Plan of Conservation sets vision for city's land use
Last Updated on Saturday, 11 February 2012 13:43
Written by Thomas Ebersold
Saturday, 11 February 2012 13:11
The Planning and Zoning Board (P&Z) has been taking time at meetings to discuss the progress of updates to the city's Plan of Conservation and Development, which sets a vision for how land and water resources should be used in Milford.
According to the state General Statutes, Chapter, 126, Section 823, “Such plan of conservation and development shall be a statement of policies, goals and standards for the physical and economic development of the municipality.”
State regulations require municipalities to update such plans every 10 years. Milford's current plan became effective Sept. 20, 2002. City Planner David B. Sulkis said the goal is to approve a new plan by the end of 2012.
If the city failed to revise the plan, it “shall be ineligible for discretionary state funding,” according to the wording of the state statute guiding such plans, unless it received a special state waiver to allow funding to continue.
State regulations require the city to consider multiple topics when reviewing the plan, including the community development action plan, the need for affordable housing, protection of drinking water supplies, state and regional plans of conservation and development, local municipal needs, energy-efficient development, and protection and preservation of agriculture.
Since Milford fronts on Long Island Sound, it will also need to ensure that the plan is consistent with state regulations regarding the Sound. The regulations say that the plan must be “made with reasonable consideration for restoration and protection of the ecosystem and habitat of Long Island Sound, and designed to reduce hypoxia, pathogens, toxic contaminants and floatable debris in Long Island Sound.”
Sulkis told the P&Z board that he has been meeting with department heads and interest groups to gather their input into proposed updates. The city has hired a consultant from the Yale design team to provide guidance with a particular focus on the shoreline, Walnut Beach, Cherry Street and Fowler Field.
Sulkis said there would be multiple public hearings and community meetings, and the plan must be approved by the Board of Aldermen, in addition to the P&Z board. Dates have not been set for these sessions.
The board kicked off the revision process with a public hearing on Oct. 5, 2010, which was attended by a number of residents who offered input on various topics, focusing on open space and historic preservation.
Only two of the current board members were in office at the time of that hearing: Edward Mead, current vice chairman, and Kevin Liddy, who was vice chairman at the time. Liddy, however, recently announced plans to step down from the board because of family considerations.
Board member Jeanne K. Cervin is the only current board member who served on the P&Z during the prior review process. Neither City Planner David B. Sulkis, nor Assistant City Planner Emmeline Harrigan were working for Milford in 2002.
The 2002 plan may be downloaded from the city website, along with information about the current update process at ci.milford.ct.us/Public_Documents/MilfordCT_Planning/planning.
Regulations Update
While the Plan of Conservation and Development is different than the city's Zoning Regulations, the plan sets a vision by which the regulations crafted. The board is in the process of updating portions of its regulations, which were adopted Jan. 2004, but have been subject to some revisions since then.
One proposed change is how applications for temporary tents are handled. Currently, such requests must come before the board. Sulkis told the board at its Feb. 7 meeting that he has drafted a regulation change that would shift this responsibility to the P&Z staff.
Sulkis said the updated regulations would also clarify building heights in residential zones with graphics to show how to measure various rooflines.
On a related topic, Harrigan said the definition of a crawl space is being clarified to state that if the open space under a house is greater than four feet, that space counts as a story. This mostly affects the properties in flood zones where houses are limited to two stories beyond the height needed to raise the house out of the flood zone, provided that initial level is more than four feet tall.
The board is also looking to streamline the process for creating rear lots. Along the same lines, new regulations would require any applications for requesting a change in lot area for the purpose of creating a building lot to come before the P&Z and take that power away from the Zoning Board of Appeals.
Harrigan said previous boards reviewed the city's sign regulations, but did not make any changes. She was examining the question of creating certain sign regulations for pedestrian-oriented areas like the Milford Green, and different regulations for motorist-oriented areas like the Post Road. This review process was put on hold when P&Z staff began the process of reviewing the conservation and development plan, she said.
Harrigan said she is working with the Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to develop maps based on 2010 census data “to see how the city has evolved.” She said there is “certainly” more housing in Milford center and in north Milford, so the maps will better enable officials to see how density has shifted.
“A recurring theme seems to be better sidewalk infrastructure, and how to make better connections between different modes of transportation,” said Harrigan.
During the process, officials will also examine the effects of how a predicted drop of 1,000 students in city schools will affect school buildings and their use
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