NORTH CANAAN — Ahead of the Planning and Zoning Commission meeting Nov. 14, chairman Tim Abbott handed in his key to Town Hall along with a resignation letter.
Abbott’s resignation comes after increased pressure from the team seeking to develop a subdivision along the Housatonic River’s bank.
Abbott, who also works as conservation director at Housatonic Valley Association and advocated for the Housatonic River’s Wild and Scenic status, was vocally opposed to the project from its inception and thus recused himself from P&Z discussions of the application.
Landowner Bruce McEver’s River Woods application, also known as the Honey Hill development, has been modified several times and has been the subject of ongoing public hearings over the last year. The most recent proposal would create 33 buildable lots and a 3,750-feet loop road situated between Honey Hill Road and the Housatonic River.
In a previous version of the subdivision design, a 20-lot cul-de-sac was proposed, which required a regulatory text change to the limits of dead-end roads in North Canaan. When an application for this text change was put forth from the developers in May 2024, Abbott stated the change would affect the whole town and he remained engaged in P&Z discussions making amendments to the text change.
At a public hearing for the text change Oct. 15, McEver’s attorney Charles Andres called for Abbott to recuse himself from all discussion of the text change. Land use consultant Janell Mullen spoke at the hearing to state the drafted text change should not be implemented because it was created by Abbott and not “thoughtfully crafted by an impartial professional.”
Before a commission vote was held on the text change or the subdivision applications, Abbott resigned. His resignation letter stated:
“Since my election in 2021 I have tried to act with integrity, honor and propriety as Chair of the Commission and have recused where appropriate due to my disclosed conflict of interest on an active subdivision application. However, a well-financed and aggressive developer has conflated that recusal with a proposed text amendment to subdivision regulations that are generally applicable to the entire town. As a result, I am placed in an untenable position. Recusing unnecessarily on the proposed text amendment while simultaneously recused on the applicant’s latest subdivision proposal would compel me to leave our regular meeting tonight [Nov. 14] on no fewer than three separate occasions. To do so verges on neglect of elected duty and only serves to undermine the authority of the Commission. Rather than do that, I have elected to resign.”
In Abbott’s absence, vice chair Peter Brown assumed the duties of P&Z chairman. A vote for new officers will be held at the next monthly meeting Dec. 9.
At the Nov. 14 meeting, the commission moved to accept drafted text changes for dead-end road limitations. The accepted version was the one originally submitted by the subdivision developers (not Abbott’s version). The amendment to zoning section 6.1-8.4 extended the maximum length of a dead-end street from 1,000-feet to 4,000-feet and increased the total number of buildable lots on a dead-end from 12 to 20.
A public hearing for the River Woods subdivision application will take place Dec. 9 at 7 p.m. in Town Hall.
