Simsbury zoning commission directs staff to negotiate with FHI/IMEG for comprehensive code rewrite

The Simsbury Zoning Commission voted 5'to'1 on Oct. 6 to direct town staff to negotiate a contract and scope of work with FHI Studio (now IMEG) to perform a comprehensive rewrite of the town's zoning regulations.

The vote capped a night of presentations by three finalist consulting teams that responded to the commission's request for proposals: FHI Studio/IMEG, a planning and design team that emphasized Connecticut experience and line'by'line regulatory review; Gohmen/GOVEN York (presenting as Gohmen York), which stressed 'swift, simple and certain' regulations and market realism; and a third firm led by Molly Gavioso and John Steinmetz (Rochester office), which presented a code assessment approach and an engagement-focused process.

The commissioners said their immediate goal in the meeting was not to rank all three firms but to identify the strongest match to the RFP. After the presentations and a round of questions, the commission moved to authorize staff to negotiate a final scope and price with FHI/IMEG; the commission chair cautioned that any contract would return to the commission for formal approval.

Why it matters: the vendor selected to lead the rewrite will shape how Simsbury updates its more-than-100'page zoning regulations to reflect the town's 2024 Plan of Conservation and Development (POCD) and recent state statutory changes. Consultants told the commission they would review statutory changes (consultants referenced Public Act 21'29 and other recent public acts) and work to make the rewritten code more usable for staff and the…