New Canaan planners outline yearlong zoning overhaul, seek public input

NEW CANAAN, Conn. — The Planning and Zoning Commission’s zoning regulation update subcommittee and its consultants presented the first public workshop on a yearlong effort to rewrite the town’s zoning regulations on Thursday, outlining goals, a timeline and a set of topics the team will study before drafting formal changes.

Consultant Frank Fish of BFJ Planning told the assembled audience the subcommittee and BFJ have been working on the update for about three months and aim to complete a revised zoning code for the Planning and Zoning Commission to consider within roughly 12 to 13 months. "The goal has always been to make the zoning code stronger, cleaner," Fish said.

The update will be guided by the town’s 2024 Plan of Conservation and Development (POCD) and must comply with Connecticut law, the consultants said. Suzanne Goldberg of BFJ explained that zoning divides land into districts that determine permitted uses and physical form — height, setbacks and lot area — and emphasized that the rewrite will aim to make the code more predictable and user-friendly while reducing the need for exceptions.

BFJ planner Emily Tolbert summarized the project scope and a preliminary list of subjects under review. Key items the subcommittee and consultants plan to evaluate include:

- Two-family homes in the B residence zone…