Housatonic Valley Regional Plan of Conservation and Development

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1-2 INTRODUCTION AND MAP OF THE FUTURE

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION TO PLAN AND REGION
1-1. Why have a regional plan, 1-2. Fundamental development factors of soil, slope and wetness, Topographic Overview Map, 1-3. Land development today, Constraints on Development Map, Land Use by Satellite Foldout Map, 1-4. Demographic overview, 1-5. Overview of conformance to state statute.

CHAPTER 2: FUTURE GROWTH MAP
2-1. Definition of Responsible Growth, 2-2. Future Growth Map categories, Future Growth Foldout Map, Natural Diversity Data Base Map, 2-3. Comparing regional and state plan map categories, 2-4. Evolution of the state plan map.

 

3-6 BUILD ADEQUATE INFRASTRUCTURE:

CHAPTER 3: WATER SUPPLIES AND WATER RESOURCES
3-1. Potential intermunicipal water supplies, 3-2. Inventory of water supply sources, 3-3. Protecting water supply sources, 3-4. Water supply transmission and service areas, 3-5. Shrinking supplies due to global warming, 3-6. Quality goals for water bodies, 3-7. Quality goals for groundwater, 3-8. Stormwater quality management, 3-9. Wetlands preservation, 3-10. Water supply recommendations, 3-11. Water resource recommendations.

CHAPTER 4: WASTEWATER TREATMENT OPTIONS
4-1. Wastewater treatment thru sewers, Sewers and Growth Foldout Map, 4-2. Wastewater treatment thru on site subsurface disposal systems, 4-3. Wastewater treatment thru community disposal systems, 4-4. Wastewater treatment recommendations.

CHAPTER 5: UPGRADE TRAFFIC CAPACITY AND TRANSIT
5-1. Introduction, 5-2. HART bus service, 5-3. Rail passenger service plan, 5-4. The roadway system, Classification of Roadways Map, 5-5. Major highway corridors, 5-6. Transportation projects by municipality, 5-7. Air service, 5-8. Transportation recommendations.

CHAPTER 6: CURB GLOBAL WARMING
6-1. Introduction, 6-2. Regulations and planning for energy conservation, 6-3. Curb global warming recommendations.

7-8 COORDINATE HOUSING AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT:

CHAPTER 7: MORE AFFORDABLE HOUSING
7-1. Overview, 7-2. Affordable housing recommendations.

CHAPTER 8: SUSTAINING THE REGIONAL ECONOMY
8-1. Introduction, 8-2. Business growth and the tax base, Zoning Patterns Foldout Map, 8-3. Economic development and zoning, 8-4. Marketing Danbury as the dynamic regional center, 8-5. Marketing New Milford as the main regional subcenter, 8-6. Marketing proximity to NYC, 8-7. Highlight advantages of I-684/I-84 corridor in Metro New York, 8-8. Highlight advantages of I-84 access westward, 8-9. Economic development recommendations.

9-12 PLAN FOR A HIGH QUALITY OF LIFE:

CHAPTER 9: OPEN SPACE AND RECREATION
9-1. Introduction, 9-2. Municipal inventory of open space assets, 9-3. Greenways, 9-4. DEP’s green plan, 9-5. Public Act 490, 9-6. Traditional subdivision process, 9-7. Conservation subdivisions, 9-8. Open space set asides, 9-9. Preserving farmland, 9-10. Inland wetland permit conditions, 9-11. Abate taxes in exchange for transfer of development rights, 9-12. Recommendations.

CHAPTER 10: MIX SOME LAND USES
10-1. Mixing land uses, 10-2 Inventory of zones currently allowing mixed use, 10-3. Design guidelines for mixing land uses, 10-4. Recommendations for mixed land use.

CHAPTER 11: TRANSIT ORIENTED DEVELOPMENT
11-1. Introduction, 11-2. Locate density and mixed use development at transit hubs, 11-3. TOD planning principles and supporting municipal regulations, 11-4. Site evaluations for potential TOD, 11-5. Goals for transit oriented development.

CHAPTER 12: PEDESTRIAN ACCESS
12-1. Introduction, 12-2. Inventory of pedestrian policies, 12-3. Recommendations for pedestrian policies.

THE POLICY SUMMARY FROM
EACH CHAPTER IS SHOWN BELOW:

CHAPTER 2 FUTURE GROWTH MAP GOALS:
Municipalities should balance and complement one another within a regional context as recommended by the Responsible Growth definitions and Future Growth Map categories of this plan.

CHAPTER 3 WATER SUPPLY GOALS:
Encourage efforts to provide adequate, high quality water supplies to the Region.

1. Strongly support the preservation thru land use regulation of existing and potential surface water supply watersheds and subsurface aquifers as vital reserves of future water supply.

2. Encourage efficient interconnections of existing water supply systems and inter-municipal cooperation on water supply.

3. Include in the Plan potential water supply improvements proposed by municipalities, HVCEO or state agencies. This listing is to set the regional planning agenda for upcoming water supply studies and policy formulation.

4. Encourage clean water supplies in developing areas through minimizing development impacts on groundwater recharge.

5. Encourage water conservation improvements such as flow meters, efficient fixtures and usage practices. Promote educational efforts that encourage water conservation.

6. Municipalities in the Housatonic Valley Region should now plan for the fact that upcoming global warming will reduce the expected safe yield of surface reservoir and groundwater aquifer water supplies. Recalculate safe yields using more conservative factors.

CHAPTER 3 WATER RESOURCE GOALS:
Protect the long term health of the region's water resources.

1. Support the state goal of B quality, appropriate for fishing and swimming, for the region's wastewater receiving streams and the goal of A or AA quality appropriate for all others.

2. Use the HVCEO GIS program to assist with mapping data for municipal stormwater management efforts. Review local zoning regulations to comply with the CT DEP Stormwater Management Plan and the CT DEP Stormwater Manual.

3. Clean up and remove environmental limitations from all brownfield sites in the Region. These are defined as real property, the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of which may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant.

4. Plan and manage natural resources on the basis of watershed boundaries.

5. Coordinate state and local efforts to improve water quality in the region.

6. Consider downstream water quality impacts when making local land use decisions.

7. Municipal wetland agencies should develop an overall set of policy guidelines that provide performance standards and limitations for all properties in their jurisdictions and that identify the scope of work that is acceptable in and around wetland areas.

CHAPTER 4 WASTEWATER TREATMENT GOALS:
Encourage coordination between local water pollution control authorities, which guide the geographic extent of local sewer development, and local planning commissions, as they prepare the municipal plan of conservation and development.

1. Cite as a good example of internal municipal coordination the New Milford Water Pollution Control Authority, which uses as its expansion guide the future sewer area map adopted by the New Milford Planning Commission in the municipal Plan of Conservation and Development.

2. As HVCEO and state plans recommend areas for sewer expansion and avoidance, consider this input when setting municipal sewer expansion policies in the municipal plan.

While the HVCEO Future Growth Map for sewered areas is advisory, the state plan map is a very strong influence on CT OPM and CT DEP as their approval is sought for sewer service area expansions. Coordinate local and HVCEO future sewered area policy and then seek to amend the state plan map to conform.

3. Following the Newtown example, expand the use of community leaching fields to promote creative development and open space preservation.

4. Where planned density does not require sewers, subsurface septic systems are the remaining method for treating wastewater. Encourage conservative design of septic systems such that they function in perpetuity, permanently avoiding the unplanned spread of sewers for remediation of last resort.

5. Encourage periodic septic tank cleaning. Regular septic tank maintenance is the single most important step to extend the life of the system.

6. Continue to support efficient and cost-effective regional treatment of septic tank residue (septage). A regional septage disposal system planned by HVCEO has been operating at the City of Danbury's Water Pollution Control Facility since 1988 and serves Bethel, Bridgewater, Brookfield, Danbury, New Fairfield, Newtown and Redding.

7. Encourage water conservation by businesses and households in order to reduce the amount of wastewater effluent to be treated. Promote the policy that water conservation extends the life of sewage treatment plants and septic systems and helps to protect water quality throughout the region.

CHAPTER 5 TRANSPORTATION GOALS:
Develop a transportation network for our growing region that is consistent with well planned patterns of land development and that effectively integrates energy conservation, air quality goals, environmental quality and environmental mitigation.

1. Implement the detailed recommendations of the HVCEO Regional Transportation Plan.

2. Promote a better balance between transportation modes, such that the share for automobile travel of total travel can decline in the future. Facilitate convenient pedestrian movements, mixed use and transit oriented developments.

3. Consider downstream transportation impacts when making local land use decisions.

4. Use transportation investments to support the economic vitality of the region, especially by enabling business competitiveness, productivity and efficiency. Coordinate the transportation system with local and state goals for enhancing economic vitality.

5. For the Region’s transportation system as a whole enhance physical and modal integration and connectivity, increase safety and security, and promote efficient system management and operation.

6. Work to maximize the productivity of existing transportation systems before such systems are expanded.

7. Increase accessibility and mobility options for people and freight. Promote a shift away from the one person per car situation and toward increased vehicle occupancy via continuous advocacy of public transit, car and van pooling.

CHAPTER 6 GOALS FOR CURBING GLOBAL WARMING:
Update town plans and land use regulations to curb energy use and moderate global warming.

1. Consider the planning, zoning and LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) strategies recommended in this Plan chapter.

2. The Housatonic Valley Region leads Connecticut in the production of “green” hydropower. It is also a leader in fuel cell technology. The Region can build upon this distinction to become a leader in other alternative energy strategies.

CHAPTER 7 AFFORDABLE HOUSING GOALS:
Expansion of housing opportunities and design choices to accommodate the region's variety of household types and needs.

1. Municipal planning should strive to balance economic growth with appropriate housing choices for the work force that is part of the local economic base in the municipality.

2. Both housing opportunities and design choices should be expanded in each municipality to accommodate a variety of household types and needs, especially newly forming households and senior citizens.

Single family affordable housing development on
Tannery Brook Road in Litchfield, at 6.4 units per acre.

3. Connecticut’s affordable housing land use appeals statute, Chapter 126a, Section 8-30g forcefully overrides local zoning. Yet this law has turned out to be a sprawl inducer, and thus has a significant negative impact upon municipalities. HVCEO will continue to lobby for specific changes to this law.

4. See the text for details on recommended Housatonic Valley Region initiatives.

5. See the text for details on recommended Local Government initiatives.

CHAPTER 8 GOALS FOR SUSTAINING THE REGIONAL ECONOMY:
Diversified economic growth producing quality jobs and tax revenue, well coordinated with other Regional Plan elements.

1. The Housatonic Region's most important economic resource is its highly skilled workforce. The greatest risks to the regional economy are loss of current skilled employees or an inability to attract more.

2. Congestion on I-84 will reach a critical point where the productivity of this interstate, a pillar of the locational advantage of the Housatonic Valley Region, is damaged. The private sector productivity gains of recent decades due to "just in time delivery" and digital inventory control will be dissipated due to traffic congestion. To prevent these problems develop I-84 traffic management and I-84 traffic capacity expansion strategies.

3. Encourage plans for affordable housing to match the housing needs of planned economic growth. It is clear that communities must retain a workforce to support the local economy as well as to have households at different points in the life cycle to support overall quality of life. Development decisions cannot be based solely on a “debits and credits” financial ledger approach.

As the energy and environmental costs of journey to work distances increase, the availability of housing more proximate to employment centers will become a crucial economic and planning determinant in the Region.

4. HVCEO will use its federal transportation funding programming powers to assist with economic development, and will continually update traffic improvement planning reports for each community.

5. Encourage further investment in established commercial centers at a degree of intensity appropriate to the character of each individual community. Maximize local control of aesthetic design, consider mixed use projects, and facilitate pedestrian links within these centers.

6. Market the Region’s locational advantages, such as its proximity to both national/international markets (New York City) and important regional markets (Hartford, Hudson Valley, Stamford-Norwalk-Bridgeport).

7. Improved rail connections to Stamford and New York City should be vigorously pursued, coupled with restoration of passenger rail service north to New Milford and the placement of transit oriented development at some rail stations.

8. Foster connectivity between key employment sectors in the Region, such as healthcare and precision manufacturing, with secondary and post-secondary educational institutions to provide a continuous stream of skilled workers for critical industries in the Region.

9. The impacts of federal regulation of the large hydropower industry in the Region remains a significant special issue requiring attention from elected leaders. Seek ways to make hydropower a building block of future economic development.

10. Recognize the region's remaining agricultural areas as viable economic assets.

11. Work with state and federal agencies having authority over the siting of telecommunications, energy facilities and air service routes to achieve a balance between the need for expanded services and preservation of the natural environment and community character.

12. To assist with effective marketing of the region, HVCEO will:
A. Maintain a demographic and economic overview and its supporting tables, documenting the high quality of life here. As industries driven by intellectual capital such as research, technology and services still need face to face idea collaboration they can be attracted here by the documented high quality of life.

B. Keep current a web listing of local economic development groups including chambers of commerce, economic development commissions, etc. to facilitate access to local economic development officials.

C. Keep current a list of major employers by municipality to showcase the quality and variety of the regional economy.

CHAPTER 9 OPEN SPACE AND RECREATION GOALS:
Preserve ample open space and develop recreational opportunities for the Region's future population.

1. The Housatonic Council's top regional open space preservation priority is the state purchase of a conservation restriction from Northeast Utilities for Vaughn's Neck in Candlewood Lake.

The Vaughn’s Neck and adjacent Candlewood Mountain area comprises 710 acres in New Fairfield and New Milford and is the largest contiguous track of Northeast Utilities property on Candlewood Lake, itself the largest lake in Connecticut.

Pristine Vaughn's Neck in Candlewood Lake

If the property were to be developed, then the recreational and aesthetic quality of Candlewood Lake would be greatly reduced, affecting property values as well as the enjoyment of thousands throughout the Region and beyond.

Also, water quality of one of Connecticut’s premier inland water resources could be impaired. Important wildlife habit would be threatened, as well as one of Connecticut’s important fisheries.

Additional regional open space preservation priorities include:

PRESERVE TERRE HAUTE. Complete the process of protecting this attractive wild and scenic area along the Danbury and Bethel border.

COMPLETE THE RIDGEFIELD - DANBURY - BETHEL IVES TRAIL. Proceed with the purchase of privately owned properties (or purchase of conservation / public access agreements) that will link the public open space properties along the Ives Trail.

Detail of Ives Trail in Danbury
Courtesy of Rick DeWitt

COMPLETE THE DANBURY - BROOKFIELD - NEW MILFORD STILL RIVER GREENWAY AND HOUSATONIC VALLEY RIVER TRAIL. This priority is for the purchase of privately owned properties (or purchase of conservation / public access agreements) that will link public open space properties in Danbury, Brookfield and New Milford to create the regional Still River Greenway.

2. Provide adequate open space in built up areas by providing for small public greens and pocket parks, enhancing existing public greens, and promoting street tree programs.

3. All municipalities should make available the option of cash payment in lieu of open space in traditional residential subdivisions, as authorized by State Statute Chapter 126 Section 8-25b.

Such funds received from developers are available for surveys, appraisals and conservation easements, as well as for the more traditional purchase of development rights or full public purchase.

4. Support the use of open space conservation subdivision regulations, which allow a greater percentage of land to be preserved for open space. In doing so use make use of Newtown's leading research on this technique.

5. Include farmland preservation in open space planning efforts, to retain the region's history of agriculture as well as to provide local produce and educational opportunities.

6. There are two regional recreation features for which HVCEO will provide direct management assistance: 1 ) HVCEO will provide permanent web site hosting for the Housatonic Valley River Trail. 2) HVCEO will provide permanent web site hosting for the Ives Trail Greenway.

7. HVCEO will maintain a web based inventory of open space and conservation organizations in the region to promote them and to facilitate their interaction.

8. Promote the acquisition of open space land through the DEP Open Space Grant Program. HVCEO staff will provide an individualized letter of support to each applicant.

9. Promote temporary open land protection through tax assessment abatement programs (Public Act 490).

Thomas Peardon Farm in Bridgewater

10. Consider viewshed protection, based on examples such as the zoning methodology for protecting viewsheds in Kent, CT or as found in the Woodbury, CT subdivision regulations.

11. Encourage municipalities to create an inventory of conservation easements already exiting in their municipality and then map them, thereby enhancing coordinated open space and greenway planning.

12. HVCEO's GIS mapping services will be made available for a) local land preservation efforts, and b) CT DEP's emerging Statewide Trails Database by providing digital input of this area's trails.

13. As noted above, grant applicants to DEP are advised to remind that agency of the way in which statewide open space acquisition policy was organized on a regional basis some years ago:

In DEP’s 1987-1992 Statewide Comprehensive Outdoor Recreation Plan (SCORP), land preservation needs were assessed on a planning region by planning region basis.

The SCORP concluded that “a consideration of all the foregoing factors have made acquisition of public open space in the Housatonic Valley Planning Region this SCORP’s highest priority among all of the state’s planning regions.”

CHAPTER 10 MIXED LAND USE GOAL:
Reintroduce into municipal zoning codes some controlled mixing of compatible land uses in select locations. Use this technique as part of transit oriented development to increase the market for rail passenger service.

Proposed Brookfield Village mixed use center

CHAPTER 11 TRANSIT ORIENTED DEVELOPMENT GOAL:
HVCEO's TOD goal is to reinforce, intensify and foster mixed use neighborhoods at existing and proposed passenger rail stations and at HART’s central bus transfer station in Downtown Danbury. New mixed use development at those locations should be designed to utilize and benefit from the presence of public transit services.

CHAPTER 12 PEDESTRIAN ACCESS GOAL:
To significantly increase sidewalk development and improve pedestrian amenities in the Region, especially in coordination with mixed use and transit oriented developments.

1. HVCEO should continue to develop pedestrian plans for municipalities.

 

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

• Inspiration, formats and policy models borrowed from leading regional plans in Connecticut, especially those of the Council of Governments of the Central Naugatuck Valley, the Capitol Region Council of Governments and the Windham Region Council of Governments.
• Danbury Planning Director Dennis Elpern for valuable advice on plan structure and content as described in his article "Ten Tips for Better Plans."
• Sherman First Selectman Andrea O'Connor for rigorous grammatical review and topical tips.
• Consultant Richard Harrall for chapter reviews and housing elements.
• Consultant Jack Kozuchowski for assistance with environmental sections.
• Deputy Director David Hannon for creative support.