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Zoning commission backs omnibus zoning changes: new definitions, vape-shop ban and TOD corrections
Summary
The Danbury Zoning Commission voted unanimously on June 10 to recommend a broad package of housekeeping zoning amendments from the planning director that add or revise definitions, prohibit new smoke/vape shops by definition, adjust TOD setbacks and remove obsolete provisions; the commission asked staff to implement changes immediately.
The Zoning Commission on June 10 unanimously recommended an omnibus set of zoning amendments that Planning Director Waleed Al Bakri described as a mix of corrections, updated definitions and clarifications intended to align local rules with recent changes and to close legal ambiguities.
Al Bakri said the package updates definitions (apartment house, site plan, retaining wall, hotel/motel, structure), eliminates obsolete downtown provisions created by the city’s earlier Downtown/TOD work, and clarifies that zoning regulations apply only “in the city of Danbury” to reduce potential cross-jurisdictional legal challenges. He said the changes were guided by the city’s Plan of Conservation and Development and by advice from corporation counsel.
A notable policy change in the package is a new, formal definition of “smoke shop” (also discussed as vape shops). Al Bakri told the commission that staff recommended defining the use and making it not permitted anywhere in the city upon adoption; existing businesses that would meet the new definition would be legally nonconforming and could remain in operation but could not expand. “We have a definition. It’s not permitted anywhere in the city if it’s adopted by the zoning commission,” Al Bakri said, adding that police and state investigations had identified a subset of outlets implicated in illegal activity.
Attorney Tom Beecher spoke in favor of the amendments and specifically supported reducing the TOD buffer setback from 20 feet to 10 feet to avoid unintentionally rendering many downtown properties nonconforming. “By making this change, you’re avoiding rendering a lot of buildings in the TOD nonconforming,” Beecher told the commission.
Other items covered included: clarifying veterinary clinics/hospitals without overnight stays as permitted in certain zones; correcting an erroneous TOD setback number; removing separate sedimentation/erosion permit language from zoning (those controls belong in site-plan requirements instead); and creating a definition for retaining walls so they are not unintentionally treated as structures that trigger setbacks.
Commissioners asked detailed questions about implementation: how grandfathering of existing smoke shops would work, which department reviews retaining walls (engineering or building), and whether state-level changes will create timing issues for compliance. Al Bakri said enforcement and any criminal concerns would be matters for police and state authorities, and that existing nonconforming businesses would not be allowed to expand.
After discussion and public comment, the commission voted unanimously to recommend the omnibus amendments and to make the effective date immediate on adoption. The director said staff will follow up on department coordination and implementation timelines.
