Norwich planning commission previews sweeping zoning rewrite, files draft for public review

The Norwich Commission on the City Plan on Dec. 2 reviewed a comprehensive rewrite of the city—s zoning regulations and planned to submit the draft to the city clerk on Monday, Dec. 8, beginning a formal referral and public-review process that staff expect the City Council to schedule for January.

Planning staff told the commission the rewrite is intended to implement the 2023 Plan of Conservation and Development and to clarify decades of piecemeal provisions. Dan Daniska, the city planner identified in the meeting, said the draft adds two residential zones (R-10 and R-15) to reflect older, smaller house lots and makes it easier for existing homeowners to add modest additions without seeking variances. The rewrite also replaces the "stories" standard with explicit building-height limits and updates setbacks and lot-coverage rules.

The draft renames the former "planned commercial" as "regional commercial" for highway-adjacent, regional-serving areas and clarifies industrial zone naming to emphasize production, manufacturing and research. A new government-facilities district would identify city-, state- and federal-owned properties (parks, reservoirs and large municipal…