Strategies to improve town life

NORTH CANAAN — North Canaan should craft itself as the family-friendly Northwest Corner town, according to a recently released survey of eight area towns.

The online survey, conducted in May and June by AKRF ( an environmental and planning consulting firm based in Willimantic) was commissioned by the Northwest Connecticut Regional Planning Collaborative. It is supposed to measure the “vitality†of local towns, and offers suggestions on how to make town centers more attractive.

The survey gives demographic information for the six towns in the collaborative: Cornwall, Falls Village, Kent, North Canaan, Salisbury and Sharon, plus Norfolk and Goshen.

While North Canaan is described as having a wealth of services, restaurants and shopping, its many empty storefronts signal a downward trend that could threaten the town’s economic future.

A survey of 54 retailers was conducted. Neighborhood services, including banks, professional offices, realtors and beauty salons, account for 30 percent of businesses in town. Eating and drinking places amount to 18 percent. Convenience goods make up 15 percent of the businesses.

Vacant storefronts represent 15 percent.

Shopping goods add up to 11 percent, auto-related trade, 7 percent, and building materials and garden supply 4 percent.

North Canaan’s strengths are listed as its young demographic and many family-oriented businesses. Those businesses provide basic goods and services in an area that includes the junction of two state highways.

Housing is affordably priced, and two international companies (Becton-Dickinson and Specialty Minerals ) are among employers here. The ongoing renovation of Canaan Union Station was specifically noted as a strength.

A list of weaknesses paints a picture of an unwelcoming environment. There is no “iconic gathering place.†Absentee landlords were blamed for high rents and vacant storefronts.

The survey noted “gateways  that do not adequately announce entry to the village center,†as well as an “austere pedestrian environment†and difficult-to-find off-street parking. The latter issues are being addressed by the town’s Streetscape Project, which is utilizing two $500,000 grants to make the center of town more attractive.

But the going has been slow, due in large part to the role the Department of Transportation must play (the work is on or near state roads).

Noted as a single but overreaching threat was the potential for a continuing deterioration of stores clustered at the intersection of routes 7 and 44.

Opportunities for the town include reinforcing its family-oriented character by leasing vacant stores to retailers “targeted to a younger demographic.â€

While the town’s  zoning regulations give it little control over whom landlords rent to, the survey suggested tax incentives could attract retailers.

And while some Planning and Zoning members in recent years have suggested the town’s commercial center might be better centered around existing businesses in and near the Stop & Shop plaza, the survey suggests re-establishing Canaan Union Station as the “geographic and social heart of the village center†— a plan already envisioned by those moving the renovation forward.

Meeting Sept. 20

The collaborative is holding a “strategies meeting†in Falls Village with the first selectmen of each town and local legislators on Monday, Sept. 20, at 9 a.m. A draft version of action strategies will be discussed. To see the complete survey report, go online to nwctplanning.org.