Residents contribute to new ten-year plan

SALISBURY — Affordable housing and traffic concerns dominated the discussion at the Monday, Sept. 30 public engagement meeting held by Salisbury P&Z on the development of a new ten-year Plan of Conservation and Development (POCD).

The town is state-mandated to update its POCD every decade. The previous iteration of the plan dates to 2012; the two year delay in adopting the new update is due to pandemic-related setbacks.

The POCD, as per the town website, “assesses and inventories the status of: affordable housing, villages, comprehensive planning and governance, infrastructure, agriculture, and natural resources.” P&Z chair Michael Klemens was careful to emphasize several times throughout the course of the meeting that “the language of the POCD is not directive,” but rather a “catalog of ideas and concepts.”

The draft of the POCD upon which the meeting was based is available on the town’s website, www.salisburyct.us.

Klemens said that P&Z’s goal with the public engagement meeting was to “get ideas out earlier” and avoid a controversial public hearing “in the 11th hour.”

Throughout the 90-minute public comment period, residents voiced concerns on an array of topics, many of which focused on affordable housing.

Residents expressed worry about the impact affordable housing developments and other infrastructure projects may have on the town. They urged caution of overdeveloping Salisbury, and requested the commission consider the “special character of the town.”

“Planning and Zoning is not here to stop change,” Klemens replied. “It’s here to manage change.” He also emphasized that they cannot legally use the word “character” because it has historically been used towards exclusionary purposes.

Other residents were concerned that the POCD draft relied too heavily on recent studies performed by Colliers Engineering and Design on the Salisbury and Lakeville village centers and the town’s open space and recreation.

Klemens noted the residents’ concern, but quickly emphasized that it was only one document of many that informed this update to the POCD, alongside the 2012 POCD, the Town of Salisbury Affordable Housing Plan, the Salisbury Connecticut Natural Resources Inventory, and the Salisbury Community Survey.

Commission member Allen Cockerline told the assembly that “The [Colliers] report is advisory, and we use it to the town’s benefit.” The commission agreed that the language in the final POCD should be clear on this.

Written comments were solicited by P&Z prior to the meeting, and then P&Z fielded comments from the public both from a live audience and through zoom. P&Z said these comments – both written and those asked at the meeting – will be taken as recommendations as they finalize a draft to submit for a 65-day review period by Oct. 10.

The Salisbury Board of Selectmen and Northwest Hills Council of Governments will then review the document. After the review period, a public hearing for adoption will be held.

P&Z anticipates the public hearing will take place in mid-December, and emphasized that approving the document in 2024 is crucial to ensure discretionary state funding.