Planning & Zoning Commission Schedules Public Hearing, Then Selectmen Withdraw Application

The PZC met on Tuesday, October 24th for their monthly meeting. All members were in attendance save for Chairman Don Wilkes who was excused, and Land Use Commission Clerk Lori Clinton who was not excused. Town Planner, Zoning Enforcement Officer, Inland Wetland  Enforcement officer, Marty Connor, and Public Works Supervisor, Garret Harlow were also in attendance. Vice Chairman Laura Lemieux headed the meeting. Board alternate Jim Withstandley was seated. The previous meeting’s minutes from August were unanimously approved.

For New Business, and the majority of the meeting, Harlow presented his site plan for the new Public Works and Fire Department Storage Facility at 190 Sharon Turnpike (Route 4). “It’s for the construction of a 13,700 square foot storage building plus associated improvements including driveway area, septic system, well, stormwater improvements, utility connections for the structure, site lighting, and landscaping,” Harlow detailed. “...This project does meet all zoning use regulations for the RA2 Zone…” For residents concerned with how the new building may impact Goshen’s rural character, Harlow assured the PZC that little of the building will be visible from the road. He plans on planting a line of evergreen trees to block visibility of the building. PZC board member Cynthia Barret asked Harlow how big the evergreen trees will be on the property. “Six to eight feet,” Harlow responded. “And there’s a total of 14 of them.” The proposed lights used for the building will be motion sensitive shoebox lights similar to those seen commonly in store parking lots and will not light areas beyond the property. The driveway on the property will also be paved.

Following Harlow’s presentation, Connor addressed why this site plan was not scheduled for a public hearing and why a notice was not issued, “We did get a letter requesting a public hearing. This is a site plan application that does not ordinarily require a public hearing. The commission can hold a public hearing if they so choose and it was my recommendation that tonight we just accept the application. The commission has reviewed the submittal today, if you have any other things you’d like to say. I would just suggest that you set a public hearing date for our next regular meeting in November and that will give an opportunity for the public to comment on it and perhaps for the fire department and others as well to explain the rationale behind the whole situation.” Lemieux agreed with Connor’s recommendations. Zbinden subsequently motioned to accept Harlow’s site plan application and set a Public Hearing for Tuesday, November 28th starting at 7:30 in Town Hall. This was unanimously approved. A notice for the public hearing was published on Wednesday, October 25th wherein it detailed that the building would be 160 feet long, 85 feet wide, and 35 feet high.

Connor then discussed changes to Public Act 23-142, Zoning Compliance Protections for Group and Family Child Care Homes. The act requires zoning regulations to not treat these care home facilities any different than single family dwellings. A municipality’s chief zoning official must also notify Connecticut’s Office of Policy and Management that their zoning ordinances do meet these requirements by the end of 2023. Connor claimed Goshen already changed its zoning regulations as permitted use in 1987 and so already meets most of the requirements for the act. The PZC only needs to correct regulations by changing the previous public act number from 87-232 to 23-142. Connor claimed this change did not require a public hearing since it’s a simple number change that will allow First Selectman Todd Carusillo to certify that the town is in accordance with the public act. Zbinden then motioned to replace Public Act 87-232 with Public Act 23-142. This was unanimously approved.

Connor then conducted a brief ZEO report. Four new houses were constructed in October in addition to multiple accessory buildings, two swimming pools, and several additions. Barret then motioned to accept the ZEO report. This was unanimously approved.

Finally, Zbinden thanked Don Wilkes and Laura Lemieux for their service on the Commission. Lemieux had opted not to run for re-election to the commission and Wilkes was defeated in the July Republican caucus in his bid for their nomination to run for re-election. As the next Planning and Zoning Commission meeting will be held after the elections, the newly elected commissioners will be seated for the November 28^th meeting and public hearing.

NEWS UPDATE: The Board of Selectmen voted to withdraw the application for building at this site when they met on November 7th. Further updates will be posted as they develop.