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Zoe Chatfield: In the Zone

Got plans? Zoe Chatfield does, lots of them. That’s because Zoe is a zoning compliance officer for the towns of Chester and Deep River.

Zoe just completed the first part of the required coursework to become a certified zoning official. The certification requirement was first passed by the Connecticut General Assembly in 2021 and then amended in 2023. As a result, any zoning enforcement officer appointed on or after January 1 of 2024 is required to get certified.

Zoe, who already has a master’s degree in community development and planning from Clark University and a graduate certificate in geographic information systems (GIS) from the University of Connecticut, attended day-long classes for a week, culminating in a three-hour examination for the certification process.

However, she is not done. There will be a second set of classes, followed by an examination, but Zoe will still not be finished. Zoe will have to submit a case study on a complex zoning issue, “something in the gray area of laws and regulations,” she explains.

While Zoe is in both Chester and Deep River every week, she works for the towns under a contract with her employer Tyche Planning and Policy Group, LLC in Vernon.

“I work for a company that serves the municipalities,” she explains. “Different contracts determine what I do.”

Zoe understands that zoning can bring up contentious issues.

“People sometimes can come into the office angry. They want to pick a fight. Luckily, it goes better once we start talking. You have a conversation and sit down and work it out together. That’s the part I like,” she says. “Zoning is a balancing act—not all good, not all bad.

Zoe, who grew up in the Hartford area, first became interested in community planning through an undergraduate course she took at Smith College in landscaping and how it affects the way people live and the way communities function.

She has been involved in the Hartford community since she was a child. Her mother ran an education program at the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, and Zoe volunteered on Saturday art days.

Now, Zoe is a member of the Hartford Parking Commission. She applied to join the group because she was interested in seeing how a city commission worked. Zoe describes sitting on the commission as a great learning experience.

“It is not a popular commission, but it is informative. It forces you to look at the big picture,” she says.

The big picture includes issues like whether to limit parking spaces, encourage walking and bike lanes, and thus cut down on pollution.

“All of us bear the brunt of driving through pollution of the environment,” she says.

Zoe just became president of the board of Hartford Decides, an organization she describes as a non-profit which engages citizens in a participatory budgeting process. The city allocates a portion of its capital improvement funds, and residents brainstorm ideas on how to spend the money, putting together proposals for various projects. Residents can then vote on the proposals and the winning projects receive funds from the city.

“It’s a great way for people to feel more directly involved in planning their communities, helps us all better understand the true cost of municipal projects and services,” she explains.

Zoe’s other recent community involvements include introducing high school students to mapping through GIS in a collaborative project between the Blue Hills Civic Association, the Connecticut Green Bank, and the Trust for Public Land.

She has also worked as an assistant to the chair of the Hartford Commission on Cultural Affairs, where she was involved in the selection process for Hartford’s first poet laureate and first official troubadour.

Zoe says that choosing a writer and a musician to be so honored is a way of encouraging towns to engage with the arts.

“A lot of towns have them,” she says of the poet and troubadour. “It’s a way of building up pride in the community.”

In addition, Zoe has been involved in urban farming programs in Hartford. She reports success is corn, tomatoes, and lettuce, but says that broccoli did not work out.

“It was a soil issue,” she explains.

Zoe is a gardener herself and has a goal of saving seeds from the annuals she grows. She not only uses them in her own garden, but also gives the seeds to friends for theirs. Every year, she chooses a new plant from which to save seeds. She is particularly interested in growing milkweed and distributing its seeds, noting that the plant is the only host for the Monarch butterfly.

In addition to growing flowers, Zoe has done arrangements for special events.

“I dabble in wedding and floral design,” she says.

The flowers are not only in her garden; she also has flower tattoos on her arms. Zoe has a picture of hemlock on one arm, and on the other is a daisy with a ladybug—an image from her own garden.

Zoe points out that the flowering hemlock sends a message about how appearance can deceive. Though it looks harmless, the plant is poisonous.

“Some things are not what they appear,” Zoe explains.

Zoe says the daisy provides a contrast. It can stand for hopefulness.

Zoe intends to continue her career in community planning, but she already knows the basic truth about making plans.

“A good planner knows nothing goes according to plans,” she says.