The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Winsted panel wants only completed plans
Though it’s not its intention to discourage any businesses from coming to the town, the Planning and Zoning Commission discussed the need to be a bit more stringent with approving applications.
After a bit of conditionally approving the applications of more than a few business proposals, Barbara Wilkes, secretary of the Planning and Zoning Commission said she didn’t want to make it a habit.
The proposal for Papa’s Grocery store was approved in the meeting Tuesday but the commission noted that the owner needed to meet a few requirements in order to proceed with his plans.
During the meeting, before a vote was taken to ap- prove the application and conditions, Wilkes spoke out. “Just one thing, I don’t particularly like to approve [ap- plications] with conditions, especially that many,” Wilkes said. “Every little thing that we put out there with a condition is something that can slip through a crack.”
Typically an applicant has to submit his proposal with all of the requirements met. The commission will allow extensions for anyone who is unprepared for their meeting. Two 65-day extensions can be given to any applicant up to a maximum of 130 days from the time of the initial submission.
“If you set precedents, you have to be willing to extend them to every applicant,” Wilkes said. “And that can get very touchy because some are easy and some are not.
Wilkes says in order to circumvent this issue every proposal should be complete with no exceptions.
“Every condition that you approve has got to have a follow-up,” she said, “and I think that’s an added burden on the person that has to follow up. So for me I would prefer to not have extraordinary conditions on any application.”
Wilkes says she would consider six or more conditions extraordinary. However Commissioner Art Melycher says even one large condition is too much for him.
“All applications should be submitted to us as completed app,” he said. “There shouldn’t be any conditions that we have to set.”
Melycher notes that mi- nor conditions are unavoidable but larger conditions shouldn’t be allowed to slide.
“We’re supposed to receive these drawings prior to the meeting so we have time to review it,” he said. “To have three major conditions is not right. In the future I’d like to see it where one is too many.”
After the extensions have expired the application and combining application fees must be resubmitted.
“We shouldn’t have to do that, 130 days is quite a bit,” he said. “If you can’t get your act together in five months, you’ve got a problem.”
No decision has been made on the matter.