During the 2006-2007 Fiscal Year, the major focus of the South Windsor Planning and Zoning Commission was the comprehensive update of the Town’s Zoning Regulations to modernize, update and streamline the rules and procedures governing land use in the Town of South Windsor. The Commission paid special attention to regulations governing signs and the keeping of farm animals, which were both areas which received a great deal of public input. The revisions to the sign regulations also incorporated a great deal of input from the South Windsor Chamber of Commerce to address the needs of the local business community.
The initial drafting of the regulations was done by a subcommittee which included Commissioners Kevin McCann, Sue Larsen, Tim Wentzell and Suzanne Choate. After the regulations were brought to a public hearing and public input was received, a subcommittee consisting of Commissioners Cliff Slicer, Gary Bazzano and Suzanne Choate worked on revisions to the draft regulations to incorporate that input. Many thanks to those Commissioners for the many hours of work which they devoted to this highly successful project.
A major project which was approved by the Commission was the Aldi’s distribution facility located on an industrially zoned parcel of land on Rye Street. The Commission spent many hours hearing and considering the proposal and paid particular attention to ensuring that the reconstruction of Rye Street, which the applicant had agreed to finance, is done to Town standards and that trucks will be kept out of residential areas. This project will generate substantial economic development benefits to the Town for years to come thanks to the effects of the Town Manager, Economic Development Coordinator, Town Council and Economic Development Commission.
Finally, two proposals were made to change the regulations to allow apartments in the Gateway Zone, which were expected to be located in Evergreen Walk. The Commission rejected an initial proposal to allow stand-alone apartment buildings in the Gateway Zone but later approved a regulations change to allow a much smaller number of apartments to be located in a “mixed-use” development intermingled with retail and office space.
As always, the Commission made every effort to act on applications expeditiously and efficiently so as to avoid unnecessary cost and delay to applicants while protecting the safety and welfare of the public.
Patrick L. Kennedy
Chairperson
Source: 2006-2007 Annual Report
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