Planning & Zoning Commission: New Chairman Carroll, Training Requirements, Public Comments Added to the Agenda

Goshen’s Planning and Zoning Commission met on Tuesday, November 28th for their monthly gathering. All members of the board were in attendance including the recently appointed Jonathan Carroll, and Shilo Garceau. Additional attendees included Town Planner and Zoning Enforcement Officer (ZEO) Martin Connor and First Selectman Todd Carusillo. The meeting began with Carusillo managing commission officer elections. Before those began, however, Patrick Lucas motioned to add a new item to the agenda about a potential by-laws change. This was unanimously approved.

For elections, Garceau first nominated Lucas for the commission chairman position. Cynthia Barrett nominated former PZC Secretary Lu-Ann Zbinden. Zbinden respectfully declined. Lucas was concerned his scheduling conflicts would interfere too much with chairman responsibilities, as he can often only appear via Zoom and believes the chairman should attend meetings in-person, “I would rather have the chair in the room cause it’s very hard to get the temperature of the room through just Zoom.” The PZC discussed possible meeting time alternatives but most options conflicted with Zoning Enforcement Officer Martin Connor. Zbinden then nominated Carroll as chairman. Carroll was hesitant since he was only recently appointed to the PZC and originally wanted Lucas to become chairman, “You sure Patrick can’t make this work?... There’s no scheduling issues [for me], it’s just a large step to being a newly appointed member and take that role.” The PZC unanimously supported Carroll’s nomination and he accepted the position despite his hesitancy. Carroll then nominated Lucas for the Vice Chairman position. He respectfully declined. Lucas nominated Zbinden as Vice Chairman. The commission unanimously supported Zbinden’s nomination and she accepted the position. Finally, Lucas nominated Barrett for the Secretary position. The PZC unanimously supported Barrett’s nomination and she accepted the position.

Chairman Carroll formally began the PZC meeting by reviewing the withdrawal of the application for the proposed storage facility on 190 Sharon Turnpike. After a brief discussion on the withdrawal, Barrett motioned to approve October’s meeting minutes. Before the minutes were approved, Connor made a correction that four new houses were built. The minutes were unanimously approved.

For New Business, Connor informed the PZC that new members are required to complete at least four hours of formal training and complete an additional set of four hours worth of training every other year. Steve Burn, a writer of newsletters for Connecticut Planning and Zoning Agencies, will visit Goshen’s PZC to conduct two hours of new members’ training during the commission’s regular meeting on Tuesday, December 19th. Any new zoning officers must additionally be certified with the Connecticut Association of Zoning Enforcement Officers starting after Monday, January 1st, 2024. Lucas then mentioned postponing the PZC’s by-law section indefinitely. This was unanimously approved.

Connor began his ZEO Report by explaining why the Building Committee withdrew their application for the storage facility. “The Public Works Director has requested that the Town of Goshen site plan application for 190 Sharon Turnpike be withdrawn at this time in order to allow for more true and accurate information on the project to be conveyed to the public and in doing so, hopefully clearing up the invalid and flawed information currently circulating.” Needs assessments will determine how much space the Fire Company and Public Works Department need for a new storage facility. Connor submitted a compliance report to the Connecticut Office of Policy and Management to illustrate that Goshen is in compliance with zoning regulations to protect group and family child care homes. No houses or any other major structures were constructed in November save for a deck addition. He also received a traditional home enterprise application. Vice Chairman Zbinden motioned to accept Connor’s ZEO report. This was unanimously approved.

For Other Business, Secretary Barrett motioned to approve the PZC 2024 meeting calendar with one change. The PZC decided to hold a meeting on Tuesday, December 17th instead of Christmas Eve, Tuesday, December 24th. The 2024 PZC calendar was unanimously approved.

Zbinden motioned to add public comment sections with three-minute speaking time limits for all regular PZC meetings. This was unanimously approved. No public comment was held at this meeting but public comments will appear after New Business in PZC meetings going forward. Barrett then requested PZC members identify themselves at the beginning of meetings for attendees to better understand who is speaking.