Community News

In recent years, the Planning and Zoning Commission in Norfolk has been presented with several applications for special permits that have elicited strong public reactions. The website editorial board has become aware that not all residents understand the procedures that applicants must follow and the kinds of considerations the P&Z must weigh. What follows is a very brief outline of how an application makes its way through to approval or denial.

Decisions in all instances are based on a lengthy set of regulations designed to protect public health, safety, convenience and property values. These regulations also help implement the town’s Plan of Conservation and Development, a visionary document that is updated every 10 years.

If wetlands are involved, the applicant must file simultaneous applications with the Inland Wetlands Agency and the P&Z. The Inland Wetlands Agency determines whether the proposal will have any impact on wetlands, watercourses and upland review areas (buffer areas around a wetland). By state statute, the Planning and Zoning Commission cannot act on an application until the wetlands agency reports its acceptance or denial. 

In a town that has been growing for more than 260 years, it is inevitable that zoning restrictions, first enacted in 1973, will not precisely reflect earlier development. Where a pre-existing house or business does not meet a given zone’s standards, it is designated as non-conforming and its physical structure(s) or use cannot be extended or expanded without a special permit granted by the commission or a variance from the Zoning Board of Appeals, depending on the circumstances. 

To prepare an application, property owners often engage professionals such as landscape designers, soil scientists, architects and civil engineers. A site plan illustrating the placement of structures, septic systems, ancillary building and the like is prepared to show commissioners where they are located as related to property boundaries and wetlands.

Some zoning applications are so insignificant that they can be handled by the town’s Zoning Enforcement Officer, but others deemed to have greater impact require zoning commission consideration. Tables in Section 3.03 and Section 4.03 of the zoning regulations show what uses are permitted in each town zone and what level of permitting may be required for each. 

Some permitting requires a public hearing and some does not. If a public hearing is required, the public is invited to comment and/or enter evidence to support differing opinions, either in person or in writing. Written comments are read into the record. Application documents are available to the public for review in the town clerk’s office. (The application documents associated with some recent hearings have been posted on the town website, linked from the bottom of the various commission pages, primarily P&Z).

When the public hearing is closed, the commission can no longer accept new information or public comment. The commission members then discuss and act on the proposal. If a zoning board denies the applicant, it can do so “without prejudice,” which means it rejects an application at the current time but will allow the applicant to reapply with additional information or modifications. Some applicants opt to withdraw their applications before any denial to achieve the same result.

If a proposal is denied, an applicant can appeal the decision by the zoning enforcement officer to the Zoning Board of Appeals and then the courts. If it is an appeal from a Planning and Zoning Commission decision, legal action is pursued in court.

—Newsletter Editor

The Fire House Building Committee reduced the expected expense for the new fire house from $9.5 million to an estimated $8.3 million during a two-hour meeting Wednesday night. 

“It’s a pretty significant reduction,” said First Selectman Matt Riiska, who added that the committee had removed many items from the plan in prior months.

Among the decisions made Wednesday was to substitute overhead doors for bifold doors, use asphalt shingles instead of standing seam metal roofing; modify the plan for a three-bay garage, and eliminate a raised boardwalk from Shepard Road to City Meadow. “There’s nothing there now, so we decided to use gravel,” Riiska said.

The committee is not yet done with its review of the specifications. “There are couple of things we might revisit. Our goal is to get it as low as possible for the taxpayers,” Riiska said. 

Looking at funding, he said the town has been promised $2.5 million in state dollars and $2.2 million in pledges through a continuing capital campaign. Riiska also applied for $1.5 million in federal funds, which passed the appropriations committee at $1.25 million. It awaits congressional action.

“We’re still looking at other avenues for funding,” he said. He is now working on his budget and trying to determine how much money will have to be borrowed when all other funding sources have been tapped. 

Any shortfall in funding from other sources will have to be bonded, probably at more than 4 percent interest. The money would be in the form of a line of credit and the town would pay only interest during the 2025-26 fiscal year with monthly payments starting in the following fiscal year.

The town wants to go out to bid in March and the building will take about 18 months to complete once construction begins.

—Newsletter Editor

A pre-kindergarten screening for the Shared Services Integrated Preschool Program (SSIPP) will be held at Botelle School on March 20 and 21 to help identify children who may need intervention to perform successfully in school.

Parents concerned about their child’s development should call 860-379-2729 before 9:00 a.m. or after 3:00 p.m. to schedule a screening. 

Those parents interested in having their child attend SSIPP as a role model must also submit their child’s name now. Under state law, schools must provide the pre-k class for children with special needs. When there are additional spaces, neurologically typical and developmentally on-target children can also attend the blended classroom free of charge.

If there are more role model applicants than openings available, a lottery will be held during the week following the screening.

SSIPP serves the needs of children ages 3 to 5 who live in Barkhamsted, Colebrook, Hartland or Norfolk. It is located at Barkhamsted School and follows that school’s calendar. 

To be eligible, children must be age 3 by September 1 and have attended the screening. 

Botelle is also holding pre-kindergarten registration screening on March 18 from 1:15 to 2:00 p.m. for Norfolk children born on or before September 1, 2021. Parents should call the school at 860-542-5286, ext. 200, or email laskom@botelleschool.org to make an appointment. 

—Newsletter Editor

Visiting Nurse & Hospice of Litchfield County (VNHLC) will no longer provide blood pressure clinics at the Norfolk Hub, but will continue all its other health care, hospice and home assistance programs. 

“We are still definitely serving Norfolk” said the group’s director of community relations, Joanna Geiger. “That is not going away. We were just not getting anyone at the blood pressure clinics.” She added that residents are welcome to attend other clinics held around Litchfield County. 

For more information, call 860-379-8561 or visit their website.

Geiger said that VNHLC provides a range of services by professionals such as physical, occupational and speech therapists; registered nurses; medical social workers, and home health aides. 

“Our main thing is home health care,” she said. A referral from a hospital discharge planner or a physician is required to receive these services.

Hospice care is provided when a patient is dealing with a life-limiting illness. It does not focus on curing an illness, but supplies patients and their families with physical care, emotional support, pain and symptom management, spiritual support and the companionship of specially trained volunteers. 

Services are covered by Medicare and Medicaid as well as many private insurance plans. Towns also provide grants for VNA services. In 2024-25 the town of Norfolk has budgeted $13,000 for this purpose. 

——Newsletter Editor

Norfolk Land Trust and the Northeast Wilderness Trust have recently permanently protected 610 acres of forest land in South Norfolk through a Forever Wild conservation easement. 

The land trust, which owns the parcel, conveyed the conservation easement to the Wilderness Trust to add an extra layer of protection for the habitat through a Wildlands Partnership. The partnership provides land trusts with funds for stewardship and other operating costs in exchange for the forever-wild designation.

The tract, located south of Dennis Hill State Park in the Hall Meadow region, is home to rare plant and animal species. Connecticut’s Natural Diversity Database identifies at least 10 species of rare animals and plants, including silver-haired, red, and hoary bats, and sharp-lobed hepatica.

The property also has mature upland forests that range from hardwood-dominated areas to wetter areas with Eastern hemlock and white pine. Within these forests are two key habitats for conservation designated by the state: mixed northern hardwood and central Appalachian oak-pine. The Wilderness Trust’s conservation easement ensures that these forests will not be logged nor the land developed.

Nearly a mile and a half of streams flow through the property, providing headwaters for both the east and west branches of the Naugatuck River. There are 26 acres of wetlands, a forested wetland in the southern portion of the property, and several beaver meadows. 

The completion of the South Norfolk Wildlands conservation easement caps a more than 40-year effort to protect a number of forested parcels in Norfolk. The Norfolk Land Trust began acquiring parcels in 2004 and, with the recent purchase of a 235-acre woodland holding in south Norfolk, now owns 610 acres in that region.

The land trust owns tracts and manages conservation easements throughout Norfolk, protecting more than 4,000 acres of open space. Its most recent addition, the 235 acres in South Norfolk, helps maintain a north-south wildlife corridor and enhances the land trust’s extensive trail system, which is open to the public for hiking.

—Newsletter Editor

Two homeowners on Greenwoods Road East are seeking tax abatements or deferrals on their properties until it can be determined how the 2022 gas spill affected their values.

First Selectman Matt Riiska, who is conferring with the town’s attorney about the issue, reported to the Board of Finance meeting Tuesday night that one of the houses is occupied and the other homeowner lives in his house part time. Neither property is currently for sale.

The properties were affected when a truck turned over on Route 44, also known as Greenwoods Road, spilling 8,200 gallons of gasoline over the landscape. Extensive cleanup efforts have been made, but Riiska said there are still “low indicators” of gas in the area. Contamination in the area is monitored by the state.

Tax valuations are based on comparable market values in an area and Riiska reported that there has been only one sale on that street since the spill. That property was sold by a bank, “which is not a good indicator of value,” according to Board of Finance Chairman Michael Sconyers. Riiska added that there were issues with that property before the spill.

Since neither home has been put up for sale, Riiska said it would be difficult to determine whether values have decreased.

The parties have until February 20 to appeal to the Board of Assessment Appeals.

Riiska also told the Finance board that he has yet to receive approval from the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection or the Army Corps of Engineers to build a temporary bridge at Smith Road. The slimy sculpin, a freshwater species of fish that lives in rocky, cold-water streams, is present.

“Apparently, we can’t disturb it,” he said, adding that two varieties of protected bats are also in the area. Members of the board asked whether the bats need a bridge.

—Newsletter Editor

Great Mountain Forest is back online with a new automated weather station to replace equipment that failed last summer. Norfolk residents can now go to WeatherUnderground (KCTNORFO15), Citizen Weather Observer Program (GW5867) and WeatherLink (GMF Forestry Office) for local weather conditions and data.

The new automated station, a Davis Instruments Vantage Pro2, was installed January 14, replacing the automated station that had operated since 2003, according to GMF property manager and weather observer Russell Russ. 

Personnel at Great Mountain Forest started recording weather data daily more than 93 years ago. Today, GMF is home to Norfolk 2SW, an official National Weather Service (NWS) cooperative weather observer station.

Installed adjacent to the Norfolk 2SW equipment, the new station uses GMF’s old 10-meter tower for wind observations, which are expected to be very accurate except during freezing rain.

As with many other automated stations, the Vantage Pro 2 will not be able to measure precipitation when temperatures are below freezing. NWS observations include year-round precipitation observations and snow or sleet will continued to be melted to get an official liquid equivalent.

—Newsletter Editor

Educated Canines Assisting with Disabilities (ECAD) in Torrington is seeking Norfolk residents to foster puppies for six months, offering the animals a warm social environment and basic training before they return to ECAD for more advanced training.

ECAD places trained service dogs in homes with both children and adults with disabilities in Connecticut and across the United States, according to Christina Canaletich, puppy instructor.

Canaletich said ECAD is both flexible and selective about the homes in which the puppies are placed. “We are looking for adults who have a car, are retired, work from home or can take the animal to work with them,” she said. “The training is constant, focusing on general manners. You are always with the dog.” 

Homes with children are acceptable and can be either houses or apartments.

Orientation is offered to foster families and supplies, food, medical attention and crates are provided. 

Perhaps the hardest part for the foster family is letting go, Canaletich said. “The puppies are 10 weeks old when they go into a home, and they come back to us at eight months for a year of advanced training. We push for people to do it more than once, but some people can’t.”

For information call Canaletich at 860-489-6550, ext. 529.

—Newsletter Editor

The Planning and Zoning Commission has scheduled a continuation of its January 14 public hearing on Three Stewards Real Estate’s application for the modification of an existing special permit and associated site plan modification for the Manor House Inn to February 11, its next meeting.

The move came Tuesday night after a three-hour-plus hearing that filled the Hall of Flags at Botelle School. 

The hearing began with a detailed presentation by Rachel Roth of Three Stewards; Andrea Gomes, her attorney, and the consultants who worked on the design.

Roth, who testified that she has been upgrading the inn since she purchased it in 2022, said she must modernize the structure to make it economically viable. The plans and other application documents are available on the town website. To view them, click here. 

During the hearing, numerous residents spoke, both favoring and opposing the application. The Commission received many written communications that will be read into the record at the February 11 meeting. It urged those who wish to send additional communications related to the application to do so in advance of the February meeting so that it has the opportunity to review them. Written communications may be sent to Zoning Enforcement Officer Stacey Sefcik [mailto:zeo@norfolkct.org]

Commissioners also listed their own areas of concern so the applicants can prepare responses for February.

—Newsletter Editor

Two residents turned out for the town meeting Tuesday night to approve the transfer of $100,000 from the Capital Reserve Fund into the general fund. Combined with $66,556 drawn from the Board of Education’s non-lapsing fund, the money will pay for two new oil burners at Botelle School.

The old burners are worn out and have been nursed along for years. Perotti’s Plumbing, the firm that services them, advised their immediate replacement more than a year ago when one or the other of the two burners failed on subsequent days.

The town received only one bid, from Perotti’s, to provide the new burners. 

The school board is allowed by state law to place surplus funds amounting to one percent of its budget in a non-lapsing fund each year.

—Newsletter Editor