Residents Chime in on South Windsor's Draft Plan of Conservation and Development

More than a dozen South Windsor residents provided input on the draft Plan of Conservation and Development on Tuesday evening during the comment portion of the town’s Planning & Zoning Commission’s public meeting.

While there are several ambitious items in the draft plan, including having a well-defined town center in South Windsor, one resident issued what could be construed as either a sage piece of advice, a warning, or both.

“There are a lot of things in there that are not going to happen unless we do something about it,” said Richard Kelley, noting that people want sidewalks, a recreation center, a town center and housing. “But no longer can you afford … to be a couch potato. If you don’t do it, no one else is going to do it. … Nothin’ ain’t gonna happen and [the Plan of Conservation and Development] is going to collect dust.”

Kelley knows of what he speaks, having been involved in, among other things, the development of the Four Corners.

The Plan of Conservation and Development is a document that is required by the state to be updated every 10 years by the town. The draft plan outlines goals and strategies for a variety of topics including open space, farmland protection, the Town Center, Route 5, and transportation. (To review the draft plan, click here)

The document is based on a number of key findings on conditions and trends in town. For example, population and housing growth have slowed; the population is aging, but many of those leaving town are empty nesters; young adults are leaving South Windsor, too; and manufacturing is strong in town.

The plan is also based on responses that the community has given to surveys conducted by the town.

Among the results, people rated the quality of life in town to be very high; the town’s facilities and services are important to maintaining that high-quality of life; people want a true town center like Glastonbury and West Hartford; and people want business development.

But the major response that the town got came in one word: balance. People want business development, but they also want the town to maintain the rural character that South Windsor is also known for.

Residents on Tuesday had a number of things that they would like to have added or considered in the plan.

Peter DeMallie provided numerous suggestions, including that the plan could identify where a new school could be built if the elementary schools can’t be renovated as new. In addition, the plan could also identify where a recreation center could be built - either now or 20 years from now - because that has been identified a number of times throughout the years as something as a priority for a segment of the population.

DeMallie also said the commission should examine whether Firehouse 2 is large enough to cover the area of town it has to service.

He also cautioned that the plan should not take away development rights from farmers, particularly on Main Street, as the rights are used as collateral for farmers to obtain equipment and fertilizer. The greatest threat to Main Street farmland, DeMallie said, is when those parcels change hands and are divided up by many heirs.

The town can maintain control of how that land is developed either through an outright acquisition or through purchase of development rights.

Tim Shepard, a Main Street resident, called on the commission to embrace purchase of development rights. Shepard also said that he favored some program to help owners of historical homes maintain their properties.

“[Historical homes] are unbelievable to maintain,” Shepard said.

Shepard also called on the town to put a moratorium on allowing large businesses to develop land along Route 5 and Sullivan Avenue until the impact of the new Federal Express distribution center is fully realized and studied.

Jared Lewis said that there was an opportunity along the Route 5 corridor for renewable energy sources.

Others spoke favorably of the plan’s mention of pedestrian walkways and bicycle friendly roadways.

The next step is for the South Windsor Planning & Zoning Commission to reconvene in April, edit the draft plan and then start the formal process for adopting it.