Planning & Zoning Commission Focuses on Plan of Conservation & Development (POCD)
PZC Commissioner Zbinden lamented the approval of a schoolbus parking lot on Rt. 4 without screening the site from view
Special Meeting, 09/09/24
The PZC met for a special meeting to review and discuss improvements to the town’s Plan of Conservation and Development (POCD). According to a memorandum prepared by Town Planner Janell Mullen, the POCD must be updated every 10 years in order for a municipality to be eligible for state funding. POCDs are plans of recommendation for municipalities to use their land for residential, recreational, commercial, industrial, and conservation purposes. Updates to POCDs can range from simple amendments to replacing and rewriting the POCD in its entirety. Goshen’s current POCD was adopted in August 2016, and focused on various topics including, Natural Resource Protection, Housing, Economic Development, Historic Preservation, Municipal Facilities, Roads and Circulation, Hazard Mitigation and Emergency Management, and Sustainability. An updated POCD must be adopted by August 2026. The PZC hopes to have the new POCD completed by May 2026.
Mullen hopes to have the PZC develop a plan draft by the end of 2024 for the public to comment and provide feedback. She explained that the POCD is valuable to the town because the PZC uses it constantly when decision making, “When we go through a text amendment change, like we will soon do at an upcoming meeting, one of the criteria for making your text amendment is how does it align with the POCD?” Vice Chairperson Lu-Ann Zbinden suggested the PZC organize one or two public forums to have the public view a proposed outline for the POCD and provide feedback. Mullen noted that the POCD for Falls Village developed a plan outline for the POCD and made it available for the public to comment on it instead of hosting a discussion-based forum before an outline is created. Chairman Jonathan Carroll suggested the PZC determine how dates for forums will be set in terms of deadlines for the PZC to work on the POCD.
The PZC then reviewed and discussed several items in Goshen’s current POCD. Mullen intends to contact the Board of Selectmen and the Goshen Public Library about organizing and conducting a municipal facilities study to determine priority funding for inventory and improvement projects. She suggests the PZC reach out to the Affordable Housing Plan Committee and the Goshen Housing Trust to inquire about the status of the affordable housing plan and ask if they want to have the housing plan included in the POCD.
The PZC plans to address a scenic road preservation item regarding residents being split between having roads paved or kept as dirt roads. Carroll spoke on this issue personally, “Being somebody who lived on a dirt road and now having a paved road, it’s lost a lot of its [character].” Patrick Lucas added that the plan needs to help keep Goshen’s rural esthetic intact while ensuring the town remains efficient in terms of maintenance to its roads. Shilo Garceau suggested that new employees in each town organization be informed of past plans and incomplete projects that still need to be implemented. Mullen agreed and suggested the new POCD include clear steps in how to implement each aspect of the plan and encourage people to revisit the POCD.
09/24/24
The public hearing to review suggested amendments to Goshen’s accessory building regulation was postponed to Tuesday, October 22nd starting at 7:30 pm. The postponement was necessary due to the Waterbury Republican-American newspaper not publishing the hearing’s legal notice within the appropriate timetable. After a brief discussion, Vice Chairperson Lu-Ann Zbinden motioned to continue the public hearing on October 22nd. This was unanimously approved.
Town Planner Janell Mullen updated the commission on her work with the Plan of Conservation and Development (POCD). Mullen intends to meet with members of the Inland Wetlands and Water Courses Commission, as well as people involved with agriculture and historic preservation in October. Mullen recommended town boards, commissions, and other organizations briefly review the 2016 POCD to have improvement suggestions prepared when she visits each organization, “I want to make sure that if there’s brand new concepts and ideas that… we integrate them.” Mullen also intends to recruit a vendor to moderate eventual town meetings regarding the POCD. “I want to make sure that housing is a major topic for one of those moderated sessions,” said Mullen. “And then, when we do have town-wide meetings, that they are moderated by a professional that can glean information in a very non-biased way.” The vendor will ask questions and help formulate unbiased group discussions during town meetings for the POCD. Mullen will additionally begin developing a spreadsheet detailing all of the work she’s done for the POCD. Chairman Jonathan Carroll requested that Mullen share the spreadsheet with the rest of the Commissioners. Mullen agreed and encouraged PZC members to review the spreadsheet before each monthly meeting. Carrol suggested the PZC develop a budget for vendor costs, publications, and other tasks that need to be done when updating the POCD.
Zbinden, who was a commissioner at the time of its adoption and during the 8 years since, then presented notes on Goshen’s 2016 POCD. “One of my concerns from my experiences as a commissioner over the last 10 years is that the POCD has been used at times to selectively promote the interests of a few town officials or board members without much input from townspeople.”
“One of these cases in particular stands out”, Zbinden continued. “That is the waiving of the four-acre minimum requirement on accessory apartments. This change to the Regulations was politically motivated and did not stem from the Planning & Zoning Commission in reviewing the POCD for measures to increase accessory apartments. The head of a Town Board proposed the idea to help a friend who wanted to use an accessory building but did not have the 4-acre minimum.” Zbinden said she held out as long as possible before yielding to the pressure put on the Commission to approve the change, observing that “the Town got nothing from waiving the 4-acre minimum,” and commenting that “Had the proposal been made by P & Z it may have been possible to require a fee to be deposited into a town fund in return for this generous allowance…”
Zbinden also lamented the waiving of an open-space requirement for a one-home subdivision, the lack of value some Town Leaders place on historic preservation when discontinuing a heritage trail that had been an old stagecoach route, the approval of the use of a property as a parking lot for buses without requiring vegetative screening, and the paving of some dirt/gravel roads without consulting residents.
To help rectify some of these issues and help prevent personal interests from abusing the POCD, Zbinden proposed that the POCD add conditions to accessory apartments in the 2026 POCD such as requiring a fee be made directly to the town fund to compensate for the waiving of the four-acre minimum requirement. She suggested historical enjoyment be added as a prerequisite for road preservation and the town explore other funding opportunities beyond town funds, such as federal or state finances, to help restore historic homes, schoolhouses, sites, trails, cemeteries, monuments, and more. She additionally recommended requiring vegetative screening for all new businesses where needed, and incorporating input from residents in the deciding phase for which dirt/gravel roads will be paved and when.
Land Use Enforcement Officer Spencer Musselman reported that he issued three zoning permits in town in September, including a pool, a new house, and additions to an existing residence.
(Note: to view the entirety of the letter by the Commissioner regarding suggestions to correct or improve PZC statutes, you may visit the Town of Goshen’s website, www.goshenct.gov.
The letter is an attachment to the minutes. If you cannot find it, call the 1st Selectman’s Office and speak to Virginia Perry or Lucille Paige)
