Town plans keep our area lovely

CORNWALL — Cornwall’s Planning and Zoning Commission invited town residents to a special meeting on Saturday, Jan. 26, to give their opinions on what they want their town to look like and how they want it to change (if at all) over the next decade.

The town is beginning to work on its Town Plan of Conservation and Development. The state requires all 169 Connecticut towns to revise their town plan every 10 years; towns that don’t comply are not eligible for state grants. 

The town plan forms the basis for a town’s planning and zoning regulations, which is why Saturday’s meeting was hosted by the Planning and Zoning Commission. Unlike many other town documents, the town plan does not require town meeting approval. 

The town plan more than any other document is responsible for how a town “looks.” In the Northwest Corner, town plans largely call for a minimum of industry and development and a maximum of what is referred to as “rural character.”

On Saturday, about 50 people came to Cornwall Consolidated School to hear progress reports from town plan sub-committees and their visions of a positive future. The previous town plan was approved in 2010.  The revised plan will go into effect in 2020.

Joining the commission members was Jocelyn Ayer of the Northwest Hills Council of Governments, who serves Cornwall as a consulting planner. 

She invited the group to ask and answer questions such as, What do you want Cornwall to look like in 10 years; do you want it to change or stay the same; what can Cornwall do to attract young families; how can there be better coordination with other organizations or neighboring towns. 

As a tool to answering those questions, a questionnaire has been posted on the town’s website at www.cornwallct.org. Look for Cornwall Resident Input Survey. All residents, full-time or part-time, are encouraged to complete it. 

The four top topics

Four topical sub-committees have formed to contribute to the plan: Housing, Economic Development, Natural Resources, and a combined committee of Community Resources and Young Families.

Speaking for the Housing Committee, Chairman Jill Cutler said, “Cornwall has a kind of crisis that is common in rural America.” 

She said that Cornwall now has the highest vacancy rate in all of the towns in the Northwest Corner. The vacancy figure includes part-time residents. 

And, there is little to no housing stock for young people, she said. 

Possible solutions are multi-unit housing, reduced lot sizes, conversion of large, older homes into condos, or construction of condos, and construction of seasonal housing, she said. 

Availability of community water and septic systems are key to all of the ideas, she added.

Finding ways to work

Speaking for the Economic Development Committee, Anna Timell recommended the town’s website for an understanding of  “Cornwall by the Numbers.” 

She saw “urgency” in the town’s present situation, recounting that in the 1950s there were 21 working dairy farms here. 

“We need to provide better economic opportunity here in town,” she said. Many residents today are working from home; the town should make it easier for people to do that, Timell said. Fiber optics could be a welcome upgrade to increase the speed of internet (or even make internet available to houses that don’t have it yet).

The Natural Resources Committee sees ridgeline protection as important to residents, recognizing overlap in the interests of the various committees as they relate to town realities. 

Allowing light manufacturing was described as a possibility.

First Selectman Gordon Ridgway spoke of the recent federal government shutdown. 

“Cornwall does not shut down,” he said, indicating that those affected turned to their community for support and received it. 

He said he feels the septic project in West Cornwall and improvement of internet connectivity are likely to be attractive advances for the town.

Representatives of local organizations detailed their role in supporting the daily life of the town.

Janet Carlson, chair of the Economic Development Commission, said, “When you raise a flag, people come.”  

She noted recent publicity campaigns that were designed to attract visitors to town.