Plan & Zoning Commission - Regular Meeting

All right. Good evening again, commissioners. In accordance with our bylaws, the first meeting after the bianual election starts with an organizational meeting. The purpose of the organizational meeting for I am John Coleman. I'm director of building and land use and your senior staff member. Uh the purpose of the organizational meeting is the election of officers. There are two officers to be elected. The chairperson and the secretary. The procedure for electing officers is that a member a regular member of the commission shall do a nomination. Once the nominations are closed, all members, both regular and alternates, can vote on the nominations. So, at this point, first of all, congratulations to all of you um for those who reelected and for those who have are continuing to serve your term and for your willingness to uh put in the time and effort and consideration to serve the community of Bloomfield. I will entertain a motion uh for um I would entertain nominations for the election of chairperson.

Mr. Coleman, I would like to nominate Byron Lester for chairperson. Mr. Lester, is there a second? Motion is made and seconded to nominate Mr. Byron Leser. Are there any other nominations? I would entertain a motion for the nominations be closed. All in favor? I nomination before us is Mr. Byron Lester. All those in favor of Mr. Dian Lester being reelected as chairperson of the town plan zoning commission, please say I. I. I. Opposed? I. Was that an I or?

It was an I. Okay. It is unanimous. Congratulations, Mr. Chairman. I will now entertain uh nominations for the position of secretary. Chairman, I nominate I nominate Renee James for secretary. And I'll I'll second that nomination. Motion is made and seconded to nominate Renee James. Are there any other nominations? I would move the nominations be closed. Motion. Is there a second? Second. All in favor of closing nominations? I. Thank you. All in favor of the nomination of Renee James as secretary of the Bloomfield Town Plan and Zoning Commission. I

I opposed. It's unanimous. Congratulation, Madam Secretary. Mr. Chairman, the meeting is yours. Thank you, John. At this time, I'd like to call a regular meeting to order. Uh Bloomfield Town Planning and Zoning Commission regular meeting Thursday, November 20th at approximately 7:09 p.m. Uh first item on the agenda is a roll call. Byron Lester here. Renee James here. Dwight Bolton here.

Leon Peters here virtually. Unmute. Unmute. Okay. Here. Thank you. Steven Mallette here. Jennifer Marshall Neely here. Kevin Goff here. Ola absent. Roger O'Brien here. Ununice Medinter here. We have a quorum. Hey, thank you. Uh, next item on the agenda is the approval of the minutes for the October 23rd, 2025 meet. Uh, 2025. Is there a motion to approve?

So move. Second. It's been moved and second. Any corrections or further discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor signify by saying I. I. I.

Oppose. Extension. Chair vai. Next item on the agenda is a public hearing and I'd like to ask the secretary if she would read the legal notice 1151 Blue Hills Avenue zone change application to allow a zone map change from a professional office district pod and residential district R15 to a development district zone 2 DDZ2 with related master plan applicant and property owner First Baptist Church of Hartford.

Hey, thank you. Uh before we start our public hearing, I just want to go over our procedures on how we conduct our public hearing. Uh we first hear a presentation from the applicant. We'll then hear comments from our director. We'll then we'll then take questions from the audience. We'll take questions from the commission. We'll have comments from the audience. We'll take comments from the commission. and the applicant would have one last chance to make any closing remarks before we close the public hearing. With that said, uh can you introduce yourself? [clears throat] Me share here.

Good evening ladies and gentlemen. For the record, my name is Francis Vaka. I am a professional engineer at the BAC group in Glenbury, Connecticut Glastonbury, Connecticut. I'm here on behalf of the First Cathedral and Grow America as well as uh the development team. We are here for the First Cathedral uh in an application for zoning map amendment for the property. We are here to respectfully request approval of a zoning map amendment for the property located at 1151 Blue Hills Avenue from shared zone R15 NPOD to design development zone 2 and they are in accordance with regulations section [clears throat] uh 9.7 zoning map amendment uh section 5.6 six which is the design development zone 2 and the Bloomfield plan of conservation development project team for the project is first cathedral pastor Loya Bailey III who is the executive pastor also with me this evening uh from Grow America uh who we have some attendees online if there are any questions with regard to that but uh Matt Wexler and the rest of the uh development team for uh Grow America which is more part of the housing portion of the development which I'll speak about a bit later. Myself from BC Group, uh Paul B. Bailey, architect, uh Paul Bailey, the owner, and Susan Odell, who I believe should be online if there are any questions with regard to architecture. And then the land use attorney for the project, David Marowitz, uh from Hasset and George.

Okay. Excuse me before you go any further. Sure. Now, just keep in mind this is not a site plan application. Yep. Okay. So, when you start talking about architect design and so forth and so on, we're not going to get into that. Nope. I understand. Okay. I did uh bear with me this evening. I did just change everything completely around just now because uh Blinda did uh indicate that to me. So I've morphed my presentation so that I will focus entirely on the map amendment only next month when you come in. Very good. There you go.

Absolutely. So again uh and and I was going to say that we have a brief background in the first cathedral but again we can have uh pastor Bailey present that at another time. uh he did present that at the informational meeting. I will briefly go over the existing site conditions and uh I will focus on the map amendment development to uh DDZ2. This is the property in question that we had spoken about previously. The first cathedral located to the north of the property. Um the south portion uh is currently existing playfields and then an existing auxiliary parking lot. The view you see right here is an orth or orthographic survey which was flown by a drone, a survey drone. Basically, it's the same view as previously, although this is horizontally accurate per scale. I'm just presenting here what the property boundary is. The property is 40.51 acres in totality. There are some wetlands identified here in green uh that are on the southern portion of the site. And then this area in red is a recorded conservation easement. The property currently is zoned R15 on the western edge of the property and then PO zone on the eastern edge of the property including portions of the church. The random delineation line is from uh historic delineation. There was a proposed development that actually did not come to fruition and we are requesting this conversion of the 40.51 acre lot to entirely DDZ2. As part of this request for the design development zone, uh we are essentially the the focus we were going for the intent is the creation of a combined work service residential environment that promotes the maintenance and quality of open space, reduces traffic, enhances the quality quality and proximity of facilities to its employees

and it is governed by a master plan which is uh what was presented and I should say which was submitted to uh the town and what I will Briefly reviewing bulk requirements associated with a development for DDZ2 is minimum 10 acre lot with 150 ft of width 50T front yard, side uh 25 ft sideyard, 50ft rear yard and maximum height which is important in this case is uh 60 ft or five stories. The principal uses that we will be pursuing for this that I will describe in my land use uh page essentially would be we are focusing uh and these are authorized by site plan. We are focusing on category 2 land use type. I am calling it a medical clinic or facility. It's associated with the type of use for the development. This will be for phase two. I'll explain that. Category five which is churches, schools and daycare facilities. category 7 which is multif family dwelling units and then category 8 which is a accessory use in this case a storage facility. So the overall master plan identifies where the church church to the north with the empowerment center which is going to be land use areas two and five. The southern portion on the eastern side is land use area seven and five which is the affordable housing and community daycare for phase two which is on the north portion of this where the uh magenta line delineates two separate parcels. The south portion is land use area 7 which is the affordable housing component and then uh land use area 8 which is the auxiliary parking and accessory storage portion on the uh southwestern portion of the property. This is essentially the land use plan that I just submitted. All the

information was was submitted to the commission uh in the correct time frame. It was essentially all written into the project narrative. So I have included this as a graphical representation and this plan was submitted to Linda on Tuesday to provide uh clarity on on everything that was uh verbally identified in the um in the uh uh project narrative. The area in yellow is land use area I had incorrectly put this on the land use plan. I had identified it as area one. It is actually land use area 2 5 and 8 which associates with c the permitted land uses of the category 2 5 and 8 because of the northern the northern portion which is the existing church attached to the church is the empowerment center. The empowerment center would be uh basically counseling services workforce training and that type of uh that type of land use. And then eight would be the storage is the accessory storage portion. So it's the land use area for accessory storage associated with the church development and that's identified in the yellow here for the for this future lot. Lot area two which is category 7 land use area 7 is the affordable housing component. It is 101 units with a maximum development of 133,000 square ft of building development. And again these have multif family units with studios uh one and twobedroom units. And then the final land use area we are identifying is for the third proposed parcel which is land use area five and seven which is also affordable housing but also a community daycare facility. As far as the specifics for the land use land use areas in as identified in this table. So for land use area 1 which is

essentially the the yellow identified here uh there is an existing imperous currently of 8 8.44 acres. We are proposing 9.52 acres and that is based on the increase in impervious associated with the auxiliary parking which we can talk about uh a bit in the future. Land use area two which is the blue identified here is the existing impervious which is the current 552 parking space auxiliary lot 3.03 acres. It is being reduced to 2.19 acres uh through the increased grass and everything associated with the housing portion. And then land use area three which is the uh purple is existing impervious 1.04 04 acres that is being slightly increased to 1.34 acres of uh proposed impervious with a total of uh 12.51 and then proposed of 13.05. As far as the building use table, these uh the land use areas again incorrectly represented based on what the category should be. Uh the categories for the empowerment center would be a category I believe it is category five. uh the empowerment center uh the gross area so the building development of 14,656 square feet the storage building uh category 8 which is 6 approximately 6,000 square ft building A 7100243 ft which is building A is the southernmost portion building B is the northernmost or I should say the westernmost building which is uh 62582 and then building C which is part of the uh the third component which is 69680 69 638

I'm going slightly out of order in my presentation so this is not necessarily going to make it's not that it's not going to make sense it's just it's there was a bunch of information that should have come before it which would talk more about each individual phase but again because I'm focusing mostly on just the land use area what I'm discussing at this point is for the overall parking itself and please correct would you like me to speak about the parking or don't even worry about that at this point?

Okay, that's fine. What I would like to briefly mention because this is a component to the to the master plan is the fact that there there is sidewalks associated with a connection from the housing portion down here which is these this area. There is an existing sidewalk that connects to the church portion and there was um we are just indicating the fact that we are intending to install sidewalks throughout the entire property. Um what is what we are hoping to discuss with the commission and discuss with the town is to determine uh the phasing at which we would install the the sidewalks. Um there we are requesting coordination with the town and uh potential um funding sources for the town specifically in order to fund the portions of the sidewalk for this because they are requested in phase one but again this will come during the site plan portion. So that uh that is a the only other thing I wanted to identify is as I previously stated so the three separate colors you see here will be three proposed parcels. They will be part of a subdivision that we will be proposing at the uh December 18th meeting. So we are identifying those three separate lots. Uh they will be fully uh delineated. the blue area, the blue and magenta area will be uh essentially the bulk table associated with those lots will be located within the total 40.51 acre parcel which essentially is in accordance with the regulations for the DDZ2 zone. In other words, you can subdivide the property as long as the total subdivision adds up to the bulk table associated with the main 40.51

acre lot. You do not have to specifically satisfy the bulk table requirements for those smaller subdivided parcels. That was a very condensed version of my presentation. I'm sorry if it wasn't exactly the clearest and please um I can try to answer as many questions as I can. Um but thank you very much and again we respectfully request approval of the uh um the zoning map amendment to DDZ2. Okay. Thank you uh Linda. Oh I'm sorry John.

Thank you Mr. Chairman. Um again in the interest of time that while this is a fairly sophisticated development and process, these first few steps are fairly straightforward. Um Linda has prepared and distributed you a PowerPoint uh presentation that um she chose to do as opposed to the standard staff report. Um, we will of course um continue to do the standard staff reports, but we may from time to time use this um use a PowerPoint u where we think it may provide additional information. But um in um in summary, unless you want Linda to um go through the through the full full um background on the report, which would to some degree be repetitious of the presentation just made. Terms of the staff comments um uh we support in short uh the proposed um map uh map change and land use distribution. We think it meets the uh requirements and characteristics for the DDZ2 zone. Uh we believe it's consistent u with the existing holds a plan of conservation and development by encouraging new multif family residential development and expanding affordable housing opportunities. We have a few um technical suggestions in terms of um correcting the land use type table on the on the thing that all the existing conservation easements so remain in unchanged. Uh we would like to discuss at the next step um the timing of the sidewalks. Um you may want to also at the next step um inquire about the phase project timelines in in more detail. Um and also that uh if the commission does act favorably this evening that the applicant will submit all the other required approvals as required by the

inland wetlands course and of course this commission for each phase of the project. And on the last page of the uh of the uh PowerPoint distributed by Linda is a suggested motion for the commission's consideration. Uh, with that I would uh uh end my remarks and uh defer back to you Mr. Chairman if you want uh Miss Lauriano to run through her presentation.

Um I'm not really sure if that's going to be necessary only because of your staff report I think was pretty favorable. Uh, Linda, if you have like a very abbreviated uh, presentation that you want to give.

Okay. Okay.

Uh, good evening, commissioners. Linda Lauriano for the record, assistant director of building and land use. First, I want to apologize uh for the um late distribution of the presentation tonight. I've been away for a couple little over two weeks. Um and um no excuse, but um I just want to let you know for the record, I do apologize. Um before uh in front of you, you have the staff um the presentation. Oh, it's up in the screen. to staff comments um in the presentation given by Mr. Frank Vaka which was uh pretty much um the details of the zone change and the master plan the related master plan that is associated with uh the DDZ2 as required. Uh the master plan is required to establish the land uses of the specific areas of the property. Um not to be taken for you know uh confuse it with a site plan. Um and he did indicate that um each phase he will be coming back for uh public hearing site plan approval. Um there is a subdivision component to this which will be presented hopefully at the December meeting as well with phase one. Okay. [clears throat] um in the presentation um what I've noted um and is not I I did put it in here about the um there is a conservation easement on this um property and as I saw the land use areas the conservation easement wasn't outlined on there even though this is not a detailed site plan I believe that the conservation easement should be indicated in those land use areas at least delineated on Um just for uh for clarification

um I don't want that to uh later on be taken as the entire area highlighted is eligible for land use area A or 1 2 3 or five. So um I think um the suggested changes would be to uh delineate that in the uh master plan and also uh the bulk the area of the conservation easement total area should be included in the table of the master plan to ensure that no changes are made to the total acreage in the conservation easement. Um and as uh he mentioned uh we are recommending the sidewalk in phase one if the commission chooses um that that would be I guess for we've had an incident with you know some pedestrian safety and uh matters in town recently and um and as you are aware the sidewalk requirement was recently implemented in town and um I believe that that's a very important component that should take priority when phasing a project. the suggested motion. Um, under conditions, um, it was just added that the applicant shall revise the master plan to incorporate staff's comments and recommendation and, um, any additional changes that the commission see fit. And the uh zone change and related master plan shall become effective upon filing in land records and posting the decision legal notice which are both uh statutoily required.

Unless this commission would like to put a date on it other than those the posting and land records and on um the newspaper usually 15 days after approval. Yeah, that's fine. Okay. Go on.

Okay. With that, staff believes that the proposal is consistent with the goals um of the existing and proposed plan of conservation and development uh by encouraging new multifamily uh residential development and expanding the affordable housing opportunities in Bloomfield and um a zoning analysis that is not in the presentation. And I did want to give a background of the surrounding uses. To the south of the development, 115 uh 11:15 Blue Hills Avenue, you have the board of education, which is a a school. Uh to the north is a church. Uh the northwest you have another church in the corner. Um and to the west of that you have about 111 unit um multifamily residential which is known as Berry Circle. To the east it's a newer development Mirabel Court which are duplexes I believe is you have [clears throat] about uh 12 to 14 duplexes there currently. Um to the southeast you have uh there was another uh some duplex and triplex multif family that was recently approved in the last 5 years and is currently under construction um known as Abby Court and um to the did I say the east? Yes, to the west we do have um open space uh which I believe that is the state of Connecticut property. Um and with that if you have any other questions

have a question for Linda. Yeah, thank you Linda. I I just have a couple of questions. So the the conservation easement, can we get a copy of what that is and what the restrictions are? Okay. The conservation easement restrict the uh that area. It no building. It just can't be developed. It has to just remain as it is. But could it accompate accommodate a playfield?

Um part of the conservation easement did accommodate a playfield. You are correct on that one. There is a uh softball field um that portions of the softball field is in the conservation easement and that was amended to include that. But beside that the when we do the site plan um approval, they're not going to encroach into the conservation easement. Um part of the play field will be uh once we do the complete site plan uh review uh it would be to pretty much um plant some trees or you know

the the reason I ask is because we there was a discussion when we were reviewing the master plan the the first time about where you could put a play field and it came back and there are two two play areas shown on the master plan. Um, and the thought occurred to me, and I appreciate the fact the applicant incorporated [clears throat] those two because there were none the first time, but the thought occurred to me, why couldn't they use some of the conservation easement for a little larger play area? So, I just throw that out there for consideration when we get the site plan.

Sure. That would be something that would have to be discussed with the inland wetlands as well for for permission on modifying the conservation easement. But is there a pre if there's a precedent for there's been a ball field in that conservation area then it's might be a possibility might be commissioner we will we'll look at that and also um that conservation was established when the original development was put in place. Uh so we can also work with the existing property owner on that as well. Yeah, thank you. Hey, any other questions for Linda? [clears throat] Okay, thank you, Linda. Thank you.

Next, we'll take questions from the audience regarding this application if there's anyone online. Okay, then we'll start with the commission and we'll we'll start with uh Mr. Peters. I don't want to overlook you, so I'll start with you. Any any questions? Thank you. Um,

I don't know if this is a question for the applicant or the question of um the staff, but No, no, this is for the applicant. Okay. So, then I don't I don't have direct questions for the applicant right I just have general questions on, you know, how things will change once this um application, if this application is approved. So, I don't have any questions right now. Okay. Uh Mr. Mlette, any questions? I have no questions.

Uh Commissioner O'Brien, any questions? No, my only question is we have a document in front of us that's dated um is dated October the 10th, 2025. Is that still your master plan? That is correct. So in in voting to approve tonight, we're approving this document with the changes that Linda mentioned suggested changes. Yes. Yeah. There has the suggestion is to incorporate land use areas correctly in Yes. as well as but it's this with the changes as shown here. Yes. Thank you. [clears throat]

Because they should have been at last month's meeting. Yeah. Okay. Uh Commissioner James, any questions? No question. Thank you. Commissioner Goff. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Um, I have a a couple of things just trying to put all this together. Um, the I'm I'm a little confused, I guess, in terms of the phases and the land uses and the um the empowerment center uh that's talked about. Well, Commissioner Goff, we're not going to go into the actual

No, but I'm just the categories here. Okay. Yeah, I'm just talking about the categories. Um the the use for that is medical. Is that correct? It's is category 2. Uh the the use for that is medical because it is all is additionally counseling. So it is counseling and it is workforce housing. So I'm sorry not housing my workforce training. So it's it's it's basically it is it is the closest um of the of the type of the the categories that satisfy the the general intent of that use which is the assistance and the aid of uh the community.

Okay. But it's not really I mean it does not seem like it's really a medical use. It seems like it's more of a I mean you you see counseling, but I assume counseling is more how to succeed in in doing in getting jobs and and being successful and having employment is that that but it could there is still the potential for uh actual counseling for like uh mental counseling and so on. So it is it is it is being invest we don't have it fully vetted but it is deeply investigated.

Yeah. I mean, I I I don't have a problem with the concept. I'm just trying to figure out how it how it fits in. Um, and I guess I I'm trying to get some clarity. Um, I think the question Commissioner O'Brien was asking is in the conservation easement, what uses are permitted for the conserved land? Usually, it's a passive recreation. I mean, is passive recreation even conceived of is in that or was that a a special thing for this basketball field accord?

Thank you. Um that would have to a modification would have to uh be approved by the wetlands. Um I believe that no uses at all. Okay. word to it because that's the thing a lot a lot of times conservation even say you can't do anything except passive recreation it does not sound like that is in here no um and I guess I would agree that u certainly agree with the staff comment and request on these lot areas I would like to see exactly where the conservation easements encroach on the or you know right are not encroach but um are effective on those lots yes but I I think that's just a you know more of a delineation Um, I think those are my only questions. Thank you. Thank you.

Hey, [clears throat] thank you. Uh, Commissioner Marshall Neely.

Thank you. Thank you, uh, Mr. Chair and congratulations. Thank you. I was going to ask the same question that my, um, colleague just asked, so I don't have any questions right now. Thank you. Okay. Thank you, Commissioner Bolton. Mr. Chair, no questions. Uh, Commissioner Ununice, thank you. Uh, thank you, Chair. Um, I have a couple of questions. Med winner, I'm sorry.

That's okay. Um, I have a couple of questions. Um, so the purpose that you're putting forward in terms of the multif family and the daycare certainly fits under DDZ, but the DDZ zoning that particular the purpose of the DD zoning is a little bit more in my mind, my understanding um with the hope that it reduces traffic. I'm trying to understand the proposed um use that you have which is the church, the daycare, the counseling like there's no retail. Part of it is to reduce traffic in terms of people having to travel out for things. Um except the residents uses the daycare um they will need to travel. It doesn't reduce traffic and except the residents go to the church it doesn't reduce traffic. How do you propose that the uses that you're proposing would fit under the DDZ2 that that zoning would perfectly fit what your app what your um application is for?

So the and we recognize that for the um that the uses are changing the use of the entire parcel. Uh but as far as the category or as far as the use the current church use here, it is a it is a um um it's it's a 3,400 seat church and it has currently it is parked at uh 1,134 seats or 1,134 spaces. There is there is the potential that in larger events and so on that that you know the the you the [clears throat] amount of traffic associated with what it is approved for as a 552 parking lot 5252 space parking lot and then the 778 space parking lot is during you know that you know time frame it is a a more excessive use. However, what we are proposing and the sizing associated with the housing for this um in total there's 2 and there's 250 spaces and 22 of those are associated with the daycare. So, it's we are almost cutting in half the potential traffic that could be anticipated based on what could park there. Um, so yes, at various times in the day it could have I'm not going to say an increase, but it would be a change in the way that the parking would essentially work. But for what is being proposed um it is it is reducing the amount of traffic that uh could potentially uh come from the size of that lot.

Um, thank you for that explanation. Not quite what I was asking. Okay. Um I was referring to the purpose of the DTZ to zone that zoning requirement. Part of the whole purpose of that is to minimize almost to create a community within itself wherein you have retail. So the people who live there rather than having to travel out for to go somewhere that there's retail, there's shopping, there's other things. So I understand the daycare is there, we have residential, we have daycare, we have the church,

but unless the residents are using the church and the daycare, it doesn't reduce them traveling anywhere. That's the part. So I'm trying to understand your purpose

and the purpose of the DDZ meeting that um the purpose so that the two purposes fit together. That's what I was trying to understand. So it was the the the desire of the church has been to try to provide the the the the housing, the facilities, the um the and and this is just so the commission is clear. This is this is like the the fourth version of the master plan that kind of there were there was there were a number of additional buildings. There was the potential for retail. And so that was all investigated and as it has morphed through to where we get today, we had we had they had to focus on the the desires that they felt were the um the highest and best use of the property that they had. And that that ultimately settled them to we wanted to focus on affordable housing, we wanted to focus on the daycare, and we wanted to focus on the empowerment center. And that that is that is that is what had morphed it to the current to the current layout of this master plan.

Understood. Understood. And that's perfectly fine. I'm just trying to understand why a DDZ2 zone because then that could be another zoning. You're requesting a zoning change and I'm trying to understand your request with the required zoning change that you're looking for to make sure that it is suitable because it fits. So, it just seems like there's a few missing pieces to it, but I'll leave that there. Um my second question um you started to mention the um imperous use the imperous um reduction in um I'm trying to understand that also um without going too deep into the um at the end of the day your number of parking spaces and I know you didn't go into parking fully but the number of parking spaces that you um you suggested that you'd have a reduction Yes.

But your number of parking spaces have increased. How do you propose having a reduction in impervious space? Um um while your incre while your parking space is increased, I'm just trying to understand. We haven't we haven't increased the parking. We've we've reduced the parking by about 218 spaces in total for the whole site. What has increased is um on the western side of the property there is an increase in the number of spaces to account for the uh zoning regulation for the church. But again, I know that

Yeah, Commissioner. Uh I was going to ask you if we can hold off on some of the more detailed stuff until next the if this get approved until the next meeting for the actual site plan and then and then we can get into understood. I'm I'm only looking at it in terms of the requirements for the DD2 um zoning. Um one other question, one other question. How um in terms of me again meeting the requirements of the DDZ2 um zoning the housing I was curious as to how the houses the you have fivetory units. How does that how is the what the 101 units what acreage does that cover

the one of the requirements so I I'm not going into specific site plan issues just [clears throat] the requirements I'm trying to make sure that you fit nicely into is it is it the 16 units per acre question yes

yes we we've so so the way that the the the way that the parcels have been identified so where we have the three different parcels the parcels sizing is such and the reason why it it basically stretches out into the uh conservation easement area is because you are only allowed for your lot development use you're only allowed to use uh 50% of your wetland area for the lot coverage. So we have we have placed the subdivision the boundaries associated with the proposed subdivided areas such that when you incorporate the 50% reduction in lot coverage, we are still satisfying our requirements as far as the uh 16 units per acre. I don't have the specifics in front of me, but we we designed the lots intentionally to be able to stay within the boundaries of the 16 units per acre.

Thank you. First question. Sure. Sure. I just identify yourself. Name and address. Pastor Loy Bailey, First Cathedral, 1151 Blue Hills Avenue. Uh to your first question, what we talked about was when we build this property, there are still stores within a mile or less than a mile away where people can walk to the grocery store, they can walk to the retail store, they can walk to the park, also to reduce traffic, also going to the church, our play fields. Uh they don't have to necessarily get in their car to uh get to those areas.

Okay. Thank you. Okay. Thank you. Um, there's someone here from the US. Did you have a question or a comment? Okay, you can't ask it from there. Uh, please state your name and address, please.

I'm Margaret Donley and I'm at 10 Old Orchard Road Bloomfield and u my question was very similar to yours and um the question was the open space and I loved the ball field idea. I thought that was fabulous that you're being able to possibly preserve that. Um my question was other space available for people like u playground the daycare probably has their own but that's probably closed during the weekend but what about for the children that live there? Will they have some open space other than an open field? Will they have a playground? And then a lot a lot of these new developments have um dog parks for people and um I don't know how far away the park is [snorts] particularly um for them to you know can they safely they're of age appropriate could they go outside say I'm going out to play for 20 minutes and then be able to go back in opposed to going a mile away you know I just thought it was that considered Yes, but I but you don't have to get into like specific amenities right now, but if you just want to generally say that there will be play fields available and so forth that

Yes, we we are looking into uh the we are looking into all of those things. Yes.

Okay. Yes. Commission, one additional question. Um, just going back to the question that Commissioner Medwinter asked about the DDZ2 zone. Um, and understanding that like this project has taken turns, you know, you start off maybe looking at more of a village setting with retail. um to you and to staff. Uh did you certainly in terms of the affordable house the housing and I guess daycare component? Did you think that fit any other zone or is the DDZ zone the only zone it fits? I mean, I I understand we've had some discussions on the commission about we have this PLR zone which is supposed to be our multifamily zone and we maybe don't want it called plan luxury residence anymore. We want it to be more general multif family, but does does this fit, you know, would would that part of the project, I guess, lot basically lot two or whatever, um, or lots two and three, would that fit the would that fit in that zone or is the only choice the DTC zone?

We did examine some of the other zones. In fact, one of the zones we did look at was actually the gateway the gateway downtown centers. I can't remember exact name of the GWD or something because it it actually fit all of the criteria we were looking at. However, at that point, the difficulty we had with that one was it was um one of the main criteria was it is directly connected to the downtown. So, we were about I think it was three parcels separated from that and it was investigated as a potential, but we couldn't get over the the it just it didn't fit well with that. So, yeah, we did investigate some of the other zones. DDZ2 zone appeared to be the one that kind of checked off all of the boxes as closely as what we were trying to pursue. And again as as uh as we have said that it did kind of shift slightly as we kind of went down the road there. There were probably a few other options that um I used to say a few other amenities amenities not few other categories of of property that we looked at but it from a plan uh from a planning standpoint it didn't fit the the ultimate site program. So this is ultimately what had been settled upon and yes so yes we did investigate other zones.

Thank you. Sure.

Okay. Thank you. Uh any did we finish the questions? We Okay. We'll go to comments now and miss if you can come back at the next meeting then you can certainly speak in terms of your specific amenities that you would like to see. Uh at this point we'll take comments and we'll start with anyone from the audience or anyone online that have any comments regarding this specific application. Miss, do you have any comments? Okay, thank you. So we'll start with the commission and we'll start down with uh Commissioner Medwin. Any comments? Um, thank you so much for the explanation in terms of the distance that possibly allowing it to fall within. Not it's not a perfect in my opinion, it's not a perfect fit for DDZ uh too. I wished we had other um things that would make it a good fit, but definitely something to consider. Thank you. Hey, thank you, Commissioner Bolton. Any comments?

Uh, thank you, Mr. Chair. No comments. Commissioner Marshall Neely, any comments? Thank you, Mr. Chair. I have no comments at this time.

Commissioner Goff. Uh, thank you, Mr. Chair. Um, no. I I think that um, you know, I think I I think this is a good project and I think that, um, overall it's it's a good concept and I certainly understand the iterative nature. you start off with something and as things go on um things change. Um it does I think point out a little bit that um what we're trying to do a lot of times is taking things as sort of shoehoring. We have these categories and well this one sort of goes in this category but it doesn't quite meet this piece and that piece and uh you know we mentioned the uh empowerment center as being you know is that really a medical use? Um, so I think that's a commission thing that we need to potentially look at. Um, how to change some of that, maybe go to a more form-based zoning type approach. But, um, you know, I do think that, uh, you know, this is a good plan and use of the land uh, that will be uh, beneficial to the community. Thanks.

Okay. Thank you, Commissioner James. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I want to start uh thanking the applicant, thanking their team as well as our planning department for working really hard to uh find something that will work um that will fit with what we're looking for in town. Um I think the zone change is a good idea to uh make the best use of the land that we can and definitely uh think about the future of our town, how that will help uh families here who are looking for different options for where they can live, where they can connect in terms of the sidewalks. I think that's great. Um so that will be a great addition. So, thank you all. Okay. Thank you, uh, Commissioner O'Brien.

Well, there's no question that this is a great project for the town of Bloomfield. Uh, we appreciate you bringing it forward. We also appreciate the um the responsiveness that you've shown to the comments on the two earlier meetings we've had. Um, I'm down to I would like to see the uh proposed motion actually reference the date of the plan that we're approving with the changes. So, it suggests that the motion include the master plan dated October 10th, 2025 with the changes that we've discussed tonight. Um, I'd also like to comment on Commissioner um Medwiner's comment about, you know, being able to have a a place where people could go and shop. And based on the comment that, well, they can get there by walking. I'm thinking maybe when we do get the site plans that we we should require the sidewalks be installed early on and not later on. That would be an important consideration. And my final comment is I appreciated John Coleman's suggestion that we could look into the the playfield on the conservation area. Um, and then I was kind of confused by saying, well, we can't have anything there. But it seems to me that if a basketball court was considered passive recreation when it was originally approved, a play area for children could be considered passive recreation. So, I think that's something that should be looked into and I hope staff would continue to do that.

Okay. Thank you. Uh, Commissioner Mallet. Yeah. Um, excited to see the project move forward. Um, it it certainly may not uh in a self-contained setting check off every part of the intent of the DD2 zone. Um, but I think it it um it aligns with the the overall intent. Um, so I have no issues with this. Thank you. Uh, Commissioner Peters, any comments?

Yeah. Um, I have a lot of thoughts and I guess comment that go with it. Um, so I'm hearing obviously we have some concerns about uh shopping at this particular location and I'm thinking from shopping to empowerment center which I believe is a good substitute for shopping because I feel like if we're trying to reduce uh traffic shopping and other you know uh things of that nature would encourage traffic but I think empowerment center and daycare actually supports the community which would allow traffic to, you know, diminish, which I I support that idea. And also, I'm hearing um the the thought of we're I guess um we're trying to massage what the use of this this uh p uh proposed building is supposed to be to whatever we're describing it to be, which is medical. And I just want to encourage people to realize that empowerment center what I'm taking out of it and it'll be pro it'll be nice to see like a mission statement or what's going on in this actual facility but what I'm taking it as is um therapy from a licensed professional which is medical um mental health is medical health. So I wanted to say that as well and if we're empowering the people then we're empower empowering them to do healthy and um healthy things. And the last thing that was at the top of my list, so I'm going to put it last because I wanted like it to sink in, is um um pedestrian traffic. So throughout this presentation, I know we're not supposed to be talking about sites or site planning, but I feel like we tal we touched on it so many times that this is a community that's surrounded by other communities that is literally by an intersection and there's a lot of traffic or there's a lot of um vehicular traffic and pedestrian traffic that's going to be moving around and um I would

like to see how we handle that. And just as the applicant has said in discussions of um phasing of uh sidewalks, I would like to see that sooner than later. Um, we've already identified that there's been um a couple of incidents where pedestrian safety has been an issue and I think if pedestrian uh traffic is supposed to be um the primary use of the occupants in this building, I think that we should, you know, we should put that at the top of our list because we don't want to, you know, make the problem worse. We want to make it better. So, I think the the applicant should consider this not specifically towards the applicant, but if you're going to provide this as your solution, you should lead the lead the charge in making it a viable solution for surrounding areas. And I think the town of Bloomfield should also um jump into this whole discussion on how to link all of these surrounding um communities together. So it is a safer um connection between all of the communities because it seems like there's going to be a lot of lot more developments that a lot of these communities will also be utilizing. So, if we're going to promote the the um the space or the idea of bloom for or the idea of this um community that we want to see, we need to literally um walk the way we're talking. And that would be my comments.

Okay. Thank you. And uh my comments would be, you know, once again, thank you for coming before us. Um this particular application is um is like perfect in the sense that this commission has been talking about affordable housing for at least the last year or so. So the timing is excellent. I agree with Mr. Mlette. Um the it may not check every single box in terms of the DDZ too. However, it is been a unique piece of property and that is that we took two zones. the property itself sat on two zones, one residential and one professional office, and trying to combine those into one was a little difficult. So, I think the DDZ was like the best fit to do that. So, I'm supporting the application and uh looking forward to next month when you uh come before us with the real site plan. With that said, is there anything you would like to close with? Uh any closing remarks before we close this public hearing?

Excuse me. Okay. Thank you. At this time, the chair entertain a motion to close the public hearing. Second. Been moved and second. Any further discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor signify by saying I. I. Oppose. Abstension. Chair votes I. At this time, the chair entertain a motion on this application.

Mr. Chair, I motion to approve. I move to approve the proposed zoning map amendment from a R15 to POD zoning district to design development zone 2 and the associated master plan dated October 10th to 2025 with changes discussed during the November 20th TPZ meeting for the property located at 1151 Blue Hills Avenue submitted by the First Baptist Church of Hartford First Cathedral based on the following findings subject to the following conditions as noted in uh presentation Town Planning and Zoning Commission presentation during November 20th, 2025 meeting uh prepared by Linda Lauraniano, assistant director of building and land use. Second. Okay, it's been seconded by Commissioner Mlette. Any further discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor signify by saying I.

I. I. Oppose. Abstension. [snorts] Chair Bai, congratulations. See you uh next month. Okay. Uh next item on the agenda is under new business and that's uh I'll just ask the secretary if she would read that item A. Yep. 80 85 to 871 Blue Hills A. affordable housing plan housing eligibility preference approval. Okay, Jonathan.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. This is a a continuation. We do not have to act on it this evening either. U first I'm pleased to report this regards the Abella housing development at uh 885 871 Blue Hills Avenue. And uh first I'm pleased to report to the commission that uh at uh Monday evening at the special meeting the town council uh unanimously approved uh the uh tax assessment agreement um with the developer uh which was sort of the final step to uh moving the project along. And I think if you went by the site now you would see that there's a fair amount of activity going on. But uh that um that took a fair amount of discussion and analysis but uh that was the last uh approval as I understand it that uh they have sought and uh received. So um soon we'll have a really great addition to that community and to the to that part of the community and to the town in general. This part is the sort of the last thing hang that's out there between the planning commission and and the developer if we so wish is in terms of setting any preference approval for the affordable housing units. Um I've had a numerous conversations with um a variety of um of folks that have been involved in affordable housing and setting preferences. And the general consensus quite frankly is to keep it simple. And uh in that regard um the staff recommendation at this point obviously um subject to commission's further request and analysis that basically we would we would um require the developer to have a 50% preference for Bloomfield residents. Uh obviously they have to be of the correct age because it's an age restricted development.

um on a first come first- serve basis. Meaning that uh for example, if there were um there are 19 affordable units um proposed, if there were 19 applications and none of them were from Bloomfield residents, uh that would they would not have to hold any open and that's the normal procedure forward. So basically it's first come if there were uh 25 applicants and eight of them were Bloomfield residents then Bloomfield residents those eight would get would get a preference on the first come first-s serve basis. Uh that is um the the general recommendation that staff would make at this time. Again, the commission does not have to act this evening and if they want to ponder it, if they want some other approaches, but it it if we start getting tiered and whatnot, it begins to get rather rather sophisticated and complicated and we're only talking about 19 units.

Okay. Thank you. Um, personally, I'd like to kind of put this to bed if we could. I mean, it's it's not that complicated. so we can go down the route, go down the the aisle, and if anyone has any suggestions, uh we can talk about them and let's see if we can uh come up with something tonight. Uh we'll start with uh Commissioner Peters. Are you okay with uh the recommendation from staff? Absolutely. Okay. Thank you. Uh, Commissioner Mlette. U, yeah, that the simple Bloomfield residence obviously with the age restriction as that's part of the the development was fine.

Thank you. Uh, Commissioner O'Brien, I'm fine. Thank [snorts] you, Commissioner James. Uh, my question, John, can you explain when you say 50% what what do you mean? Nine. nine of the units or yeah the Bloomfield residents would get first preference if on a first come for the first nine units there's nine units

they well and he depending on the spread on which ones they apply because there's a mix of units but in terms of you know their consideration as they go through the first you know and and as they reopen them over time you know if there's there's a Bloomfield um they would get a preference So, okay, just to make sure I'm understanding, you're saying that of the 19 units, 50% of them should be Bloomfield residents. First preference

for preference to say that. So, so say there's 10 units with Bloomfield residents. You're saying the rest of them, they don't have to say like, oh, we're preference, we have a preference for those to be an open unit to go to a Bloomfield resident. you're saying cuz we have 10 nine and are I mean one of nine comes open we're not waiting for one they're not going to wait but if a Bloomfield resident comes and submits they don't get the preference that would be my understanding but I you know if if that's a general direction that the commission wishes to go in I would then have a very specific conversation with the developer to see how they would they would apply it

is there any reason why we wouldn't just do a general like preference for bloom field residents for any if it's first come first served anyways that you know at any point that's your choice. You mean there's no reason you there's no reason you can't. No.

Yeah. I mean I guess my preference would always be like if a Bloomfield resident comes to the an open unit that they should get the preference at at all times. Not just if just to make sure there's at least 50 or I guess I'm still thinking about how the 50% lays out, but I don't I wouldn't limit it to 50%. I would just make it generally a preference for Bloomfield resident. If it's first come first served anyways, too. like you know another Harford resident comes first and they're before the Bloomfield residents then yeah again once I get the sort of sense where the commission is I'll have a I would suggest that you not act until I have a detailed conversation with the developer

so that I can fully understand how they would implement it okay yeah uh thank you for that uh Commissioner Goff

yeah thank you thank you Mr. Chair. Um, my questions are sort of along the same lines as, uh, Commissioner James. Um, because I I agree with the concept of keeping it simple and I like the idea of, you know, it's either 50 100% whatever Bloomfield resonant preference, but I would like to know how that works in reality. So, um, if you say first come, first serve. Okay. when we opened this up, I would assume there would be some as these units became available, there would be some time for people to put in applications. So after 3 weeks, if there were no Bloomfield residents, then it just goes to whoever. Um but once it gets rolling and the 19 units are occupied then u depending on whether we set it 50 100 or whatever um they have a waiting list and they go to the waiting list and call people up but the people who are from Bloomfield get preference. So I I'm I'm fine with the general concept and I think this is easier than specifying you know veterans or first responders or whatever. But I would like to know how it works and I think, you know, we we should establish that and then try to put something in place very quickly.

Absolutely. Okay. Commissioner Marshall Neely.

Thank you. I'm I'm I'm uh tagging off of what Commissioner Goff said. How do you get your name on the list? First of all, that's one concern that I have. who would actually be monitoring the requirements uh to make sure that they're being applied the way we wanted it to be applied. And and then if if the if one of the applicants is 55 and say the spouse or significant other was 30, does that disqualify them because there's someone that's not 55 who would be living in the facility? So those are actually um the questions that came to my mind and maybe something we can think about once this whole thing comes together. Okay, that's it from me.

Okay, thank you. Uh Commissioner Bolton. Uh thank you, Mr. Chair. Uh my only comment um in support of what Commissioner James says is that it should be opened up 100% to Bloomfield residents. And so if if that can [clears throat] uh be worked out, that that would certainly be something I would be able to support. Thank you. Okay. Uh Commissioner Medwiner. Uh thank you, Mr. Chair. No questions. Okay. And uh Oh, I'm sorry. Uh Commissioner Peters.

Yeah, I already I said absolutely, but uh some of the commissioners had brought up some points that made me realize that this is not as simple as it um it may be. uh specifically what Commissioner James has brought up and um about and also um Commissioner G has said this as well. Um it seems a little bit loose about the 50% um and it seems one uh first come first serve but also 50%. I'm of the understanding that there are typical ways where people do move. So is there is there are we going to like del delineate a time frame from those periods or how are we going to monitor the the period of time where a balloon for resident should apply to gain access to this 15% because it it seems at the end of the day it won't be um it may not be uh valid 50% it might be 50% in within this time frame because I mean the developer has to make money at the end of a day. So, they can't hold the 50% indefinitely if no Bloomfield resident um applies. So, I think we should give some kind of consideration from those application um periods usually in the fall and the spring. I'm I I think um those are the times where people typically move. So, is there going to be like a 90-day period um at the beginning of the fall or the beginning of the spring spring so we could um you know screen for bloom for residents to be able to have preferential treatment. And the second part of my question or to be in consideration of this conversation would be what um Commissioner Marsh Marshian Nitley said about who's monitoring this and are we actually giving them a viable time frame to be of preferential treatment um and because I mean they don't have to technically respond to us or um adhere to us in in some way but I

just I want to there needs to be some kind of checks and balance um in my opinion and I just want to make sure that's in place.

Okay. Uh, thank you. Um, I guess the only thing I would say is that a lot of times when these new places open up, you'll get a flood of applications right away. And so, um, I'm not sure how you would want to do it if you got 30 applications for the affordable housing side and maybe 80 applications for the other side. Um, I would think that if there are people from the outside that's applying for the affordable housing and there's only a minimal amount of of Bloomfield people, then I don't I mean we still want to accept the outside. Correct.

Yeah. Sorry. Yes. I think the idea is like the preference like if you know if I I don't know exactly how the specifics might work but say they're accepting an applications for 2 weeks and there is a Bloomfield resident I would think that that Bloomfield resident should get preference but if they're accepting applications for two weeks and no Bloomfield resident applies but someone from another town does then yeah definitely fill the fill the unit don't keep it empty right yeah that that would be the only thing in terms terms of monitoring it, I I guess we would have to uh take them at their word, right? I mean, is there any other way to monitor who applies?

I'll talk with them. I suspect there is some way we that we can get um you know, a data flow that um gives you some indication what what's going on. Thank you. Right. So, is this something that we like to continue discussing at the next meeting? Yes, that would be my suggestion, Mr. M Mr. Chairman. All right, then we'll do that. Okay, thank you. So, um at this point, I will ask the chair under new business if she can read item B.

Oh, I'm just the secretary this time, but [laughter] It's okay secretary. Yeah. Um my apologies for new business 12 Philly Street New for proposed zone map change from R30 to PLR. Uh Jonathan,

Mr. Chairman, this was a um an effort that we will clean up a little better to give the commission um an indication of what's coming forward. This is this application the clock for this application has started. They have made the submitt, but it would not appear on your actual meeting agenda for action until the December meeting. But we we want to start we're going to rephrase it going forward to um give the commission a heads up as to um applications that we received and are are in the process. Uh one to give you that information, but two, as we all know, you all get asked in between meetings, what's this, what's that? And uh so this will give you a little heads up if someone says um what's happening at 12 Philly Street? Well, you can say, "Well, there's a proposed zone, Matt James, that we're going to be considering it at one of our next meetings just for sort of further information." So there's no action required at all this evening.

Okay. So So basically, you would be like uh creating a a new category like the future applications or something like that. Applications received might be good. Okay. All right. [clears throat] That's that's that's fine. Little heads up. That's fine. Okay. Thank you. Uh, next item on the agenda. I'll ask the secretary if she'd read item C. Adoption of 2026 yearly meeting schedule. Has everyone had a chance to look at it?

Mr. Chairman, this is basically the standard fourth Thursday of the month except November and December with the holidays. Um again it's 7:00 and again it would be hybrid meetings. Okay. Thank you. Uh is there any Okay, you have a question. Uh Commissioner O'Brien. Well, I really have a comment. Can I make a comment? Sure.

Um you know, three of us just went through a campaign or four of us just went through five of us just went through a campaign. if I start thinking about it. But we all went out there and we walked the streets of Bloomfield. And the question I got asked o over and over again is how could we incorporate more planning into the planning and zoning commission? And if you look at tonight's agenda, it's a perfect example of we're not doing planning, we're responding to applications. And the only way and I'll I'll keep it short, but

No, no, I just this was for the schedule, the meeting schedule. Well, I'm willing to vote for this schedule, but I'm saying that I have suggested to the chair that we have to have um um an item on the agenda in January maybe that's goals for the commission and that the only way we're going to accomplish those goals if is we have to add three or four meetings a year that are nothing but planning because if we don't do that This is we might as well call this the Bloomfield Zoning Commission. It's not planning. And so that's my only comment. I'm perfectly I am not voting tonight so I don't have to vote on it. But I I do think we have to change the uh the prism that we're looking at here from uh we the only thing we do is respond to applications that are submitted to us. Uh there are many planning issues that the folks of Bloomfield would like us to look at. Um I've sat at kitchen tables. I've you know for some July on we all walked many many streets. Uh people like the we have a fantastic commission here. We have a lot of talented people and I'm very optimistic but I don't think we'll accomplish the goals. We want to accomplish the goals on that card that I handed out at over 4,000 doors with my teammates with the team handed out 4,000. I wasn't personally at all 4,000, but a lot of them it seemed like. But we won't accomplish those goals if all we do is have this meeting schedule.

Well, uh, Commissioner, we can always, uh, set up meetings to plan. This is this this schedule is only for our regular meetings. It it has nothing to do with like any special meetings or any other meetings that we we may deem appropriate. So what you're saying we can do, but that's what what this is is is our regular meetings, Mr. Chair.

Yes. Yeah. No, I understand this is this is the basic schedule. I I but I do um I do want to echo what Commissioner O'Brien is saying about making sure we spend some time on the plan function and whether that's a a item if not every month if we have a especially crowded uh uh group of applications but it's more periodic and we get some things accomplished um for example you know we just talked about a coming application it's again an application for a PLR are. And we've all made comments about that zone maybe not being exactly what we would like it to be. And unless we spend some time changing that and making it clear that we want a more general multifamily housing zone, uh that we are not expecting every development to be a luxury residence. In fact, we do not really think that's appropriate for the town. um if we don't spend some time fixing those things or modifying them, I shouldn't say fixing them, modifying them based on what we hear from the community, it won't get done. So, I I'm you know, again, I understand this is the basic schedule, but I I think that we should take that into consideration

and and I I totally agree. Um and like I said, we can always schedule those kind of meetings, so I don't think we're opposed to that. Um M Commissioner James,

thank you. Um, might we just pick a couple of dates to have those meetings just to keep ourselves uh honest with that idea of like I know we can always schedule it, but I think if we put it on the schedule and we know it's coming then as opposed to being reactive and saying um let's plan it in the future, we could put it on the schedule now and we know that it's coming and that will be what it is for specific planning purposes. So, do you want to quarterly do a planning meeting on the third Thursday of the month? I can do that. [clears throat] Or at least substantively.

Okay. Is is that something that everyone is uh John, you have any Mr. Chairman, just um before you put something in stone, we have to check the availability of space in the building. Oh, okay. This room is used for a variety of meetings almost every night of the week. We could have it at the senior center. Plenty of rooms over there. Well, you need the if you're going to have a meeting, you need all of the um all of the virtual video that at 3:30 park.

I'm sorry. Are are you suggesting an extra meeting or are you suggesting the third that the every third meeting we have a planning session? No. No. This would be an addition to this schedule. Every quarter we would try to schedule a a meeting on and I just threw out there the third Thursday, but it would not be it would not be on one of these dates, but one per quarter. Yes. Okay. [snorts] Okay. We we can't do a Wednesday because third third Wednesday is

right what March 19 I'm going to review I'll review the um the available third Thursdays in the first quarter so we could at least start there. Okay. Um so we have January 15th is available. Yes. February 19th and also March 19th. February or March is fine with me. What was the February date? February 19th. We meet the 26th and the March was 19th also.

Yes. Okay. Yeah. February would be preferred for me if we're No, I can do February. Okay. I I have a clarifying question. Sure. This this additional meeting is that just for the commission? Yes. It's not a public Well, no, it's it's going to be public. Anytime we get together in the quorum. Yeah, but it's not a public hearing. It's a public meeting though. Yeah, it's a public meeting. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Well, I think that's what she was asking. So, um, we were thinking if this room was full, right, if this room was occupied, we couldn't get that on the calendar. Uh, is it possible to use the library? Well, no, she gave us some dates and so we thought February 19th would would be I mean, in the future. Oh, beyond that, I'm not sure about their virtual capability. Well, we can we can use the you have to be able to have the video capability. There basically two rooms and basically two two locations in this building where that can be done. Here in conference room five, right? Mhm.

Um but I but um Rebecca's checking and it looks like this room may be available on those on the days that you're looking at approved. Right. The one thing I just want to note is not all approved 2026 meeting schedules are in here. So, the best thing for us to do is perhaps uh either do virtual or just wait until December to see once all the boards and commissions have approved their 2026 meeting schedule and I can confirm with various departments to ensure we have some dates proposed at least for the first and second quarter.

Okay. I mean, that's fine. I mean, we don't have to. Could could we put going back to to to Jennifer's suggestion, can't we can't we just pick four dates and and have staff try to find us a room? Yeah, we can always cancel. So if you want to do February and then three months from February and then three months from that and three months from that, you got your four meetings and staff can find us a room or or we can do Zoom. Special permits. um special meetings. Not if they put it in not if not if not if we put it on this schedule and then we can always amend as part of

we're going to make the location here for now. We're going to make but you and you can always amend your your annual calendar throughout the year. So it's a regular meeting and I have another um thought. So those those uh four special meetings that we would have extra meetings

extra extra meetings use that word instead of special. Could we invite the enforcement person to attend those four extra meetings to give us an update regarding uh what's going on from that perspective in our town so that we can work in you know what we need to work on based on what that person has been working on. You can absolutely in but you can you can invite him to any meeting and that to me those four you can invite them to the next meeting if you want.

Yeah but we we haven't had a conversation with that person to to say hey this is what's going on in town. Can you um research that and come back to us to let us know? So even if we invited him to the next meeting we wouldn't have we haven't had a discussion with him.

You haven't. But you also need to understand that he only represents a portion of the enforcement that there are a number of other departments throughout the town that are involved in that enforcement. And we're actually I have initiated an effort to to make that much more coordinated and and um and uh successful than it has been to date. But there's a um there's a flow that needs to happen in enforcement that uh we are challenged at this point to um to implement. But yes, you can certainly invite them. Okay.

So the the Connecticut state statute says the planning the zoning enforcement officer reports to the planning and zoning commission. So, I think what the commissioner is bringing up is that we ought to get that report from that gentleman from time to time.

Okay. So, so that's something that that you can get and John you can present it at the meeting or do we necessarily want him to come and present the report? You can do both or either. Which which would you think would be most effective? Uh if we had questions about something, would you I I know I know that you two are amazing. Amazing. But I I'm wondering if if we had questions on a particular um submission that he gave. Would

I think that um by and large um Linda who is who is also a zoning enforcement officer um is completely up to date on what uh Alex is doing uh and can report and respond to any situation that Alex is working on. and also the broader case. But on the other hand, if you want to meet Alex firsthand, I'm sure he's he'll be more than welcome to come and uh and be part of the conversation.

And I I know that like you said, there's so many other areas where he is involved, right? But uh I don't want to compromise a lot of his time. I I just think that the commission may want to have discussions with that person, you know. Absolutely. Okay. So, sorry to schedule. It's February 19th and then it would be whatever the third Thursday is in May and whatever the third Thursday is in August and whatever the third Thursday is in November. So for November,

we already have the regular meeting November 19th. So it would have to be the second. Okay. Be the second in in November.

So yeah, that's what I was going to like jump into because it seems like um we're saying quarterly, but we're not it's not end of quarter and also um we're we're specifying the third Thursday. Would it be more beneficial to just specify the month and have that amended later and only confirm the first um additional meeting, the first extra meeting, which is the February one or whatever we decide against because um it does right now I'm not sure what the court where where the quarterly falls because it we're right now we're midquarterly. Is it always going to be mid-carterly or is it going to be end quarterly? um commissioner protocols and and um statutes require that we actually set a date.

You can't just say, "Okay, we have because we have to file these dates with the town clerk and we have to file them uh before the end of November so that your first meeting Okay. I I believe the clerk wanted to say something. Rebecca,

I just wanted to mention again, unfortunately, I just want to ensure that we don't have to amend this several times. So, the best thing to do is to just put the idea out there. My suggestion anyway, put it out there this evening. Um, and then I can, Linda and I can work together to get further information about room availability and we can decide in December if that is agreeable. I would like to agree with Commissioner uh James that if we don't put the dates down, it becomes more difficult as we get into business to actually establish a date. And I think if we put a date down, then it it will say that we are committed to have at least four meetings in the next 12 months that are devoted to planning. Right.

Rebecca, what do we got for dates? So, I'm working off of what I see available for the town um on the town meetings calendar. Um so, again, for January 2026, we have currently the 15th available. January 15th, February 19th. All right. So, let's do 219. And what's three months? Is that an April? May May 21st. H May 21st. May 21. Mhm. 521. We'll find space. Right. Next one is July 8. August 8. August. August 20 20 27 - 7 August 20.

Yes. Y [laughter] [gasps] that's uh 820. And then the last one's in November. So 7 from 19 is we we already meet on the 3rd um Thursday 12th 112 which would be the day after Veterans Day. Okay, that's all right. So it's not a holiday. We'll put those four dates in the calendar, add them to the calendar, and um we can always cancel them and get a special meeting, right? And we can change them to special meetings if we have to. But this way they'll go in as regular meetings.

Will they will they be titled uh planning meetings? Just planning meetings? Well, they'll be meetings of the town plan and zoning commission, but they'll be they'll be dedicated to planning purposes. Oh, okay. All right. Gotcha. You're not going to change the title of the commission. So, Mr. Chair, with that uh with that we haven't made a motion on this, right? With with that recommendation, I will uh make a motion that we approve the schedule with those four those four dates added as u planning sessions for the two 2026 meeting schedule. I second that. Okay. It's been seconded by Commissioner Mallette. Any further discussion on that? I I have one thing to say.

Sure. Commissioner Marshall Neely. Uh if if a room in this building is not available, I just want to let you know that we have an election next year. And the training for the um pole workers takes place in this building in conference room five. So that room probably um towards around the uh the period for the congressional election and the you know there's going to be some other rooms that are compromised. Shouldn't be a problem though. The election is in November. We're going to focus on the council chambers, right? Oh, okay. Okay.

And it's after the election. Okay. Because we do the training. I say we Yeah. Okay. Are there are are there any further discussions? Uh seeing none, all those in favor signify by saying I to discuss. I I oppose abstension. Chair votes I. Okay.

Item D is muted. Should not have been on the that part of the agenda. All right. Well, uh, okay. D is D is out. Uh, Jonathan, before we, uh, close out, is there any updates that you want to give?

I'm I'm sure it's a burning question on all your minds. We are diligently working on the POC chapters. Um, we have, um, draft rewrites on on most of them. And uh on Monday afternoon, Linda Justin and I will be meeting to um to basically finalize where we are and it's our intention to have um uh a draft to you um prior to your December meeting and hopefully we can make it. Understanding that um we are dealing with a um continuing interruptions um from other stuff um but um it's our intent to um to get it to you as soon as we can. Okay. Um, with that said, chair enterain,

just one other thing. We, um, if you haven't, um, we are, um, I'm excited to present that the new environmental planner is is, um, fully engaged and has, um, as we expected, has just a superb addition to the immediate staff and to the town staff in general. and he is uh ingra ingratiating himself with a number of the departments and moving forward on a number of initiatives that um have been dormant for a long time. Mr. Chair, can I ask a question? Absolutely. Uh just on the plan of conservation and development, is there any sense of timeline for that?

No, there's not other than that we want to get it done as soon as possible because we're so late and we want to stop asking the state of Connecticut for a waiver when we apply for grants. May I ask a question? Sure. What's the name of the new environmental planner? Nick Gazuba. Okay. Thank you. Okay. Uh if there's no further questions, the chair entertain a motion. Motion to adjurnn. Second. Happy Thanksgiving to everybody. Yes. Happy holidays. Happy holidays.