Trumbull senior center plan moves to P&Z

TRUMBULL — The decision on whether to recommend a new senior center on Hardy Lane now rests with the Trumbull Planning and Zoning Commission.

But some residents and members of the Community Facilities Building Committee are unsure if the commission has had enough time and information to make a decision.

An 8-24 hearing, a requirement for town commissions to review and approve municipal improvements before they can move forward, is scheduled to take place at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at town hall.

Richard White, 57, is one of the residents expressing concern over the proposed location and the 8-24 hearing.

“I am concerned that the Planning and Zoning Commission is not being given enough information so that they can use the town’s planning and zoning regulations and their knowledge to make appropriate decisions,” White said at a recent committee meeting where he was one of three residents to speak against the plan.

Committee Chair Lori HayesO’Brien said she understood neighbors’ concerns.

“Should this site be approved, I hope we can provide as much information as they need to alleviate at least some of their concerns,” she said.

At the 8-24 hearing, representatives from QA+M Architecture, which has been working on the project, will give a presentation. The commission will then decide whether to recommend the site to the Town Council.

Fred Garrity Jr., chair of the Planning and Zoning Commission, said the commission is restricted on the details of the project members can use to determine their recommendation.

“We are not allowed to have a public opinion on pending applications,” Garrity said. “The rule for an 8-24 hearing is to simply hear the presentation from the representatives from the town wishing to make a purchase or substantive change and the commission makes a recommendation. We are not voting on the project itself and it is not an approval for what’s going on the property.”

He said that although the hearing and report to the town council is a necessary step in the process, the final decision on the project is up to the community.

“This particular project is going for a public vote, so the public will have the ultimate decision on whether a project does or does not go forward,” he said. “This is democracy in action.”

Republican committee member Mike Buswell, though, expressed concern about the 8-24 process as a whole, and that the technical details normally reviewed by P&Z would be left to the Town Council.

“Also, who made the referral for the 8-24? That is a formal decision and our committee never voted to move forward with the recommendation of that going to Planning and Zoning,” he said.

Hayes-O’Brien had referenced that situation at a previous town council meeting Jan. 4, stating that an 8-24 hearing would be the next step of the process after the feasibility study, according to the meeting minutes.

“No vote was required because it’s part of the process according to the committee’s rules,” she said.

Section 6 of the committee rules states, “Where site selection is required, the committee shall seek and submit to the town council written approval of said site from the Planning and Zoning Commission and the Town Sanitarian or Health Director.”

“The next steps according to the town’s Building Committee Rules, is to provide the Town Council with the results of the Planning and Zoning 8-24 referral,” she said. “Approvals and/or reports from the Health Director, the Traffic Authority and many other town entities will be needed as the process evolves. Obtaining those pieces will be the committee’s next focus.”