Clinton Station South Task Force, a new ad hoc committee focused on Clinton center, has been charged with developing guidelines for rezoning the downtown area on both sides of West Main Street, from Hull Street on the east to approximately Maple Avenue and Lumberyard Road on the west. This area, said Planning & Zoning Commission (PZC) member Alan Kravitz, constitutes much of the western quadrant of the transit-oriented development area around the Clinton train station.

Kravitz, at the request of PZC Chair Gary Bousquet and First Selectman Bruce Farmer, serves as chair of the newly formed task force, which includes representatives from PZC, the business community, the Water Pollution Control Commission (WPCC), and other groups whose input is seen as critical to Clinton’s downtown redevelopment and long-term sustainability. The group has begun exploring issues related to transit-oriented development, including land use, density, circulation and parking, water pollution control, open space, walkability, and design standards.

“This has been in the works for about seven or eight years,” said Kravitz. “We were moving in that direction.”

The vacant Unilever property and adjoining parcels, he said—roughly 20 acres around the train station—offer enormous potential for the town.

“We will be assisted by the town’s planning consultant and zoning enforcement officer and may have some additional support from RiverCOG, our regional planning organization. There is a lot of opportunity here, a lot of underutilized commercial space,” Kravitz said. “We want something to hang our hat on, and we haven’t had a strategy. We need a strategy.”

‘Work with What We Have and Make It What We Want’

Task force member and PZC commissioner Chris Aniskovich noted that Clinton has a relatively small downtown.

“Work with what we have,” he said, “and make it what we want.”

Clinton Police Chief Vince DeMaio, also a member of the task force, pointed out that an undeveloped town center is more than just a lost economic opportunity.

“We have some of these buildings that are going to continue to deteriorate, and we’re stuck with what that brings in, and that brings in crime,” he said.

Transit-oriented communities designed to appeal to young professionals, families, and empty-nesters are typically walkable, bikeable, mixed-use neighborhoods that include housing, retail shops, office space, and services and have easy access to public transit. These communities often feature small blocks, building entrances that usually front to the sidewalk, and in-town residences that accommodate households of various sizes and income levels.

The idea for a committee to address transit-oriented development in downtown Clinton gained traction at recent PZC meetings and public hearings, partly in response to a controversial proposal to construct a drive-through CVS retail pharmacy on the corner of routes 1 and 81. A number of townspeople, including PZC members, voiced concerns about the proposed development not fitting in with Clinton’s Plan of Conservation and Development, which calls for transit-oriented development in Clinton center as well as preservation of the historic character of the center’s main gateways, including High Street and East Main Street. The plan acknowledges that several historic properties “are scattered throughout Clinton Center and are in need of renovation and possible relocation.”

The Clinton South Station Task Force anticipates needing four meetings in order to develop its guidelines. Meetings will take place every Thursday in September. Kravitz said the ambitious work schedule will help the group complete its mission in a timely manner.

“It’s a tough task,” Kravitz told the group. “There are a lot of considerations. One of the keys to getting transit-oriented development to work is getting the first person to invest.”

The first meeting, held on Sept. 8, included a review and discussion of the committee’s mission, timeframe, and work program and tackled questions about transit-oriented development, how it can work for Clinton, and what the town’s Plan of Conservation and Development said about it. The initial meeting also identified specific issues that need to be addressed, such as where the town can achieve density, the critical role Clinton’s train station will play once it’s upgraded, the need for adequate parking, traffic versus congestion, affordable housing, signage, septic carrying capacity and wastewater treatment limitations, and incentives for development.

Committee members were asked to research relevant examples of transit-oriented development in other towns as well as conduct an individual or group site walk in downtown Clinton.

“Take pictures of things you think are significant that will set the tone for our next meeting,” said Kravitz.

Task force members will share their findings at the Sept. 15 meeting.

The task force includes Kravitz, Aniskovich, DeMaio, Michael Cuoco, Peggy Sullivan, David Radka, Matt Kennedy, Mike Knudsen, John Allen, and Tim Guerra, and ex officio members Bousquet and Farmer. Eric Knapp, Clinton’s zoning enforcement officer, and John Guszkowski, the town’s planning consultant, provide additional guidance and expertise.

Sitting in for Kennedy (representing the Water Pollution Control Commission), Knudsen (PZC), and Allen (Economic Development Commission) at the Sept. 8 meeting were Hal Dolan, Ellen Dahlgren, and Kirk Carr.

Carr urged committee members to add to their considerations the net fiscal impact of different types of development, with a focus on uses that would bring in more tax revenue than they would cost in services; commercial development projects as well as residential development for seniors, he said, would be ideal. He also cautioned against guidelines that would bring in the kinds of downtown development that the people of Clinton have opposed at recent public hearings—such as a drive-through retail pharmacy.

“We’ve heard what people don’t want,” he said.

Clinton Station South Task Force meetings are open to the public. The next three meetings will be held Sept. 15, 22, and 29 at 5:30 p.m. in the Clinton Police Department’s community room.