Newington Open Space Committee introduces planning technician, shifts focus to trails and Cedar Mountain preservation

The Newington Open Space Committee on April 1 introduced new planning technician Charlie Nevers and spent the bulk of the meeting charting near-term priorities including trail connections, map corrections and long-term aims to preserve land on Cedar Mountain.

Charlie Nevers told members he distributed a folder of materials — acquisition criteria, a draft vacant-property inventory from 2022 and excerpts of the town’s Plan of Conservation and Development — intended to form the committee’s working files as it develops recommendations. "I've given you a folder," Nevers said, noting the packet was also available electronically for members not in the room.

Committee members and staff repeatedly returned to Cedar Mountain as a long-term preservation priority but cautioned acquisitions of that scale likely would require significant funding and coordination with state authorities. Staff emphasized the town’s primary lever over privately owned parcels such as the Hartford Healthcare site currently used in part as a dog park is zoning: any substantive change would proceed through the Planning & Zoning (TPZ) public process and could trigger rezoning hearings, not an immediate municipal purchase.

Members flagged several technical fixes needed in the town zoning map and asked staff to reconcile overlays (for example, transit-oriented-development and Willard Avenue overlays) and deed-level conservation easements with the town’s developable-land inventory. Planning staff warned that criteria from the Office of Policy and Management (OPM) under Public Act 251 will influence which parcels the state counts as dedicated open space; staff expects clearer OPM guidance by June.

Trails and access were a practical focus for the committee. Members and staff discussed prioritizing small, maintainable trail segments and improving pedestrian and bicycle connections to existing parks to increase public use — an approach the committee said would help build support for preservation. Staff recommended low-maintenance stone-dust surfaces for many trails rather than expensive boardwalks, and described coordination with West Hartford on a regional trail extension (an RFP is near completion) that would link Newington’s FastTrack corridor to Maple Hill and other segments.

Beyond infrastructure, members proposed outreach measures to raise awareness of pocket open spaces: updating a decades-old brochure, creating short videos highlighting accessible trails and using social media to showcase underused natural sites, including a recently circulated video post showing a local waterfall off Fen Road.

Committee members also raised several parcel-specific items for follow-up: an inquiry about a cleared lot behind the Sitgo on the Berlin Turnpike (staff said it is privately owned and commercial) and a radio‑station parcel on Willard Avenue that staff said contains extensive wetlands and limited buildable upland. Staff reported one approved but not-yet-built six-lot subdivision on Connecticut Avenue.

Procedural business was limited: the committee approved the meeting agenda and, by voice vote, accepted minutes from its January 8 meeting. No formal policy votes were taken on acquisitions or zoning changes; members were asked to review POCD/POC action items and return priorities for discussion at future meetings.

The committee closed by asking members to review the action-step inventory and to suggest priorities; staff said hard copies and electronic packets will be distributed to absent members and that further work on the town’s POCD update and inventory will continue as OPM guidance becomes available.