Commission approves zoning text amendments on nonconforming parking and commercial recreation uses

The Planning & Zoning Commission adopted a package of text amendments to the zoning regulations that clarified rules for nonconforming parking, adjusted where and how commercial recreation establishments may operate downtown, and restored a special-permit pathway for clustered single-family dwellings in the Silvermine Tavern district.

Staff explained the changes were largely technical fixes and responses to recent applications. One amendment allows pre-existing, legally nonconforming rows of parking to remain in place under specified circumstances in zones including heavy and light industrial, civic and hospital districts. Another change allows modest commercial-recreation uses (for example, small indoor recreation or simulator spaces) in CD-4 and CD-4W downtown zones with a 15,000-square-foot cap, and raises the square-foot threshold in CD-3C before a special permit is required. Finally, the rewrite restored a special-permit provision for clustered single-family dwellings in the Silvermine Tavern area that was omitted inadvertently during an earlier code rewrite.

The proposed amendments were reviewed by the Harbor Management Commission and DEEP for coastal consistency and were found consistent with the harbor plan and the Connecticut Coastal Management Act. After a public hearing with no opposed speakers, the commission voted to adopt the text changes.