Planning Connecticut: Interview with Francis Pickering of CCRPA

5/29/10

Interview with Francis Pickering of CCRPA

by John Boren

The lack of funding or statutory requirement for linking regional and local planning in Connecticut results in scant involvement by regional planners in the process of drafting town Plans of Conservation and Development. This comes out in the following interview with Francis Pickering, from the Central Connecticut Regional Planning Agency (CCPRA).

Question: What coordination is required between the CCPRA and New Britain (or any town in the region for that matter) when the city is drafting a new Plan of Conservation and Development?
Answer: No coordination is required. The region voluntarily strives to take local POCDs into account when drawing up its regional POCD. CCRPA has not reviewed the New Britain POCD. We expect that New Britain’s planner will present the plan for discussion to our Comprehensive Plan Committee (CPC). Please note that this discussion will be informative only—we have no authority to compel alterations to any plan or ordinance.

Question: What is the level of involvement of the CCRPA with New Britain and its drafting of a new POCD?
Answer: CCRPA has not been involved in New Britain’s POCD process.

Question: How would you describe the role of the CCRPA in this process, i.e. mostly advisory, major decision-making entity, etc.?
Answer: Not applicable—we have not been involved in this process. Given state budget cuts, CCRPA does not have the resources to engage in such a complex and lengthy process as the adoption of a new POCD. There is simply no funding provided for such work.

Question:How does the regional planning agency's specific plan of development differ from that of its member towns?
Answer: Comparing our regional plan with our municipalities’ POCDs would be an extremely time-intensive task. We do not have the resources to do this. All I can suggest is that you compare the documents yourself.

Final remarks:
I am sorry I cannot be of more help, but the lack of financial support and statutory authority in Connecticut for the regions undercuts our ability to work change. We simply do not have the power of other states’ counties or regional governance such as Portland’s Metro.

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Glossary

Concurrency Management
This is a growth management policy with a goal of requiring adequate infrastructure such as roads, water and sewer lines, to currently exist or to be planned for an area to be developed. Concurrency management keeps the capacities of local services from being strained and promotes more compact growth of the town closer to the urban core.

Conservation
Conservation is the preservation, restoration, management, protection and ongoing care of a particular resource. For example, the state of Connecticut requires each town to have a Plan of Conservation and Development; the conservation part of the plan protects and manages the town's resources.

Corridor
A corridor is the land connecting two towns or cities. For example, think about driving along rt. 175 from Newington to New Britain. What is the first thing you see when crossing over the New Britain town line? This is one of New Britain's corridors.
A corridor can also refer to a heavily populated area along a well traveled route used by railroads or airlines.

Euclidean Zoning
The most pervasive zoning technique in the United States, Euclidean Zoning divides a town into uniform land use districts--usually based on residential, commercial, and industrial uses. Many American communities are thus divided into spaces that are solely residential or commercial or industrial. Euclidean Zoning is named for the town of Euclid, Ohio, which became the focus of a 1926 Supreme Court decision supporting the right of a town to enforce such zones .

Growth management
This refers to specific regulatory policies aimed at influencing how growth occurs, mainly within a locality. These affect density, availability of land, mixtures of uses, and timing of development. Growth management seeks to accommodate growth rationally, not to prevent or limit it. That is growth control. (definition from Brookings Institution)

Infrastructure refers to the fundamental facilities and systems serving a country, city, or area, such as; transportation systems, power plants, schools, sewers, power lines, highways, etc.
Source: www.dictionary.com
www.answers.com

Overlay Zone
Overlay zoning creates a special zoning district which overlaps an existing zone or zones. For example an overlay zone will alert the developer, property owner, and public officials to the presence of critical habitat and migration patterns of animals regardless of an underlying character district.

Perceived Open Space
A category of land use. Land that has nothing built on it and appears to be open space yet is not designated as such and can be developed. Community members can overestimate how much open space they actually have available due to this misperception. For example, there is privately owned land on Cedar Mountain that is not developed, which can add to the perception that more of the land is designated as open space than is actually the case.

Personal property, roughly speaking, is private property that is moveable, as opposed to real property or real estate.

Real property and personal property are the main classifications of property in the common law. Real property refers to land and the improvements made by human efforts—buildings, machinery, the acquisition of various property rights, and the like. Real property is also termed realty, real estate, and immovable property.

Smart growth refers to an overall set of broad goals designed to counteract sprawl. These usually include (1) limiting outward expansion, (2) encouraging higher density development, (3) encouraging mixed-use zoning, (4) reducing travel by private vehicles, (5) revitalizing older areas, and (6) preserving open space. Promoting more affordable housing can be a goal, but usually is not (definition from Brookings Institution).

The Grand List is a listing of all real estate parcels and business personal property within a particular municipality—or, as defined by the Connecticut Office of Policy and Management, “The aggregate valuation of taxable property within a given town.”

Watershed
A watershed is an area of land where all the water on it or below it drains by gravity into the same place; like a large river. Watersheds come in all shapes and sizes and can cross town or state boundries. For example, in Connecticut the Mattabesset River watershed encompases nine towns and empties into the Connecticut River.

Zoning
Zoning is the process of making a set of laws that control the land use within a certain land area. Some examples of zoning can be; residential, commercial, industrial, and farming. Each of these areas would then have their own set of rules to following when developing or preserving land.

Planning Connecticut

5/29/10

Interview with Francis Pickering of CCRPA

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Plans of Conservation and Development (POCD)

Glossary