Planning Proactively for Fairfield's Future

Roughly six months ago, Fairfield began a new chapter: one in which for the first time ever, we are planning proactively for our future. As Chair of our Plan & Zoning Commission, I want to update you on what we've been up to in that time.

First, some context. In 2025, two big things happened.

Subscribe

The first is that the Plan & Zoning Commission adopted a new ten-year plan for our town. The document was informed by public input gathered through countless meetings, workshops, emails, and hearings over the course of seven years. Notably, it had been twenty five years – a generation – since Fairfield last developed a true comprehensive plan.

The second is that Fairfield received a four-year reprieve from 8-30g, a 30-year-old state law that allows developers to bypass zoning regulations when proposing developments where 30% of units are below market rate. This is significant because the moratorium gives us breathing room to implement our ten-year plan.

One of the first actions we took was to add an additional meeting to our calendar every month dedicated to planning. While planning should be part of every meeting, there are timelines we are legally required to follow when considering applications that come before us. This means we often cannot get to planning items at our regular meetings. These additional planning meetings help address that challenge.

The next thing we did was to begin Town-initiated updates to our zoning based on the recommendations outlined in our ten-year plan. Historically, Fairfield has taken a reactive approach, mostly weighing in on zoning changes proposed by developers. Because developer-initiated changes typically are intended to facilitate specific projects, they sometimes have little to no relationship to the Town’s comprehensive plan and lead to development that feels haphazard and out of place. This new approach replaces that patchwork development with a cohesive vision informed by seven years of public input.

In February, we modernized the zoning regulations for our commercial districts, a top priority identified in our ten-year plan. That included the following:

• Changing maximum building heights from five stories down to four stories while allowing an additional two feet of height to promote the 15-foot ground floors that retailers are looking for today.
• Updating front setback requirements to bring shops and restaurants forward toward the sidewalk and move the parking behind the buildings, creating a more pedestrian-friendly environment.
• Eliminating the antiquated regulation that required buildings to use not just their ground floors but half of their total floors for commercial use, despite the lack of demand for second-floor office space.
• Allowing a modest two or three floors of apartments above ground-floor retail.
• Updating the list of allowed uses to exclude automotive uses like gas stations (does not eliminate existing gas stations), which are some of the largest contributors to traffic congestion.

These updates will help address the need for housing without relying on high-rise apartment buildings, particularly in neighborhoods currently made up of single-family homes. It would also add foot traffic along Post Road and create a more welcoming pedestrian experience. These changes support our small businesses and contribute to a more dynamic commercial corridor that is active closer to 24/7.

The changes will also boost the value of the commercial space. This is important, because as we’ve all by now seen through the revaluation process, commercial property values have not risen at the same rate as residential property values.

In March, the Commission adopted new parking regulations, another priority in our ten-year plan. The new regulations include two main changes: :

• Allowing adjacent commercial properties to enter shared-parking agreements.
• Replacing parking mandates for residential buildings with parking recommendations.

These measures right-size our parking requirements by easing the excessive mandates that have given us massive, underutilized asphalt lots like those at the former Bob’s shopping center and Floor & Decor/Aldi.

Next, we'll be updating our architectural design standards. Insufficient standards have allowed developments that do not reflect the level of architectural design Fairfield residents expect and deserve. Updating these regulations will elevate the aesthetic quality of the buildings that come before us.

Collectively, these updates are the most significant actions Fairfield's Plan & Zoning Commission has proactively undertaken in at least a generation. And notably, they'll help empower Fairfield to maintain its reprieve from 8-30g developments not just for another five years after the current moratorium expires, but potentially indefinitely, if it chooses.

This current moratorium came too late and not from proactive planning, but largely from housing that required no approval from Fairfield’s Town Plan & Zoning Commission. That failed approach is over for now. Instead, we're taking control of our own destiny, planning for our future and working proactively toward it. I'm confident that Fairfield’s future is a bright one.

Tom Corsillo, Fairfield

Corsillo is Chairman of Fairfield’s Town Plan & Zoning Commission. His opinions are his own and do not reflect the position of the Commission.