Danbury zoning commission recommends permitting small medical offices, banning new warehouses in CA80 and adopting ITE trip standards

The City of Danbury Zoning Commission voted unanimously on Oct. 14 to recommend a package of zoning text amendments that would (1) allow small medical offices up to 5,000 square feet as a permitted use in certain commercial zones, (2) bar new nonindustrial uses such as medical offices, banks or hotels from light- and general-industrial districts, and (3) delete the city's existing trip-generator table in favor of Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) standards.

The proposals were presented to the commission by Planning Director Waleed Al Bakri, who said the package updates long-standing, inconsistent regulations and aims to preserve the industrial land base while making it easier to establish small medical clinics. "When the medical office or the facility is 5,000 square feet or less ... to make it permitted, not a special exception, in the RO, CG20, and CA80," Al Bakri said during his presentation.

Why it matters: The current zoning classifies most medical offices as special-exception uses in multiple districts, a process Al Bakri described as "long, cumbersome" and a deterrent to small clinics. The amendments also target the CA80 commercial arterial corridor by preventing new large storage, truck terminal or self-service storage uses there, while allowing existing, preexisting operations to remain under specified protections.

Traffic studies and trip counts were a central point of debate. The city's existing trip-generator ("multiplier") table assigns numbers to uses that trigger a requirement for an engineering traffic study if an application exceeds 500 vehicle trips per day. Al Bakri and commissioners said the local table contains numbers that are inconsistent and, in many cases, higher than national engineering standards. "We are deleting the whole table and ... we will be basing our numbers ... on the Institute of Transportation Engineer[ing] standards," Al Bakri said. Commissioners noted that using the ITE standard (a subscription service) should reduce the number of applications that trigger a full traffic study, not increase them.

Commissioner Botello moved for a positive recommendation, listing four reasons read into the record: preserving CA80 for high-interaction commercial uses; prohibiting new medical offices in IL40 to protect industrial land; aligning trip-count methodology with ITE standards to ensure data-driven evaluation; and consistency with the city's Plan of Conservation and Development (POCD). The motion was seconded by Commissioner James and passed unanimously by voice vote.

What was clarified in the meeting: Commissioners and staff discussed that replacing the local table with ITE figures is not a change to parking-space requirements but to how trip-generation is calculated for the purpose of determining whether an engineering traffic study is required. Staff said the ITE manual is subscription-based and that the department will use access to the manual to verify applicants' trip-generation calculations.

Next steps: The commission's positive recommendation closes the local review at the zoning-commission level. The transcript does not specify the subsequent legislative or final adoption steps or an effective date. Funding, implementation dates, and any follow-up administrative steps were not specified at the meeting.

Vote at a glance: Motion to give a positive recommendation moved by Commissioner Botello, seconded by Commissioner James; voice vote recorded as unanimous in favor.

Commissioners and staff thanked each other and noted this was the commission's last meeting before the election; the commission discussed potentially cancelling the Oct. 28 meeting if no petitions are filed.