Public hearing closed!
P&Z is holding a special meeting June 10, 2019 at 6 PM to review comments from the May 20th hearing.
Click here {cancelled_planning_and_zoning_commission_regular_meeting_06-03-2019} for public notice.
Public hearing closed!
P&Z is holding a special meeting June 10, 2019 at 6 PM to review comments from the May 20th hearing.
Click here {cancelled_planning_and_zoning_commission_regular_meeting_06-03-2019} for public notice.
On Monday May 20th 6 PM, at the Helen Keller Cafetorium, P&Z will hold a hearing on the proposed zoning regulations.
We are very concerned with these regulations as they restrict how homeowners may use their properties including but not limited to restrictions on home businesses, storage of boats , trailers and other recreational vehicles. Also included are descriptions of permissible businesses in the newly created Easton Village District.
See the prior post below (CitizensforEaston.org) for a link to the Draft Regulations.Please consider attending this very important public hearing.
Monday May 20th 6 PM, Helen Keller Cafetorium
Click here {Proposed Zoning Regulations} for public notice and click below to view proposed regulations
Posted in Easton Government, Town meetings
Do you cherish what makes Easton a special oasis amidst the bustle of Fairfield County? P&Z is considering a “Village District” in the proposed update of the Easton Plan of Conservation and Development (click here for more info) that could allow new commercial businesses in the Firehouse Green, Route 59 and Silverman’s Farm area such as small retail, specialty shops, restaurants, farm/garden centers, craft centers, businesses, professional offices, and public buildings.
P&Z will hold a public meeting on the draft on Wednesday, June 20, 7 p.m. at Helen Keller Middle School.
Existing retail establishments in town predate current zoning restrictions adopted in the 1940s when the town forefathers wisely enacted one- and three-acre residential zoning to control development and protect the watershed. With increasing stresses on the watershed and development pressures, it is more important than ever to retain our existing zoning.
I oppose the proposed amendment to current zoning regulations to create a new district called a “Town Green Center” at the intersection of Sport Hill Road, Center Road and Banks Road.
I oppose this amendment for the following reasons:
Thank you for your time and consideration. James Riling 265 North Park Avenue. Easton, CT 06612
As an Easton taxpayer, I feel privileged to be among the custodians of a precious gem of 21st century New England: our rural oasis from strip-mall sprawl. My mate and I bought our home here three years ago with great admiration for our new neighbors and predecessors who have had the fortitude to preserve Easton’s rural character.
In the Pennsylvania farm town where I grew up, my siblings and I loved bicycling the 2 miles along our “Sport Hill Road” past cornfields to the village store, and my mother endured a 30-minute drive to Delaware for grocery shopping. Today, three decades later, my parents battle traffic to drive within 3 miles to any one of 6 supermarkets, 8 mega pharmacies, 7 gas stations, and 17 car dealerships. The road is too busy for kids on bikes, the old village store is a bustling bistro, and, with the acres of nearby farms and woods gone, you can hear distant highway traffic from the back yard.
The business district that has been proposed here might seem a “sleepy” or “low-key” project. But changing town zoning regulations to allow commercial expansion in Easton would betray the vision of our forebears and corrode our legacy. In under a decade we would have dismissed the thoughtful 2006 Easton Town Plan of Conservation and Development that townspeople spent five years composing.
Some are under the impression that new mom & pop shops would reduce homeowners’ tax burdens. Citizens For Easton has already debunked that myth; their data show that the opposite could occur (see citizensforeaston.org).
Based on the Easton Courier’s recent reports, others support a business district because the developer is well intentioned. Perhaps he is. But the decision about a zoning amendment should be based not on his character, but on our town’s, which could be changed forever. No matter how architecturally charming, there is abundant evidence in our county and across the country that there would be no turning back after our first shopping center is installed.
If you share my concern, voice your opinion to the Planning & Zoning Board at the town meeting at Helen Keller Middle School on Wednesday, May 29 at 7:30 p.m.
Adrienne Jane Burke-291 North Park Avenue-Easton