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Bolton planning commission advances draft sign rules and updates permitted-use table; meeting cut short by outage
Summary
The Bolton Planning & Zoning Commission continued work Sept. 10 on updating sign regulations and the Permitted Use Table — including a proposed 25-square-foot uniform sign limit and new categories for home occupations and places of assembly — before an internet outage ended the meeting early.
The Bolton Planning & Zoning Commission on Sept. 10 continued its multimeeting review of subdivision and zoning regulations, focusing on proposed sign standards and revisions to the Permitted Use Table. The session began at 7:30 p.m. and was cut short by a Town Hall internet outage that prompted adjournment at 8:28 p.m.
Patrice Carson, consulting director of community development, told commissioners she and staff had discussed using Tolland’s sign regulations as a model and had suggested a uniform 25-square-foot maximum for signs in all zones except the Neighborhood Business Zone. "We agreed to take photos of signs around town to indicate the styles we prefer or oppose," Carson said, and she asked members to review Tolland’s rules before the next meeting.
The commission also reviewed the Permitted Use Table and reached several provisional agreements: keep Home Occupations with on-site customers in R1–R3 subject to site-plan review; allow Home Occupations with customers in the Neighborhood Business Zone and the Residential Mixed-Use Zone with site-plan review; and require a special-use permit for Home Occupations in the General Mixed-Use Zone. Commissioners directed staff to create two size-based categories for places of assembly — covering houses of worship, theaters, restaurants and meeting venues — and to allow small venues in NBZ and RMUZ with site-plan review while permitting either small or large venues in GB and GMUIZ with site-plan review.
Commissioners briefly revisited earlier resistance to permitting stationary or temporary food trucks; Marilee Manning urged the panel to reconsider earlier objections given the growing popularity of food trucks in other towns. The panel agreed to allow Lawn & Garden Equipment Sales with accessory small-engine repair by special-use permit in NBZ and GB and by site plan in industrial zones, and made no changes to existing rules for livestock, poultry and hens. The commission consolidated two line items into a single "Manufacturing, Assembly, or Processing of Goods" category and agreed to allow that use in the Industrial Zone with site-plan review.
Michael D'Amato, the town’s zoning enforcement officer, cautioned that conditions cannot be attached to site-plan approvals and recommended that commonly desired constraints — for example, hours of operation and landscape buffers — be standardized within the regulations rather than imposed case-by-case.
Carson also summarized staff activity outside the zoning rewrite, noting she attended a CRCOG forum on Brownfield cleanup rules and a statewide meeting of councils of governments on alternatives to House Bill 5002, where she argued for more investment in utilities to support development in small towns. "Brownfield" was clarified on request as referring to contaminated commercial sites that require remediation, she said. Carson said she would circulate a draft 2026 PZC meeting schedule to commissioners and that staff are continuing to handle lot-line reconfiguration questions and work on Connecticut’s Countryside initiatives.
The meeting ended abruptly after a Town Hall internet outage; the commission agreed to adjourn. Arlene Fiano moved to adjourn at 8:28 p.m.; Marilee Manning seconded and the motion carried 5-0-0. The minutes were submitted by recording secretary Kacie Cannon.
