TOWN OF WILLINGTON
PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION
MINUTES OF JANUARY 22, 2004
A. Call to Order
Radell called the meeting to order at 7:40 p.m.
B. Roll Call
Members Present: T. Radell, Chairman
P. Latincsics, Vice-Chairman (arrived 7:45 p.m.)
M. Dinallo (alt.)
N. Gray (alt.)
A. St. Louis
R. Tulis (arrived 7:45)
Members Absent: M. Ellis, Secretary
T. Lough (alt.)
D. Lytwyn
P. Nevers
Also Present: S. Yorgensen, Planning and Zoning Agent
S. Nimerowski, Recording Clerk
C. Seat Alternates
Radell seated Gray for Nevers and Dinallo for Tulis.
Radell called for a re-ordering of the Agenda.
Since Tulis arrived at 7:45 p.m., Radell now seated Dinallo for Ellis.
D. Minutes
Several changes in the January 6 minutes were requested: on page 1, N. Gray was excused, not present; on page 2, Lough was not seated since he was not sworn in yet; on page 4, one-fourth of the way down, “Concerning 5.08.02, the consensus after discussion was that this does not have to do with three people,” should read, “Concerning 5.08.02.02, the consensus after discussion was that it did have to do with three people.”
MOTION: To approve minutes of January 6, 2004 as amended.
By: St. Louis Seconded: Latincsics
Result: Motion passes 5-0-1 (Gray abstains)
E. Correspondence
1. Letter dated December 11, 2003 from the State of Connecticut Office of Policy and
Management to All Recipients of the Draft Conservation and Development Policies
Plan of Connecticut, 2004-2009.
Correspondence was discussed.
PUBLIC HEARING
1. File #2003-46 – Application for a Regulation Change to the following Sections: 4.14,
4.14.01, 7.01.02, 7.01.04, 7.03.03 of the Town of Willington Zoning Regulations.
Applicant: John Patton. (Received 12/2/03; Public Hearing 1/20/04; Decision by
3/16/04.)
John Patton requested that Latincsics recuse himself. Tulis and St. Louis suggested that Latincsics recuse himself. Latincsics declined, saying he felt he could respond appropriately to the application. Mr. Patton said he would like the record to show that he was challenging Mr. Latincsics sitting on this application.
Mr. Patton said there are three parts to his application. The first has to do with allowing a gazebo or other such ornamental structure to be located in front of a house.
He said the second has to do with fences being suitably colored on the finished (neighbor’s) side.
He said the third concerns accessory buildings. Mr. Patton said that sometimes when you have a very large lot it makes sense to have the garage in front of the house, and being a distance from the road, “It doesn’t really matter.” He said there is a diversity of lots, so we should not have a one-size-fits-all regulation. He suggested that perhaps having a different zone for subdivisions would be appropriate.
A number of townspeople voiced their support of one or more of the proposed changes.
Charles Woodworth, Rt. 74, spoke in favor of the gazebo change. He said he was personally affected by the regulation currently in place. He said he went before the Zoning Board of Appeals, and although the gazebo would be 138 ft. from the state road, the ZBA turned him down.
David Woodward asked if the Commission could keep the gazebo changes specifically as gazebo changes and not get involved in discussing allowing other structures to be allowed in front of a house. He said that “otherwise this will get dragged out.”
Cheryl Woodward said she was in favor of this change.
Bob Wishenski spoke in favor of the change.
Dave Woodward said he didn’t see any reason to turn the gazebo request down.
Ken Uppling said he was also in favor of the gazebo change, but also was in favor of having a garage in front of a house if the lot was large. He said he has a large lot and his house is not facing the road. He said he knew of several others with the same situation. He said that the regulations don’t make sense. He said that in regard to the proposed fence regulation change, no one should be able to paint a fence an obnoxious color for the same reason that people put the good side of their fence towards their neighbor. He said that next door to his property American Eagle erected a “spite fence” and painted it bright pink. He said the fence was higher than code. He said that Willington zoning regulations are “not tax-payer friendly.”
Rob Hisey said he thought the proposed change to allow gazebos in the front yard should be “more inclusive” and allow other structures as well.
Stuart Cobb stated he was for proposed changes #1 and #3, saying that regulations need to have some degree of flexibility.
Jack Lewis said he was in favor of all three proposed changes, particularly the proposed gazebo change.
Mr. Patton said he didn’t want to broaden the proposed gazebo change; he just wanted to keep it ornamental structures such as gazebos.
Latincsics said he agreed with Atty. Branse’s commentary that it wouldn’t be necessary to limit changes to the regulations to just gazebos (#1). He said he would like to see the Commission apply the same standard to other accessory buildings.
Radell agreed. He said that concerning proposed change #2, regulating the color for fences could be “a slippery slope.” He said the town could do “just so much” regarding bad neighbor problems.
Cheryl Woodworth said that taxpayers should be able to paint their fence whatever color they want.
Jack Lewis said that if an applicant pays money to request a certain change, the Commission should give his or her money back if they broaden the change.
The applicant, John Patton, said he would want his application money back if his application was changed.
Yorgensen said that after the Public Hearing was closed, the Commission can modify an application to be more restrictive, to encompass less than what was requested, but the Commission can not expand the application. She said the Commission can not authorize giving the applicant’s money back
Gray asked why Mr. Patton requested a 500 ft. setback from the road for accessory buildings, and Mr. Patton replied that “it just seemed like a good round number.” He said he would be “more than happy” with 250 ft. or even 200 ft.
Tulis asked if a lot in front of a rear lot is 495 ft. deep, how far from the property line could a rear lot owner place an accessory building? He suggested having a setback from the property line included in the language for proposed change #3, and Mr. Patton agreed. Tulis said that according to current regulations, the setback would be 50 ft. from the property line.
St. Louis asked about the issue of harassment when making zoning decisions. Yorgensen replied that we don’t tell one person to follow the regulations and another not to. She said she has no control over whether or not people feel that they are being harassed because they are expected to follow the regulations. She explained the purpose of the Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) and how it works.
St. Louis said that he had the minutes of the Willington Zoning Board of Appeals meeting of October 9, 2003, and he was surprised that Charles Woodward was denied the variance.
Small shelters for children to wait for their school bus were briefly discussed.
St. Louis asked Yorgensen about the difference between a special exception and a variance when going before the Board of Appeals. Yorgensen said that a special exception does not have to require a hardship.
Radell said he thought that Mansfield has nothing stopping a property owner from putting a structure in front of a house as long as setbacks are followed. St. Louis said that we not only have to think about a property owner’s rights, but also about abutting property owners’ rights.
MOTION: To close the Public Hearing for File #2003-46.
By: Tulis Seconded: Gray
There was discussion about whether the Public Hearing should be closed or not. John Patton, the Applicant, said he felt there had been enough input and saw no reason to keep it open. Radell said we should close it but not decide on the application until the next meeting.
Result: Motion passes unanimously.
REGULAR MEETING
At 8:50 p.m. the Regular Meeting resumed.
MOTION: To amend Agenda to include File #2003-46 under Old Business.
By: St. Louis Seconded: Gray
Result: Motion passes unanimously.
F. New Business
1. File #2003-49 – Application for a modification of a preliminary site development plan
for a Designed Recreation zone for property at 150 Village Hill Road (Map 43, Lot 24,
Zone DR). Owner/Applicant: KMC, LLC. (Received 1/6/04; Decision by 3/2/04.)
2. File #2003-50 – Application for a special Permit and site development plan for a
campground including a caretaker residence, general store and banquet hall at 150
Village Hill Road (Map 43, Lot 24, Zone DR). Owner/Applicant: KMC, LLC.
(Received 1/6/04; Public Hearing on 2/17/04; Decision by 5/4/04.)
A Public Hearing is scheduled for February 17 on this application.
St. Louis said these two applications “go hand-in-hand.” File #2003-49 was tabled at the last meeting. File #2003-50 requires a Public Hearing; File #2003-49 does not.
MOTION: To table File #2003-49 to the next meeting.
By: St. Louis Seconded: Radell
Result: Motion passes unanimously.
G. Old Business
1. File #2003-46 – Application for a Regulation Change to the following Sections:
4.14, 4.14.01, 7.01.02, 7.03.03 of the Town of Willington Zoning Regulations.
Applicant: John Patton. (Received 12/2/03; Public Hearing 1/20/04; Decision
by 3/16/04.)
The Public Hearing was closed tonight on this application.
Tulis said he didn’t have a problem with the gazebo change. He said the more permanent the structure, the more restrictive the regulations should be. He said that regarding putting garages and other accessory buildings in front of houses, he would advise more caution.
There was a brief discussion about accessory buildings and their foundations.
There was discussion about regulations and special exceptions. Tulis said we don’t give special exceptions, but ZBA does. ZBA also holds Public Hearings to get input from neighbors. There was a brief discussion about Mansfield regulations. Yorgensen said we have to consider the worst-case scenario. She said we have to protect property values, and urged Commission members to keep this in mind.
Since she will not be at the next meeting, Yorgensen said she wanted the Commission to discuss File #2003-46 in case a motion needed to be drafted. She reminded that the members can make the wording more restrictive but not less so.
Radell said he had no problem with gazebos in front yards. He said that regulating fence colors is “a slippery slope.”
Tulis said any fence over 6 feet would still have to comply with building setback requirements. He said that any regulation could be written that states it cannot be changed by ZBA.
Yorgensen said that regulations should not be changed simply to suit a particular person, but rather they should be changed for the majority of the town.
Yorgensen said she had copies of wording that would change 4.05 unilaterally. St. Louis said to Radell that he didn’t think Radell had the authority to ask the Agent unilaterally to draft regulations. He said that the Commission should vote on pursuing changes of their own and maybe the Chair should put together a sub-committee to consider regulation changes.
Radell said he believed that the Board should always be looking in the book at the rules and regulations to improve them. He said if we see something wrong, we should change it.
Yorgensen said that printing many changes costs very little more than printing a few. Radell said it would be more time-effective also. Gray said we should make a note of proposed changes in the meetings and take care of them all at once. St. Louis said he didn’t think the regulations were “all that bad,” and had survived many legal challenges.
Yorgensen said the courts are very clear that you cannot have a rule in subdivision regulations that is not in the zoning regulations. She said everyone in respective zones has to be treated equally, no matter what section of town they live in.
St. Louis said the policy of the Commission has pretty much stayed the same for a long time. He said that the regulations have become less restrictive over the years. He said that people want to maintain the rural character of Willington.
H. Staff Report and Discussion
Yorgensen said she wanted to discuss the February 11 Land Use workshop with Atty. Branse. Tulis said he was at the Selectmen’s meeting earlier and that a change in Town Attorney was voted in.
There was discussion on this matter.
Tulis suggested that we pay Atty. Branse for the February 11 meeting if there’s any possibility he won’t continue as Land Use attorney.
Yorgensen said that all Commission members have been sworn in now.
I. Adjournment
MOTION: To adjourn at 10:20 p.m.
By: Dinallo Seconded: Latincsics
Result: Motion passes unanimously.
Respectfully Submitted,
Susan S. Nimerowski
Recording Clerk
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