After a year of effort, and with some final changes, a steering committee appointed by the Planning and Zoning Commission (PZC) has completed a comprehensive review and update to produce a new draft of Branford's Plan of Conservation and Development (POCD).

Final changes voted in at the last workshop of the POCD steering committee on Sept. 13 included stripping out some differing economic development goals suggested for areas off Branford's four I-95 interchanges to instead incorporate consistent goals. The decision resulted in removing a long list of specific and more stringent land-use, economic development and conservation goals which had been suggested at Exit 56. 

The committee also adjusted goals impacting future development along eastern East Main Street (Route 1) and agreed to recommend updating a Route 1 planning study through the eastern section to include sewer capacity to help guide future development. Other changes included adding wayfinding signage and a consistent beautification effort at each I-95 interchange town entrance.

The POCD steering committee's draft document is meant to guide Branford's conservation, development and infrastructure strategies for the next ten years. The POCD draft, as endorsed by the committee, will now be forwarded to the PZC for review, discussion and adoption during the month of October. By state statute, the PZC must update the town's POCD every 10 years.

The final POCD adopted by the PZC becomes the town's advisory document to guide the PZC and all other town boards, commissions toward consistent decision-making on conservation and development activities for the next decade. The POCD Steering Committee's draft document has been built based on input gathered from town boards, commissions, committees and the public through outlets including public meetings, on-line and phone surveys, emails and letters. The steering committee was appointed by the PZC and includes chairman Phil Carloni and members Cathy Lezon, Peter Basserman, Joseph Chadwick, Vincent Hanchuruck, Bill Horne, John Lust, Marci Palluzzi, Gavin Renz, Barbara Ricozzi and Town of Branford staff Harry Smith (Town Planner) and Terry Elton (Economic Development). The committee was served by Smith, Assistant Town Planner Richard Stoecker and a hired, outside consultant, Glenn Chalder, president of Planimetrics (Avon). Throughout the draft process, a working document outlining changes and additions has been posted for the public at www.branford-ct.gov.

Updates drafted into the recommended POCD reflect a year's worth of work by the committee. Conservation strategies recommend focusing on coastal "rising water" issues, protecting natural resources, preserving open space and enhancing community character. Development strategies call for strengthening community structure, enhancing Branford town center, promoting appropriate economic development, guiding residential development, and promoting sustainability and resilience. Infrastructure-related strategies describe maintaining and enhancing community facilities, addressing vehicular circulation, promoting pedestrian, bicycle and transit facilities, and addressing utility infrastructure.

At the steering committee's final public workshop and meeting on Sept. 13, Carloni continued a practice with smaller audiences of not only accepting comments from citizen attendees, but allowing some exchange between citizens and the committee as items were discussed.

Requests for changes to POCD draft language, including descriptions impacting development off Exit 56 and the eastern end of Route 1, were brought by resident Wayne Cooke. Cooke asked the committee to consider what he felt was unfair language impacting those areas; which includes land Cooke and the Cooke Harrison Family Partnership own at 573 East Main St.  The 573 East Main St. parcel was considered for development of a Costco store and continues to be part of a 44-acre Planned Development District (master plan), currently approved through July 2019, for development which could incorporate that type of retail with other commercial uses.

Palluzzi said she supported striking "passive aggressive" language describing specific goals at Exit 56 and instead making all I-95 interchange economic development goals "uniform."

Resident Lauren Brown supported the idea of consistency of descriptions of economic development goals for all of the town's I-95 interchanges. Another resident, Shirley McCarthy, described the need to conserve natural resources along the eastern end of Route 1.

Cooke also questioned the phrase "innovation enterprises" earmarked for industrial-zoned areas, including those on the eastern end of town, where suggested POCD language had encouraged development of biomedical research, research development and high-tech industries.

"Innovation enterprises is not coming; it's just not coming," said Cooke. "Why are we pushing bio-med when it's not going to happen?"

Chadwick said the phrase was meant to describe new innovative enterprises, or "...the concept of doing things we haven't thought of." The committee voted to take out suggested "bio-technology" language.

Following committee votes to incorporate some final changes and corrections, and the vote to endorse and forward the finalized draft to the PZC, Carloni said to the citizen attendees, "I think we had a really great group of interested people that were consistently here. I felt like you guys contributed a lot to this whole process."

Carloni also thanked Chalder, Smith and Stoecker for the work done over the past year, and the committee for its dedication and contributions to help update a new draft of town's POCD.

"When we started this whole thing, I did not have any idea where we were going with it or what I was doing; but there are so many experienced people on this group that I felt pretty comfortable after the first couple of meetings," Carloni added. "And frankly, I'm very pleased about the way things went tonight. It felt like everything came together the way it should have come together tonight."