Town Drafting Zoning Regulations for Possible New Avon Village Center Zone

Village center development on Avon Park North land would not be completed until 10 to 15 years from now, but before any building can begin the Planning and Zoning Commission would have to not only change the zoning for that property from an industrial park zone, but draft new zoning regulations entirely.

Town Planner Steven Kushner said in December that the commission and town want to do so “without dramatically changing character and feel of a village center. [Avon] is a small-town, New England village. There's no ambition to change that and make it more urban."

 The commission met on Feb. 8 for a workshop reviewing drafted zoning regulations for a new Avon Village Center Zone. The zone would allowed for mixed use and the master plan for developing an Avon Center includes retail stores, offices, restaurants and residential town houses in its conceptual site design.

"Through this planning process, it was recognized that Avon Center differs from the traditional concept of the New England town center in that it represents a historical composite of development rather than a formally designed area centered around a formal public open space," the second draft of the regulations state in the preamble. "The planning process has resulted in the development of the new Avon Village Center Zone with the intention to create a zone and associated regulations that permits flexibility in future development that will still adhere to design principles and standards that are supportive of Avon Center’s unique history and development pattern."

While the town is not looking to build a Blue Back Square like in West Hartford, Kushner described the design planning as "new urbanism," or "trying to create a mixed use environment that in some ways emulates vibrant town centers from year’s past."

The town hopes to draft regulations that are consistent with the historic value of Avon, that compliment the areas around the would-be village center, promote residential development for smaller households and families, follow low-impact development practices and adhere to Connecticut General Statutes, or the "Village Districts Act."

The mixed use development allowed in the village center would include retail stores; business and professional offices; medical offices; personal services; trade, business or commercial instruction services like martial arts and dance studios; hotels and other hospitality uses; financial institutions; municipal buildings and uses; recreation facilities and youth centers, educational and civic buildings and uses, multifamily residential units; Class I, II and III restaurants; and other uses that the commission deems appropriate.

Ensign-Bickford Realty, which used to own the brownstone town hall guildings, has 50 acres of undeveloped land in Avon Park North that the company is offering  the town to use for possible Avon village center development. The company would not be the developer for the center, but has been working with a planner for the past three years to develop a site plan. Since the Capitol Region Education Council (CREC) appears to be leaning toward the Apple Cider Mill property on Waterville road for an expanded Reggio Magnet School of the Arts, as opposed to a 10-acre site in Avon Park North, that leaves 10 acres for other development in the town center masterplan.

At a previous commission meeting on Jan. 25, member Donald Bonner strongly suggested that Ensign-Bickford consider building an entertainment center or theater that could draw performance acts and events to Avon.

“We have a very special opportunity to think as far as we want to think and make something unique that is its own," Bonner said at the meeting, " to make people from all over the region want to come here."

Many commission members echoed his suggestion. Linda Keith pointed to the Warner Theatre in Torrington as an example and expressed that a theater venue also allowed for possibility of more local artistic and musical expression.

"We have a town that has so much talented," Keith said, also recommending an outdoor "tiered" ampitheater with a stage, for "some of local talent to have, once in awhile, a place to be."

After more discussion on Feb. 8, the commission suggested adding "arts centers and performance venues," to the list of possible uses in a Village Center Zone.

The commission, in past discussions, has supported making a new village center pedestrian-friendly and a destination point for bikers passing through after a day of riding along the Farmington Valley Greenway. So, on Tuesday, the commission also requested the inclusion of walkway design in any site plans submitted.

Town centers used to be safer to walk in, but Avon's shopping districts, such as Riverdale Farms Shopping Center and Old Avon Village are divided by state highways like Route 10 and Route 44.

"In the '50s people started to gain a little bit of affluence," Kushner said in December. "They bought autombobiles and they could go elsewhere."

The hope of having an Avon Village Center is to draw people to Avon, and encourage residents to shop, dine and go out with friends and family locally.

In 2006, the Planning and Zoning Commission adopted a new plan of conservation and development, according to Kushner. The town is reviewing low-impact development options, so the second draft of the regulation revisions includes language about low-impact development for a village center zone.

That includes features like "hydrologic design elements," "permeable pavement and disconnected impervious surfaces;" "roadway, parking lot, driveway and pedestrian circulation design;" "structural design elements" like green roofs, rain water harvesting and foundation planting;" and landscaping design elements" like "soil amendments, street trees [and] selection of appropriate plant species."

No final decisions have been made on the draft and the village center zone has not been approved yet.