New Canaan planning commissioners get training on legal duties, hearings and expert evidence

Renata Bertotti, an assistant extension educator with UConn CLEAR, led a Jan. 23 training for the New Canaan Planning and Zoning Commission that reviewed the legal basis for local land‑use authority, the different hats commissioners wear, when public hearings are required, and best practices for handling expert testimony and contested applications.

The session, held as a special meeting and run without a public‑comment period, canvassed state enabling statutes, case law and local regulations as the sources of the commission's authority. "Being a land use commissioner is a responsible job. Your decisions affect your community's quality of life for generations to come," Bertotti told commissioners, urging attention to incremental effects of decisions and to the concept of "fundamental fairness." Krista Nielsen, secretary of the commission, opened the meeting and said the training satisfied part of the ongoing educational requirements created by recent state law.

Why it matters: The training clarified legal limits on commissioners' discretion (broadest when adopting regulations, narrower for special permits and narrowest for site‑plan technical reviews). Bertotti and town attorneys described how procedure and recordkeeping affect the legal defensibility of decisions, including what a court will examine if an applicant appeals.

Key takeaways and guidance - Sources of authority: Bertotti summarized that state enabling statutes, duly adopted local regulations and court decisions together set the legal…