30-8 pm
Hubbard Room, Russell Library.

The special focus of the May 21 session will be on making Middletown a more transit-friendly, bike-friendly town.

After a brief presentation about Where people are most mobile: stories from other (snowy) countries and existing transit and current proposals for future projects, discussion will take
place about:

• Would we benefit as a city by offering more transportation choice?
• How can we connect more people to the bus and bike in Middletown?
• Where do we need to make better pedestrian connections first?

Following this discussion, there will be an “Open Mike” session for any comments about any other aspects relating to the Plan of Conservation & Development.

ALL ARE WELCOME!

The last Public Input Sessions will be held June 17, 2009 at 6:30 to 8 pm also at the Russell Library.

Questions? Contact P&Z Commissioner Catherine Johnson at telephone 343-1611.

Opportunities for public input to Planning and Zoning

From Deborah Kleckowski:

The Planning and Zoning By-Law committee is holding a workshop on the changes to the By-laws on Wednesday May 20, 2009 at 6pm, in Council Chambers. The meeting will be taped.

The workshop is an opportunity to add your comments to By-laws. As many of you are aware, the P&Z Commission has struggled with elections and other matters. It is crucial that a document be developed that clearly addresses procedural matters and standards of professional conduct. I encourage people to attend the workshop and I look forward to hearing input from the public.

On a separate issue, the presentation last Wednesday night at the P&Z meeting was very enlightening! We, as Commissioners, are lay people, and professional development is absolutely critical to ensure we are as educated as possible to properly represent the interest of the City of Middletown and its' residents. Thank you to Commissioner Johnson who arranged the presentation. I look forward to other Commissioners bringing forth ideas for additional workshops and presentations.

The Plan of Development is also in progress. The next meeting is Thursday May 21, 2009 at 6:30pm in the Hubbard Room, Russell Library. The Plan of Conservation and Development is the blueprint for development of the City. It is important that as many people as possible provide their input into the future design of Middletown.

I look forward to seeing many of you on May 20th and May 21. Please do not hesitate to contact me if I can be of assistance: debilee14@hotmail.com

Deborah Kleckowski

Planning and Zoning Commissioner

New Approach to Zoning Regulations Presented at City Hall

The Planning and Zoning Commissioners set aside most of their regular business at Wednesday's meeting, so that they could hear from the Town Planner of Hamden, Leslie Creane.  

POCD Overhaul and the use of charrettes

Creane was invited to speak by the P&Z Commission because she has guided Hamden through substantial changes in their Plan of Conservation and Development (POCD).  Middletown is in the middle of re-writing our POCD, and Catherine Johnson and other commissioners felt it would be useful to hear from Creane about the approach that Hamden took.

Creane said that in 2007 the Hamden city leaders decided to sanction a "complete zoning regulation overhaul".  They hired consultants to help the town through the process. The central mechanism for re-writing the POCD was 5 long days of charrette.  This was a process where multiple people, in this case city officials, consultants, and most importantly members of the public, worked with large maps and design boards to discuss the future of the many different neighborhoods that make up Hamden.  A combination of sticky notes, pencils, and discussions allowed the public to help shape the POCD, and allowed Creane and the Planning and Zoning Commissioners to gauge public reactions to various ideas.  

Creane said she was overjoyed at the turnout for the charrettes in Hamden.  She said that while Planning and Zoning meetings tended to always have the same members of the public in attendance, the charrettes attracted an entirely new and much more diverse group of people.  

Creane and her staff took the input from the charrettes and used it to prepare a draft of new regulations. She has spent considerable time during this process going out to speak at neighborhood and other civic organizations, explaining and defending the new POCD to citizens who are concerned about its implications for their areas of interest.  

Form-based Zoning and SmartCode

Hamden plans to take an unusual approach to zoning in their new plan.  Most cities, like Middletown, have exclusively "use-based zoning", we have zones for industrial, zones for residential, zones for commercial, etc.  In contrast, the Hamden draft POCD is based to a very large extent on "Form-based zoning", which emphasizes how buildings shape how residents interact with each other and with their environment.  In form-based zoning, there are far fewer restrictions on the use of land (although there still are some), but the zoning pays much closer attention to such things as the size of buildings and how they are placed on the land.  

Creane also presented Hamden's movement towards adopting SmartCode principles into their POCD. SmartCode is a template which allows individual towns and cities to create ordinances that foster walkable neighborhoods.  It promotes one set of form-based zoning.  Hamden is the only town in Connecticut that is in the process of incorporating SmartCode principles into their POCD. The only other towns in New England that are doing the same are Montpelier (Vermont), Jamestown (Rhode Island), and Dover (New Hampshire).  

The guiding principles of Hamden's POCD seemed quite appropriate for Middletown, Creane said they included 1) coherence of zoning, 2) an increase in commercial tax revenue, 3) preserving the environment and open space, 4) increasing safety of pedestrians and cyclists, and 5) regulation of building forms. She said that they took great efforts to "Clearly state the intent of all regulations: to improve the health, safety, and welfare of the residents of Hamden, and to preserve the environment."   

The majority of the Commissioners were enthusiastic about Creane's presentation, and thanked her profusely for coming up to Middletown.  Creane told them it was her pleasure, offering up the statement, "I am passionate about city planning."

Regular Commission Business

The Commissioners took care of regular business very rapidly, before the presentation by Creane.  Two separate business expansions were approved, one by Mack Fire Protection on Industrial Park Place, and the other a car dealer on Newfield Street. The commissioners again failed to elect a chair, Richard Pelletier, nominated by the James Fortuna and seconded by Barbara Plum received 3 votes, and Deborah Kleckowski, nominated by Ron Borelli and seconded by Les Adams, received 4 votes.  5 votes are needed to elect a chair and thus Pelletier remains as acting chair.  

Carl Bolz reported that the Bylaws subcommittee was moving ahead with their work, and would hold the next meeting on May 20th at City Hall.  Catherine Johnson invited members of the Commission and members of the public to attend the workshops on the Middletown POCD. She said the next one would be on transit (buses, streetcar, bike routes), and would take place next Thursday at 6:30 in the Hubbard Room of the Public Library.

Environmental “wish list” for Middletown to be discussed this Wednesday

This Wednesday, December 10 at 7pm in City Hall Middletown residents have a chance to support a giant environmental “wish list” for ourselves and our City. In a public hearing that is part of an ongoing revision process, the Planning and Zoning Commission will be taking comments on the two environmental chapters of the City’s most important planning document, the Plan of Conservation and Development (POCD)

It may be hard for some to muster interest in environmental issues during these hard economic times. One of the best things about the POCD is that it’s cheap and durable. It’s a vision of what we want our City to do and be in the future, independent of our budget or political will. It won’t need updating for at least another 10 years, and the effects of implementing its recommendations can last much, much longer.

That’s good news for the over 2,200 species of plants, bugs, birds etc. that last year’s one day BioBlitz found living here. It’s also good news for the diverse citizenry that share the City with them. Environmental protection benefits us humans by reducing environmental toxins, improving our quality of life, and keeping our municipal budget in check.

For example, the payback for investment in open space is priceless – free passive recreation opportunities, pollution buffers, land for future use, maintenance of ecological processes such as watershed protection, and control of development and sprawl that might otherwise overburden city services. The City’s efforts to protect open space to date have been impressive – and popular. This revision expands the number of properties eligible for protection, with special emphasis on farms and the purchase of development rights. This will help protect our agricultural base – an important component of our economy and our landscape.

There’s no doubt that the state of our environment is linked to human health. For example, air pollution from vehicles is associated with respiratory ailments and heart disease. Middletown’s asthma hospitalization rates are higher than most other contiguous towns, and we are in a non-compliance area for ozone. Recommendations in the new Air Quality section recognize that our planning practices impact our air, and include a number of actions to address the problem.

There’s a lot in these revisions. In holiday terms they’re a bulging Christmas stocking, an overflowing plate of latkes… you get the idea. Here are some highlights:

Chapter 7 – “Protecting Natural Resources and Preserving Rural Character”.
In addition to the open space map, this chapter describes forward thinking steps such as:
- Rural subdivision and road standards that will help minimize development footprints and maximize open space
- Better ground and surface water protection through measures including improved stormwater control
- Establishment and protection of a Coginchaug River Greenway Corridor
- Air quality recommendations including steps to assess new sources of air pollution and make long term plans for improvement

Chapter 10 – “Maromas, Middletown’s last frontier”. Containing 38% of Middletown’s land, 5% of the population, and a big chunk of the tax base this area is environmentally significant – both locally and nationally - for its large tracts of forest, river frontage, vernal pools and tidal wetlands, state “listed” species, and connections to protected areas and significant habitats. Recommendations include:
- A focus on open space protection including transfer of State land, preservation of the blue trail, and conveyance or purchase of NU owned land
- Promoting access to the Connecticut River
- Consideration of a “conservation overlay” to aid in development decisions
- Protection of vulnerable areas such as ridgelines and wetlands

Wednesday will be the only public hearing dedicated to these chapters. Public presence at the hearing can ensure that the P&Z adopt the revisions and may even provide some momentum for implementing recommendations. While you can voice your support electronically, there’s still nothing quite so impressive as being there. Come, sit, listen and be counted. Bring a friend. Make an ad lib comment of support, or prepare a statement. This is your chance to voice your opinion. No one I know would call a public hearing exactly fun…but it’s satisfying to participate in democracy, no matter how messy.

Revision chapters are accessible at the City’s new conservation blogspot (http://midconcom.blogspot.com/) which also has links to the Middletown Trail Guide and Environmental Buying Guide.