Simsbury, CT - Planning Commission Minutes

Chairman John Loomis called the regular meeting of the Planning Commission to order at 7:07 p.m. in the Main Meeting Room of the Simsbury Town Offices. The following members were present: Ferguson Jansen, Susan Bednarcyk, Carol Cole, Darren Cunningham, Brad Mead, Mark Drake, and Charles Houlihan. Also in attendance was Hiram Peck, Director of Community Planning & Development, as well as other interested parties.

Hiram Peck handed out paper copies of the POCD to the members of the Commission and copies on CD to those members who wanted one. He stated that 70% of people have asked for a CD as opposed to paper copies. The rest of the order will be put together within the next 48 hours.

Chairman Loomis questioned if the maps had been checked. He stated that Pages 3 and 4 are missing in his copy. All of the members had the same problem with their copy. The Commission members gave their copies back to Mr. Peck so the pages could be inserted. He will be making sure there are no other issues prior to the remaining copies being printed.

Mr. Peck stated that the cost to purchase a paper copy of the POCD will be $40 and the CD will cost $10. People can also read the POCD online. He stated 100 initial paper copies would be printed for Land Use Board and Commission members and for purchase by the public.

Commissioner Bednarcyk suggested that an abbreviated form of the POCD be printed. She stated it would be very helpful to have. Chairman Loomis took out his abbreviated copy from the previous POCD, which illustrated policies, objectives, a summary and a large Plan of Development map, all at a glance. All of the Commission members agreed that this is something that would be very helpful to have and that it would be a great resource, which would be used often. Mr. Peck stated that it would take some time to do this and would take a great deal of summarizing.

Commissioner Jansen stated that he believes the public has been misinformed. A political publication printed in the Simsbury Citizen was circulated to Simsbury residents. The publication stated that the Planning Commission was pro “Big Box” Development, unsupportive of the entire Plan of Conservation of Development, opposed to form-based planning, no interest in public input, and that there is an adverse relationship with other Land Use Boards. Commissioner Jansen stated this publication is a great disservice to present and past Planning Commission members. He stated that this does not represent the Planning Commission. Chairman Loomis stated that these statements are not applicable to this Commission. Commissioner Cunningham stated his concerns with this publication and the Commission continued to discuss this issue.

Regarding Capital Budgets, Commissioner Houlihan stated he would like to see Open Space on the next agenda as well. It would be very useful for this Commission to know what the priorities are for Open Space Acquisitions. Chairman Loomis stated that the Open Space meeting for November has been canceled, although, he would be willing to talk about this issue at the next meeting. He stated that open space is part of the Capital Budget consideration. The Town no longer has a $2 million bi-annual revolving fund. Although it is on paper, it was never put into practice.

The Commission discussed the Triangle, which will be coming up for referendum in May of 2008. They discussed the process of purchasing this land and if it would become grasslands or agricultural land or what the best use of this land would be. Many of these questions went unanswered; there are still many details regarding this issue, which still need to be resolved. The Commission also discussed the Tulmeadow property. Chairman Loomis stated that the SLT is in the process of purchasing the Tulmeadow land and a piece of land just to the north, which are being grouped together for acquisition purposes. This land has great agricultural soils. The Commission discussed the different phases of this purchase.

PDD Status – Mr. Peck stated that they are considering comments that were made during the input sessions for the last PDD from the Boards and Commissions. They will be taking these comments and finding the main concerns to create another draft. Hopefully, within the next few weeks, Town Staff will have this information in draft form that can be given to the Working Group. By the end of the year, another PDD will hopefully be back in front of the Boards and Commissions for their review. Commissioner Houlihan suggested the draft be circulated to the Boards and Commissions along with the Working Group. He feels that this would surface some of the issues while speeding up the process. Chairman Loomis agreed with Commissioner Houlihan in principle, although he feels the Working Group needs this information to first discuss the issues at a fundamental level before others get involved. The Working Group has not been together in a very long time. Commissioner Mead agreed with Chairman Loomis and does not feel that it would be beneficial for the Boards and Commissions to review something before the Working Group has met.

Mr. Peck stated that the Boards and Commissions would receive a copy of the draft as soon as it is ready. They will be addressing all of the issues brought up by the Commissions and by the public to come up with a reasonable compromise. This is not a simple process, although, it will not be too long of a process either. The Zoning Commission should be ready to have their Public Hearing regarding the PDD in January or February of 2008. Commissioner Mead questioned how many public hearings would be held. Mr. Peck stated there would be at least 2 public hearings. The Zoning Commission is required to have at least one hearing, and it is possible that the Conservation Commission will have one also.

Chairman Loomis concluded by saying that the Planning Commission would like to see the draft as soon as possible after the Working Group meets. Mr. Peck stated that he understands what Chairman Loomis is saying, although, he feels that it is not a good idea to hand out a rough draft to Commissions, which will be substantially changed.

Commissioner Cole questioned how Mr. Peck would respond to people who say that a PDD could be dropped anywhere in Town. Mr. Peck responded by stating this was not accurate. The Regulation is being reconstructed to have predetermined locations in Simsbury for PDDs, which are not typically residential neighborhoods. There will be 6-7 predetermined locations. Chairman Loomis stated that these pre-determined locations would be identified on a map, which would be used as a source document for the Special Areas Reference Map.

FOIA Meeting for Land Use Commissions – Mr. Peck stated he is trying to set this up as quickly as he can. He is proposing to have one meeting specifically for the Land Use Commissions because there are so many issues that are specific and they might not pertain to other Boards. Mr. Peck feels that the meetings are more effective if they are targeted to the types of things that Land Use Commissions encounter and things that may cause questions on specific issues. He would also like to see two separate meetings, one during the day for Town staff and one in the evening for the Commission members. He also stated his disappointment that these meetings were not as well attended, as he would have liked.

Town Email Accounts – Mr. Peck stated this is the e-mail system he will be using to keep in contact with the Commissioners from this point forward and they will be receiving information regarding upcoming meetings on these accounts. He asked all members to make sure they have this installed on their personal computers and that they check it on a regular basis. Commissioner Cunningham stated that any Commission member wanting to change the password for their e-mail account will need to contact IT at the Town Hall, or they would have to be on a Town Hall computer to change it on their own. The password cannot be changed from a home or office personal computer.

Tri-Town Airport – Mr. Peck stated that a meeting would be held on Thursday, October 15, 2007, at 10 a.m. for the Airport Feasibility Study Committee and the Advisory Committee. They will be meeting with a consultant, who will outline the steps they will be taking in the study. Clough Harbour & Associates are the consultants for the study. Approximately 90% of the study is being paid for with Federal money. There is no predetermined agenda in this study. This will be an objective look at the airport’s current condition and feasibility, what the future feasibility could be, and the costs involved. In conclusion, the study will point to whether the Town should consider acquiring the airport or not. Mr. Peck stated that the surrounding property owners and the abutting Towns have all been invited to attend this meeting.

Chairman Loomis summarized all of the meetings for the Commission members. He stated that the first meeting will be the Advisory Committee and the second meeting will be a public information meeting. The third and fourth meetings will be Advisory Committee meetings. The last meeting will be a public information meeting. The following are the study tasks, which will be discussed at the meetings: airport inspection and environmental review; airport development evaluation; airport capital improvement plan; financial feasibility analysis; economic impact assessment; management/ ownership options; recommendation and implementation plan; and public outreach throughout all of the meetings.

Commissioner Jansen questioned if CROCG could be put on the agenda after the new members have joined the Commission. The Commission discussed the benefits of appointing 1-2 people to attend the meetings on a regular basis. They all agree that continuity is very important. Commissioner Cole stated she felt is was important for all of the members to go to these meetings. Chairman Loomis suggested they appoint 2-3 people to attend the meetings on a regular basis and others could attend on an individual basis if they wanted. Commissioner Bednarcyk suggested appointing an alternate also. Mr. Peck recommended that this Commission discuss this issue at the next meeting and decide to appoint one person, and possibly an alternate, to attend the meetings. He stated that it does not need to be a Commission member.