www.WashingtonCT.org The Town of Washington, Connecticut Town Meeting

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WARNING
TOWN OF WASHINGTON, CONNECTICUT
ANNUAL TOWN MEETING

The voters and electors of the Town of Washington are hereby warned that the Annual Town Meeting will be held at Bryan Memorial Town Hall, Washington, Connecticut on Monday, October 6, 2003 at 7:30 p.m. to consider and act upon the following agenda:

1. To set the dates for the annual town budget hearing and meeting in May of 2004.

2. To rescind Town Ordinances 703B, 704D and 710 regarding Land Use fees; and to approve an Ordinance to create one fee schedule for Planning, Zoning and Zoning Board of Appeals applications, to establish a procedure to reimburse said Commissions for expenses relating to professional consultation, to rescind any fees previously established by said Commissions, and to require additional sums from applicants who have unpaid expense remaining from previous applications.

3. To approve an Ordinance to establish citation procedures and fines for violations of Inland Wetlands and Watercourse regulations.

4. To revise Timber Harvesting Ordinance #1405A to include an expiration date.

5. To approve an Ordinance to create an Open Space and Land Acquisition Fund.

6. To approve an Ordinance to authorize the Town's Conservation Commission to acquire open space land or easements under certain conditions.

7. To approve a Scenic Road Ordinance.

Dated at Washington Connecticut, this 25th day of September 2003.

Elaine C. Luckey
Nicholas N. Solley
Harry W. Wyant

Board of Selectmen

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Summaries of Ordinances

1. Annual town budget hearing to be held May 6, 2004 at 7:30 p.m.

   Annual town budget meeting to be held May 20, 2004 at 7:30 p.m.

2. Establishing Fees for Land Use Applications

   Full text ( 3 pages)

   This ordinance replaces existing ordinances relating to land use application fees, including the existing ordinance which authorizes commissions to charge the applicant the cost of hiring professional consultants to help the commissions in making their decisions.

   Section 2A provides a fee schedule for all the various kinds of applications and petitions directed to Zoning, ZBA and Planning, but does not include any fees for Inland Wetlands. The Inland Wetland Statute allows adequately for the Inland Wetlands Commission to set its own fees in their own regulations.

   Section 2B of this ordinance spells out the procedure to be followed if the commissions determine that they need to hire consultants. Also stipulated are the time frames relating to the collection of the fees from the applicants and the hearing and decision proceedings. If, after 35 days from the receipt of the application, the commission determines that professional help is needed, it can assess the applicant 150% of the estimated amount required to pay the consultants. Any amount collected, which is over and above what is needed, the commission will reimburse the applicant. If the amount due is not paid by the time the commission must commence a public hearing or make a decision, the commission may deny the application as incomplete.

   Section 3 notes the foregoing fees supersede any fees previously established by the Commissions.

   Section 4 allows the Commission to require a sum equivalent to 200 per cent of the estimated fees and expenses if fees relating to a prior application remain unpaid.

3. Establishing Citation Procedures and Fines for Violations of Inland Wetlands and Watercourse Regulations

   Full text ( 4 pages)

   The Inland Wetlands Commission may issue citations to, and fine, persons who violate the Regulations of the Washington Inland Wetlands Commission. The violator is allowed thirty days to pay the fine. If he does not pay the fine within 30 days, IWC will send another notice with the allegations and amount of fines, and tell the violator that he can contest the liability before a Hearing Officer. The violator has to notify the Commission, in writing, within ten days and demand a hearing. The Hearing Officer is appointed by the First Selectman and cannot be a member of the Commission or an employee of the Town. He conducts the hearing and makes the judgment, either dismissing the matter or assessing fines. If the violator still does not pay, within a certain time frame, the Hearing Officers will file a notice of the assessment with the Clerk of Superior Court. The Court takes it from there. Also, included in this ordinance is a schedule of fines based on number of times that a violator has committed violations.

4. Revision of Timber Harvesting Ordinance

   Full text ( 2 pages)

   We have a very comprehensive Timber Harvesting Ordinance, No. 1405A. The only change to this ordinance is that we have added an expiration date, so that the Permit does not go on into perpetuity. We have set the duration of the permit for one year, with the possibility of a six-month extension.

5. Establishing Open Space and Land Acquisition Fund

   Full text ( 3 pages)

   The purpose of this ordinance is to set up a fund to be used for the purchase of parcels of open space or easements to be kept in their natural condition for purposes of protection of natural resources, passive recreation and/or agricultural purposes.

   The fund may receive all monies, grants, loans, or "fees-in-lieu-of", from whatever source designated for acquisition and preservation of open space. The fund will not lapse at the end of the fiscal year and will be in the custody of the Town Treasurer, who may invest it.

   Money may be expended through the following procedures. Recommendations for appropriation for acquisition must be approved by the Conservation Commission, and forwarded to the Board of Selectmen. The Board of Selectmen would forward such recommendations to the Planning Commission for its report. Then the recommendation will go to a Town Meeting for a majority vote.

6. Authorizing Acquisition of Open Space Land

   Full text ( 1 page)

   The purpose of the Ordinance is to authorize the Conservation Commission to acquire open space parcels or easements, in the name of the Town, without having to go to Town Meeting each time, as long as there is no requirement for monetary outlay.

   The Planning Commission is also authorized to acquire land, in the name of the Town, that has been set aside according to the Planning Commission's regulations pursuant to CGS 8-25.

7. Proposed Scenic Road Ordinance

   Full text ( 8 pages)

   The proposed ordinance was initiated by the Conservation Commission and written by a sub-committee headed by Joe Gitterman.

   The purpose of the Scenic Road Ordinance is to help the Town preserve its rural character by enabling it to keep certain roads as near to their present scenic condition as possible, as long as they are safe for travel.

   The Planning Commission would have the authority to designate certain roads as scenic if the owners of a majority of lot frontage along the road petition for such designation. Only roads satisfying at least one of the specified criteria are eligible. Among some of the criteria are things such as being bordered by mature trees or old stone walls, offering scenic views, or having any unpaved surfaces and being of less than twenty feet in width.

   Routine maintenance would continue as before, but alterations to correct hazardous conditions or to accommodate changed development would require special procedures and an opportunity for land abutters to be heard and to weigh in.