By the petitions circulating earlier this week it would seem that the only items covered in upwards of 250 pages of zoning regulations involve the West End, how the Village for Families and Children site should be used, and how many unrelated people may live together in one small area of the city. Claims by the dozen have been made about the public information and notice process and about what zoning changes might mean. Since the revision process began in 2013, we have been closely following along the way.

The Document

Among the 50+ people who either testified live or submitted support in writing prior to the public hearing on Tuesday evening, the vast majority supported the zoning changes as a whole, with experts especially applauding revisions made to sections regarding the environment, transit and transit-oriented development, and code that would restrict what types of businesses could pop up in the neighborhoods.

The document includes language about trees and waterways — what amounts to several pages describing what types of trees are permitted. Diagrams remove all guesswork from what kind of landscaping is required for parking lots. Buffers have been established along waterways, protecting the natural environment. Although P&Z Commissioner Blatt presented some opposition to language regarding floating structures and marinas, there was not extensive public commentary. Riverfront Recapture supported the changes, including the floating structures. Regardless, the DEEP would need to also weigh in on the development of anything like a “floating restaurant” in the Connecticut River.

Another section of the document outright bans hunting, except for in the case of pest control, within the city: “The use of land to discharge a firearm, bow, or crossbow for the purpose of killing animals for sport, consumption, or pleasure” is now prohibited. This change was given no attention in public comment, though it came about from previous discussion with residents who were shocked to learn that deer hunting was occurring in at least one residential area in recent months.

Acknowledging that an increasing number of residents are trying to minimize their impact on the environment, there is now language about solar panel installations. Commissioner Bobowski objected that solar installations could be viewable from the street. Some discussion of this happened following public comment, long after most who showed up to testify had left the premises.

Hartford dares to creep into the twentieth century, with modest requirements for bicycle parking and reduced requirements for motor vehicle parking. Farmington Avenue has been identified as a bicycle corridor, something that advocates have been calling for forever. Complete Streets advocates were enthusiastic about these modifications.

There is an added emphasis to Transit-Oriented Development — guidelines that could help Hartford to get the most out of CTfastrak. This includes an overlay that requires greater density around what are called “fixed nodes of public transportation.” What this requires is smarter land use. In a neighboring town, a gas station is being placed near the busway, which is not a compatible use. The zoning guidelines push for meaningful development.

A number of residents from the neighborhoods spoke passionately about the need to move this document along because the absence of purposeful code has allowed for used car lots, dollar stores, liquor stores, and phone stores to appear in areas where residents would rather see other types of retail. Leaders from the north east neighborhoods — including Steve Harris, Phyllis Airey, and Helen Nixon — spoke to how they had been involved in the process and needed to see more productive uses along North Main. The consensus among leaders repping this area was that the zoning changes were “long overdue.” State Rep. Brandon McGee said that “the process has been engaging” and that the north east section of the city had engagement.

CRDA gave support, including for the changes in household size, saying that the revisions reflect the time we are living in. Toni Gold — basically, Hartford’s Jane Jacobs — gave her support for the “rewrite over antiquated zoning code.”

Hartford’s Chief of Police, James Rovella, made a brief appearance to thank Planning & Zoning for asking for the law enforcement perspective. He urged the adoption of the document, citing the changes to regulations surrounding liquor stores, convenience stores/bodegas, automobile sales, noise, and pedestrian safety.

This barely scrapes the surface of what has been revised to better reflect the desires of Hartford residents, especially those in the younger generations who plan to make Hartford their home for decades to come.

As a whole, the public hearing showed that there was majority support for adoption of the new zoning code, even as people admitted that it was not perfect and that there could be a few tweaks here and there. An architect felt that the language about building materials could be too restrictive. Many residents urged the commission to go beyond the incremental changes.

Despite the support from multiple neighborhood groups, individuals, and various experts, the ire from a few in one neighborhood threatened to delay the progress of the whole package. This angered residents throughout the city who felt like the desires of a few should not take priority over the needs of the many. Several people outright called this “selfish.”

Several petitions were sent with nearly identical language to the Planning & Zoning Commission. We reached out to the individuals coordinating the petitions, but neither commented by time of publication. The creator of the second petition claimed at the meeting that she had been off email for a few days, but time stamped email involving that petition say otherwise.

Enough Time for Comment?



Two petitions focused on West End-specific issues and delaying the vote circulated and were submitted to the Planning & Zoning Commission.

Claims were made about the amount of time the public had to weigh in on the revisions. We did some fact checking.

The process to make such widespread revisions to zoning began in 2013. The Zone Advisory Group convened in October 2013 and included participation by Denise Best of Upper Albany; David Blatt a P&Z Commissioner and, at the time, Vice-Chair; Sara Bronin, P&Z Commissioner serving as regular member at the time; Julio Concepcion of the West End; Lynn Ferrari of CSS/CON; Frank Hagaman of Asylum Hill and Hartford Preservation Alliance; David Jorgensen of West End; and Donna Thompson Daniels of Blue Hills. By his own admission, citing other obligations, Jorgensen stopped participating early on.

The following month, a series of interviews with stakeholders began.

Who were these stakeholders? P&Z consulted with City of Hartford Complete Streets Working Group, City of Hartford Court of Common Council, City of Hartford Department of Public Works, City of Hartford Food Policy Advisory Commission, City of Hartford Historic Properties Commission, City of Hartford Parks & Recreation Advisory Commission, City of Hartford Parking Authority, City of Hartford Police Department, City of Hartford Redevelopment Agency, City of Hartford Tree Commission, Connecticut General Assembly members and staff, Connecticut Fund for the Environment, Farmington Avenue Task Force, Hartford Food System, Hartford Preservation Alliance, Knox Hartford, Neighborhood Revitalization Zone groups, Park Watershed, Riverfront Recapture, Southside Institutions Neighborhood Alliance (SINA), Upper Albany Main Street, and various private property owners and real estate developers. Representatives for many of these organizations testified about how they have had the opportunity to read the document — sometimes line-by-line — and provide input.

In February 2014 there was a public presentation. On three days in March 2014 there were three public meetings regarding different sections of Hartford. Farr Associates, who moderated those meetings in March, gave a presentation to P&Z in October 2014.

A full draft of zoning code revisions was released in June 2015. Several more meetings occurred since then. At the beginning of December 2015 there was a reading of five chapters of the zoning code at a meeting of the P&Z Commission. A public presentation of this occurred on December 21, 2015. A second presentation occurred on January 4, 2016. Real Hartford posted a link to this draft on December 14, 2015, making it available for the public to peruse. Additionally, it has been linked to from the City of Hartford’s Zone Hartford page for some time. The January 4, 2016 meeting had 35 people in attendance; for a city with routinely low civic engagement, that’s a fair number of residents who managed to show up and participate.

From the testimony provided, this was not comparable to a behind-closed-doors situation akin to the busted stadium deal(s). Yet, for over five hours, scattered residents and one vocal Commissioner claimed that there was no time. It is widely suspected by others testifying that the complaint about time was a mechanism to stall revisions that would impact the R-8 zone in the West End of Hartford.

At the end of the night, Commissioner Marcroft — who had been otherwise quiet during the proceedings — blasted Commissioner Bobowski for the claim that there has been no time to process this information. She said that based on the conversations that have been ongoing, it would be extremely unlikely that anyone would be changing his or her opinion about the family/household question.

Much earlier in the evening, Dave Rozza — one of the 68 Scarborough Street residents — commented that he has a larger family than most and found time to read the document and attend both meetings that were allegedly held during “the holidays.”

The West End Petitions

While a petition from the bicycle community had about forty signatures and supported the revisions, the West End-centric ones added to existing tensions.

Ken Lerman of Scarborough Street, who was unable to attend Tuesday’s meeting, created this petition:



The petition above was signed by these individuals: Hope Eakins, Bill Eakins, Ken Lerman, Sally Lerman, Michele Talka, Jeff Talka, Mike O’Connell, Gwen O’Connell, Michael Buenaventura, Suzanne Buenaventura, Stephan Christiansen, Francine Christiansen, Michele Parrotta, Lesley Skenderian, Chris Manning, Chuck Riott, Dawn Kennelly, Marilda Gandara, Michael Peck, Chris McCarron, Diane Valin, Peter Valin, Theodore Cannon, George Jorgensen, Laurie Pope, Marri Fairbanks, Jonathan Fairbanks, Kathy Kraczkowsky, Greg Kraczkowsky Sr, Dr. Gregory Kraczkowsky, Jr. Rachel Jorgensen [Lutzker], Dave Jorgensen, Kimberly Shea, Marcia Lazowski, Alan Lazowski, Migdalia Rivera, Nelson Rivera, Bob Smith, Sharon Smith, Wil Wagner, David Gosselin, David Carlucci, James Cascio, Judith Cascio, Robyn Gengras, Jonathan Gengras, Melissa Macri, Nancy Meyer, Kirsten Shea, Jim Shea, Mollie Abend, Al Abend, Paul Lanouette, Richard Pummell, Joan Hurwit, Mark Drusedum, Molly Knorr, Paddi LeShane, Edward Foden, Maria Luisa Foden, Marianne Donahue, Mark Merluzzi, Mark McIntryre, Barbara Orach Snyder, Robert Mosheim, Kristine, Mosheim, Janice Parrotta, Ed White, Linda White, Frances Z. Calafiore, Michael Insalago, Juan Guevara, Joanna Woodin, W. J. Woodin, Jr., Michael P. DeSena, Nanette Morelli, Brian Morelli, Antonella Bona, and John Monacella.

The signatories live on Scarborough Street, Prospect Avenue, Asylum Avenue, Girard Avenue, Lorraine Street, Goodwin Circle, Woodside Circle, Kenyon Street, Terry Road, Oxford Street, Fern Street, and Bloomfield Avenue. Those are all addresses in the West End with the exception of one signature belonging to an individual who resides Downtown on Wells Street.

A second petition was created and submitted to Planning & Zoning by Kathleen Kraczkowsky. This email reads:

Dear Mayor, Staff and Planning and Zoning Commissioners We are attaching a document which outlines our concerns with the new, extensive zoning proposal changes. Our first request is for more time to review, which is not unreasonable because of these major changes and impact on our lives. The other points are technical issues that we would like addressed in the new code. Please consider our request for more time to review and understand these proposed changes.

The list of objections reads:

Those signatories live on Terry Road, Bloomfield Avenue, Goodwin Circle, Prospect Avenue, Kenyon Street, Asylum Avenue, Westerly Terrace, Woodside Circle, North Beacon Street, Warrenton Avenue, and Girard Avenue. Without exception, those are all West End addresses.

Both petitions suggest that no revisions to household/family be made due to “pending litigation,” yet it appears that the signatories did not read page 38 of the document, which states: “Nothing in these zoning regulations prohibits the continuation of previous enforcement actions, undertaken by the city pursuant to previous valid zoning regulations and laws.”

This was a point ignored by P&Z Commissioner Bobowski, who needed to be told by Assistant Corporation Counsel Lisa Silvestri at the meeting that changing the number of unrelated persons permitted to live together in the R-8 zone from two to three would have no impact on the pending litigation. Silvestri explained, late into the evening after the cameras had all left, that “sometimes the law changes while there’s litigation,” implying there is nothing special about this situation. The change in number may have the impact of “decriminalizing [the living situation at 68 Scarborough] a little bit,” but not entirely. There are three married couples and two single adults (plus three minor children) living at the residence, so even with this change, there are still more people than what would be permitted by the newly adopted code.

According to Silvestri, changing “family” to “household” would take away a “loaded word” but not have any impact on the pending litigation.

Petition to Accept Changes

A short petition was also circulated by those residing at 68 Scarborough Street and encouraging acceptance of the revisions. This petition reads:

Please vote to adopt these new regulations To Whom It May Concern: We, the undersigned submit this letter in support of the proposed new zoning regulations. We are glad that through a multi-month public process, people from all over the City had ample opportunity to weigh in on these changes. While the proposed changes do not fully solve the problem of recognizing the right for Hartford’s many varied families to live together, we support this step in the right direction. We welcome these changes, as well as more robust conversation city-wide, as a positive step forward for the entire community. Sincerely,

Those signatories live on: Scarborough Street, Asylum Avenue, Putnam Heights, Enfield Street, Wethersfield Avenue, Oxford Street, Clark Street, Cheshire Street, Tremont Street, Lawrence Street, Colebrook Street, East Street, North Beacon Street, Linnmore Street, Blue Hills Avenue, Buckingham Street, Park Terrace, Preston Street, Park Place, Baltimore Street, Farmington Avenue, Oxford Street, Freeman Street, Putnam Street, Russ Street, Grandview Terrace, Newton Street, West Boulevard, Cone Street, Girard Avenue, Whitney Street, Church Street, Terry Road, Prospect Avenue, South Whitney, Cone Street, Ashley Street, Woodland Street, Warrenton Street, Alden Street, and Cumberland Street in Hartford. Signatories also include a few residents from West Hartford, two from Bloomfield, one from Farmington, one from New Britain, and one from New Haven.

Outcome



To break it down — the objection to allowing changes to who may live in a home comes entirely from the West End and from one individual residing Downtown, though not all residents from the West End or even the streets immediately around Scarborough Street hold that perspective. The rest of Hartford’s residents and some from neighboring towns are not scandalized by this small change.



At the literal end of the day — 11:53 p.m. — the Planning and Zoning Commission voted unanimously to adopt the changes.



That is not the end. There are several “controversial” sections of the document that will be getting a closer look and continue to be revised. For round two, expect more public meetings and hearings. No need to rely on the print media. We’ll post notice of them here.