Citizens for Protection of Public Lands Comment on Recent Haddam P&Z Commission Meeting

If you came to Haddam’s recent Planning and Zoning (P&Z) Hearing expecting –even hoping for - banners, chanting, shouting, acrimony and more of the typical governmental stalemate and anger we witness almost everywhere these days—you would have been sorely disappointed.

Of course, there was a little tension in the air in the beginning of the night.

Grumbling began as more than one hundred people filed into the room. But, to be fair, the discontent could have had more to do with half the chairs being inaccessible than it did with anyone’s “issues.” Everyone seemed to settle in though, standing even two and three deep around the edges of the room, spilling into the doorways and chatting amiably.

Sadly, none of our selectmen showed up to this important and well attended Public Hearing.  Not Paul DeStefano, not Peter Arseneault, and not Bob Duval. 

Chairman Mal Gorin began by setting the ground rules: Comments about neither the “land swap,” nor the Riverhouse project in Tylerville would be heard that night. This hearing was only about the proposed changes to the zoning regulations; the developers had nothing to do with either of those issues, and the regulations had been in the works for three years.

Liz West Glidden, the town planner, then introduced the changes, reinforcing the Chairman’s comments by saying that they merely involved “updating,” “modernizing,” and “simplifying” the regulations, and “making them more user and business friendly.” 

Letters were read with comments about certain sections of Haddam’s proposed regulations, which could be problematic, from various land use attorneys, the Gateway Commission and the Connecticut River Estuary Regional Planning Agency. 

The citizens also made direct, intelligent and thoughtful questions and comments. 

Haddam’s citizens are very concerned about the direction the planning and zoning commission is taking with their proposed regulations and wanted clarification on many items.  

One question that was asked many times throughout the three hour long meeting, was how did hotels and theaters (live or movie) get put into the proposed regulations?  Whose idea was it?  The commission did not know the answer and deferred to Glidden who stated they were mere suggestions, “some people came into my office and suggested them.”

Other questions and comments pertained to Haddam’s Plan of Conservation and Development (POCD), which is the document that sets the guidelines for all planning in the town of Haddam. 

One of these comments specifically targeted the idea of zoning versus planning and how they are very different (many towns have two separate boards, one for planning and one for zoning) “As a rule you don’t make planning changes through zoning regulations; first you organize/update regulations, and then you plan using the Plan of Conservation and Development (POCD). Since there are many instances of new planning, not mere zoning, in these proposed regulations, we feel it would be best to remove any of the planning changes and leave the positive changes in the zoning code.” 

There were some differences of opinions shared between the citizens and the chairman about the overall plan and the wording in the POCD, and Chairman Gorin at one point stated, “The POCD is like the bible, you can find anything you want in there.”

Many continued on, pointing to specific passages in the POCD:

Strategies 

■ Encourage new commercial and higher density residential development to occur in the village centers of Haddam Center and Higganum in order to reinforce these villages as the center of Town and to guide development of this type to where infrastructure is in place to support it.

■ Encourage small-scale commercial infill development and lower density residential uses in the other villages to provide greater physical definition to the centers of these villages while protecting the undeveloped land surrounding them.

■ Where possible, pursue efforts to protect the remaining open space surrounding the villages and to preserve the historic settlement pattern of compact villages surrounded by open land.

These specific strategies were carefully vetted and discussed through a long process when the POCD was written 4 years ago.

Many residents wondered why the P&Z would stray from this carefully laid out plan for Haddam.

One resident asked for a straw poll to be taken to see how many of the 100 or so in the room thought hotels and theaters should come out of the proposed regulations and the room filled with a sea of raised hands.  The reverse question was asked and about 6 hands went up, four were those of the developers themselves.

Maybe you could say the night was kind of boring, unless you really care about the future of our town. If you do, you could not have avoided being excited, and swept up into that special place created by large numbers of people working together.

With good hearted and smart people working openly and diligently together, like at this recent Hearing, Haddam can really thrive economically while still preserving land for the next generation.

This is a winning combination in any situation, especially when it comes to planning the future of a community.

If this cooperation and openness continues, Haddam’s future is absolutely assured to be a bright one for every person and business in town.

Thank you for your concern for Haddam,

John Kennedy and Melissa Schlag

Citizens for Protection of Public Lands (CPPL)

www.landswap.org