Wish list time in Groton
Town asks residents what they want for Poquonnock Bridge
Groton — The Groton Office of Planning and Development on Monday evening hosted a meeting at the Groton Public Library to solicit input on the future of the Poquonnock Bridge area.
About 50 people attended, and they varied in what they wanted to see done to the area — and whether they wanted to see anything done at all.
Assistant Planning Director Deb Jones told The Day last week she generally defines Poquonnock Bridge as the area bound by Poquonnock Plains Park, Buddington Road, North Road and the railroad tracks at South Road.
That includes Groton Public Library, Groton Town Hall, Groton Utilities, Claude Chester Elementary School and the Fort Hill neighborhood.
Jeremy Lake, senior associate with Union Studio Architecture & Community Design, gave a presentation detailing the location, project background and existing conditions. The Town of Groton last year budgeted $30,000 to study potential future development in the historic area.
Also speaking was Nate Kelly, principal planner with the Horsley Witten Group, which is under contract to lead the town’s zoning update.
Lake lamented the variety of zoning designations in Poquonnock Bridge, saying, “That layer upon layer upon layer leads a lot of confusion and makes it difficult to come up with something more cohesive.”
But South Road resident Ron Yuhas said he wants his zoning to stay the same.
“It’s just too bad the people aren’t addressed before all the money is spent on the studies,” he said, adding, “I think there’s enough people in this town that they don’t have to be paying for these studies every 10 minutes.”
Planning Director Jonathan Reiner said his department is “juggling a lot of things to try to improve the character of Groton,” and that to stay ahead of the curve of hiring at Electric Boat, staff are “trying to get a lot done in a short period of time” — hence bringing on additional staff.
In a similar vein as Yuhas, Fort Hill Road resident Neal Parfitt commented after the meeting, “We don’t want to be bothered. Everything’s fine the way it is.”
Kevin Marquardt, who owns property on South Road with his father, chimed in that redeveloping the area is a nice thought but it’s just not feasible. Others were more positive. “I think it’s actually really exciting,” said Portia Bordelon.
She said she feels that when people enter Groton, they think, “Where’s the center? When have you arrived, actually?”
After the meeting, Mystic resident Kristin Distante said she liked the idea of creating communities, and that she moved from Rockland County, N.Y., two years ago because poor zoning made it “a chaotic, ugly mess.”
Noank resident Lis Raisbeck said she is very much in favor of mixed-use, with shops on the first floor and residences on the second. She wants to see small businesses that “satisfy people’s essential needs,” like dry cleaning and corner stores.
To illustrate the differences between sprawl and a village area with high walkability, Lake compared satellite and street-view images of Poquonnock Bridge with downtown Mystic.
Reiner clarified, “We’re not trying to turn this into the next Mystic that is more tourist-based. We want to preserve the historic character. We’ve heard that loud and clear.”
The meeting ended with Lake’s request for attendees to complete a “visual preference survey,” in which a board shows two images and a person places a blue sticker to indicate which he or she prefers. This was done with a dozen boards.