Land Use Department
      Planning & Zoning
      Inland Wetlands

1.0 INTRODUCTION

1.1 Preface: Planning for the 21st Century

During 1996 and 1997, the Bethel Planning and Zoning Commission worked, with the professional assistance of Buckhurst Fish & Jacquemart, on a new Plan of Development. This Plan of Development is the town's policy guide to land use, development, and conservation decisions for the next ten years. The State of Connecticut requires municipalities to have such guides, and thus Bethel is in compliance with state mandate.

The last plan was published in 1984, and much has changed in Bethel since then. With a new plan, the Planning and Zoning Commission is better able to promote the wise use of private and publicly owned land, coordinate the growth and intensity of development with infrastructure, community services, and facilities, and sustain Bethel as a desirable place to live and work. The first record of land use dates from 1950, when over 92% of the land in the town was vacant or in use for roads. By 1996, this had dropped to just under 36%. This transformation in one generation from a farming community to a suburbanizing town is reflected in the census snapshots taken every ten years: between 1970 and 1980, the town's population grew by 46%, tapering off some between 1980 and 1990 to only 10%. While the pace has slackened, the town continues to add people, houses, and businesses. Bethel has beauty, character, amenities, and a good location in the region's job market. Thus the town can expect to continue growing, and to continue needing a plan for managing that growth.

This plan has chapters on demographic trends, current land uses, housing, community facilities, transportation, economic development, and utilities. It concludes with a plan and map of future land uses, and an implementation plan. Within some of these chapters are special studies of particular concern to the town. These are Route 6, the downtown, affordable housing, and watershed protection. A cornerstone of the plan overall is the reliance on realistic and achievable strategies for implementing the plan's recommendations. The Plan of Development sets land use policy into the next century. Realizing this vision of preservation and growth will require some changes in the tools which actually affect how property owners use their land, such as the zoning code. Most of the recommendations can be put into effect directly by town departments and commissions, sometimes in concert with local citizens acting in public-private partnership. Bethel's Planning and Zoning Commission has thus produced for the town a living document that can help create the town's desired future.

1.2 Citizen-Based Planning

A second cornerstone of the Plan of Development was citizen involvement. The planning process depended on a public opinion survey, two public workshops, and a public hearing. These enabled Bethel residents and property owners to voice their concerns, goals and recommendations at critical points in the planning process. The writing of the plan also depended on public documents, a great many of which were produced by the Housatonic Valley Council of Elected Officials, the regional planning agency. In the next two sections we describe the public participation aspect of the planning process.

1996 Bethel Public Opinion Survey on Town Issues

A total of 7,680 surveys were mailed to Bethel homes and businesses in March 1996. The response rate of 8.6% was high and revealed community opinion on development issues and goals. The survey contained open-ended and closed-ended questions. Appendix A provides a copy of the survey instrument, analysis, and response pie charts.

There was fair agreement on most issues. The most frequently mentioned items that people like about Bethel are 1) the small town atmosphere and charm, 2) the friendly mix of economically diverse people, 3) the downtown shopping district, 4) the proximity to Danbury and other larger towns and cities, 5) the schools, and 6) the town's safeness. The least liked are 1) the lack of certain town facilities such as a swimming pool, adequate library, a teen or community recreation center, upgraded parks, and improved schools, 2) traffic on Greenwood Avenue, Route 302 and Route 6, 3) the Greenwood Avenue sidewalks, 4) the rundown character of the Greenwood Avenue shopping area, 5) high taxes and conflict over public education, 6) large subdivision and condominium complexes, 7) road conditions, 8) the need for more affordable (subsidized) housing, 9) inadequate sanding and plowing, and 10) the lack of public sewers in the Stony Hill and Chimney Heights areas.

A separate question dealt solely with Route 6. The majority of respondents felt that future development here should be controlled so as not to lose what remains of Bethel's New England charm in this area. Light commercial uses were preferred; very few would be happy to see big-box retailers located here. A concern for design control and the preservation of some green space emerged from the survey. More detail on the questions and responses can be found in Appendix A. Appendix B has a list of land use goals and objectives derived from survey responses.

Public Workshops

During the planning process, two public workshops were held. (See Figure 1: Photographs.) The first, held in June 1996, focused on the Phase I issues and preliminary recommendations for six areas: general land use goals and objectives, downtown design and development, Route 6/economic development/transportation and circulation, environmental protection/utilities, community facilities/parks and recreation, and housing. (See Appendix C for a full report on this workshop). A second workshop was held in April 1997. This focused on the Phase II topics of Route 6, a downtown historic district, community design, watershed protection, affordable housing, and the general plan of future land uses.

Figure 1: Photos from Workshop

1.3 Regional and Local Context

Bethel is seventeen square miles and lies within the Housatonic Valley of western Connecticut. (See Figure 2: Regional Context.) Of the ten municipalities in the Housatonic Valley planning region, it has the fifth largest population while being the ninth smallest in land area. The Housatonic Valley planning region is comprised of the City of Danbury and the towns of Bethel, Bridgewater, Brookfield, New Fairfield, New Milford, Redding, Ridgefield, Sherman, and Newtown. These towns also lie within the Danbury labor market and the Danbury Primary Metropolitan Statistical Area for the census. Planning for the region is coordinated by the Housatonic Valley Council of Elected Officials.

The northern portion of the town is easily accessible from I-84 and Route 6, which run east-west through Bethel. (See Figure 3: Local Context.) I-84 is a direct route to larger economic and job markets in Danbury, northeast to Hartford and Central Connecticut, and southeast to New York State. Other major routes through the town are Route 302, which becomes Bethel's main commercial street (Greenwood Avenue/Milwaukee Avenue), and Routes 53 (Turkey Plain Road/Grassy Plain Street) and 58 (Putnam Park Road). All routes, except I-84, are state arterials. The town's immediate neighbors are Brookfield, Newtown, Redding, and Danbury.

1.4 GIS Mapping

As part of readying Bethel for the 21st century, the maps created as part of the planning process were digitized using a Geographic Information System (GIS). This enables the town to update its basic planning maps more easily and accurately than in the past. For example, as land is subdivided, the new lot lines and roads can be encoded on the base map and a new hard copy printed out. The maps created using the GIS process are the 1) town base map with lot lines and roads, 2) current land use, 3) zoning, 4) environmental constraints, 5) water service, and 6) sewer service. The current land use map was created through a five-day field survey which checked the apparent use(s) on each lot; this survey was verified by Bethel municipal staff. The environmental constraints map is a digitized compilation of steep slopes (over 20%), floodplains, and wetlands. These natural features can limit or constrain development. The utility infrastructure maps show all existing and planned public and private water and sewer systems. As The Housatonic Valley Council of Elected Officials maintain land use and zoning maps on a regional basis, changes to the Bethel portion of these maps will be done there, with the periodic updates printed and returned to Bethel.

Figure 2: Regional Context

Figure 3: Local Context

Figure 4: Town of Bethel (Base Map)