If any of you are old like me, than you remember the title of this post is from a skit that appeared on the Carol Burnett Show years ago. It was a play on the soap opera “As The World Turns.”

Well, Carol Burnetts old skit came to mind Wednesday night when I went to the special Planning and Zoning meeting where the commissioners asked very good questions about the application. Note that the actual site plan has not entered by the applicant for review as of yet.

This is going to be a long post, so I am going to break it up into two separate posts. Frankly, after what I found in my mailbox this afternoon, I wonder why they even had this meeting and will have another “meeting” Jan 22, with the final decision to be made on the 28th of January.

The Commission members asked questions about the construction of a possible parking garage on the site, the size of the lighting fixtures,  sewer capacity which can or should I say probably will be a problem. The system is straining now. The Commission discussed traffic flow, which according to  the Beta Group, would be the highest on weekday mornings “just by the site” of an additional 517 “trips” as the experts like to call extra traffic. On Friday p.m., the trips would be 2,268 and on mid-day Saturday the trips would be over 3,000.

The Beta Group people claim that there would be a diminshing of traffic or “trips” by the time one approached the Academy Road area. The trips would go down to only 225. This results in a seven to eight percent drop as one drives further away from the Shoppes.

Well, all this was interesting, but when I got home today, I found a “flyer” in my mailbox.

It was a “DRAFT: FINDINGS -W/S Development Zone Map Change.

This is the wording on the DRAFT.

“According to State law, the PZC is acting in a legislative  capacity when dealing with a proposed zone map change. As such, it is only required to apply its informed judgement to the questions of whether the proposed change is in the best interest of the Town as a whole, and consistent with the Plan of Development & Conservation. In this case, however, additional findings are required.

Section 45B.6 of the Cheshire Zoning Regulations states that the Commission may approve a zone change to an Interchange Special Development District and the Interchange Special Development Project only if, in the opinion of the Commission, the applicant has met al of the standards set forth in this section of the regulations, and if the Commission finds that the zone map change and project ae in the best interests of the town. The discretion to make these findings belongs solely to the Commission as this section states that the Commission must make these findings only in its own judgement.

In addition, Section 22a of the Connecticut General Statutes requires the Commission to consider the entire record with regard to the application’s potential environmental impact.

The twenty areas in which findings are required were the subject of extensive oral and written testimony. The Commission held nearly 20 hours of hearings and reviewed over 1000 pages of written submissions. The opinions of the applicant, the intervenor and the public were considered, and particularly those of the professional staff. To ensure that the Commission had the best and most complete information, the Town engaged an outside, disinterested professional consultant, whose input has been invaluable.

Each of the twenty standards is listed below. In each case, there were positive and negative features of the proposal, which the Commission has weighed carefully. In some cases, the Commission feels that changes in the proposed regulations are necessary to meet the standard. These will be discussed in the decision which follows these findings.

a)   The special regulations, as proposed, as well as the proposed development are consistent with the intent of these Interchange Special Development District regulations, the Cheshire Plan of Conservation and Development, and the laws and standards for zone changes and amendments in the State of Connecticut.

The proposed regulations offer a number of amendments over existing regulations and cover a variety of topics. In considering such a wide-ranging revision of the existing rules, attention ut be paid to the specific details. The Commission has reviewed these and has made the changes described in the decision below. With these changes, it is the opionion of theCommision that the application meets the requirements of this standard.

b)     The proposed project is designed with recognition of a site’s context and character.

A site’s content and character are defined by natural and manmade characteristics within and around its perimeter. The context for this property is established in part by the I-691 interchange and associated highway frontage, its proximity to existing industrial areas and to the commerical areas along Route 322, by its nearly 1400 feet of frontage on Route 10, and by Dickerman Road that runs along the westerly boundary. Furthermore, the remains of the Farmington Canal as evidenced by the Great Fill also contribute to the site’s context and character.

The context also includes the Ten Mile River corridor with existing floodway and floodplan and regulated wetland areas, and its proximity to the recently developed residential area just north of this property. Any development of this property must be done with consideration of these unique characteristics. Finally, the site will serve as the Norther gateway to the Town.

The Commission walked the site and observed these features first hand. They saw the damage done to the river banks by uncontrolled use of off-road vehicles, and the collapsed culvert at the Great Fill. The proposed development will not only resotre and preserve the Ten Mile River and its banks and the Great Fill, but will make them the centerpiece of the development.

It is the opinion of the Commission that, with some changes in the specific regulations, particulary with regard to landscaping, this proposal meets the requirements of this standard.

c)   That the natural features of the land have been considered as design determinants.

As noted above, the site has many distinctive natural and historical features. In particular, much testimony dealt with the need to preserve and protect the Ten Mle River and its environs. The site design on the proposed plan includes corridor widths ranging from 1oo feet in the central area to in excess of 1,000 feet from Dickerman Road perimeter. It is the commission’s opinion that the design of this proposal represents an earnest effort to protect the Ten Mile River corridor.

Development on the remaining portions of the site is being done to minimize fill and excessive grading. In addition, there is no development propoed on the small portion other site that lies within the aquifer protection area in the southeasterly corner.

The Commission notes that the application was unanimoulsy approved by the Inland Wetlands and Watercourses Commissions. It is the opinion of the Commission that, with some changes to the proposed regulations, this proposal meets the requirements of this standard.

d)  That important historic and archaeological characteristics have been respected and considered as design determinants.

The historic Farminton Canal and aqueduct lies within the central area of this site. The aqueduct was constructed in the early 19th century to establish an elevation for the canal to cross the Ten Mile River. This aqueduct and great fill area were severely disturbed  by flodding in the spring of 2007.

This application proposes reconstruction of the aqueduct using modern standards along with the preservation of the original stone arches. There is also a visitor area and heritage monument proposed in teh central portion of the site that will review the history of the Farmington Canal and the importance of this property in that context.

The applicants are proposing a wood trestle bridge for motor vehicles and pediestrians to cross the river. The wood trestles have been chosen to aument the historic setting on the portion of the site.

It is the opinion of the Commission that this proposal meets the requirements of this standard.

e)   Community facilities, utilities and/or services as presently existing or to be provided by teh applicant, will not be overburdened due to the increase in population or activity caused by the new development.

The applicant for this project will construct public water and sewer as required by the Cheshire Zoning Regulations. The Water Pollution control authority (WPCA) granted the request for the feasibility at their meeting of December 19, 2007.  A copy of those minutes of those proceedings is attached. In this acton, the WPCA states that the sanitary sewarage system is generally capable of construction and is capable of being connected to the Town of Cheshire public sanitary sewer system. The WPCA will have final approval of final design of the system, discussion of which is contained in the munutes from the December meeting. assuming this final approval, the utilities required will not overburden the available services. Public safety issues are discussed below.

f)  There will not be any significant public safety or fire protection problems and that emergency access is adequately provided.

The Cheshire Police and Fire departments have issued comments to the applicant and Commission during the public hearing phase of this proposal. Both departments requested an emergency access drive from Route 10 that is being provided by the applicant who also offered to dedicate some square footage and parking within the facilaity for public safety personnel to use as needed. They also inted to provide private, on-site security the level of which they have offered to discuss with the Cheshire Police Department.

The Police Department anticipates the need for an additional patrol car for the North End to meet the needs of this project and other developments in the area. The cost for this additional service will be offset by the addtional tax revenues from the development.

EDITORS NOTE: I AM SKIPPING TO THE END. MORE OF THIS “DRAFT” IN THE NEXT POST.

r) There is a reasonable assurance that the developer has the financial and organizational capability to complete the project as submitted.

The applicant has provided the necessary documentation to support this standard. The Commission can find no evidence to cast doubt that this developer is capable of completing this project.

It is the opinion of the commission that this proposal meets the requirements of this standard.

f)  The overall project is in the best interest of the Town.

Based upon the discussion above, as well as upon the positive fiscal impact of the development, the Commission concludes that the overall project is, in fact, in the best interest of the town.

After due consideration of the entire record, the Commision finds that the applicant’s proposed Zone Map Change, Interchange Special Development District Project Plan, and Aquifer Protection Application are not reasonably likely to have the effect of unreasonably polluting, imparing or destroying the public trust in the air, water or other natural resources of the state. Furthermore, it is the opinion of the Cheshire Planning and zoning Commission that this application meets all of the standards laid out in Section 45.B6 of the Zoning Regulations, and that it may, therefore, be approved by the Commission.