One of the significant recommendations within the 2019 Citywide Plan (POCD), is the need to update the zoning regulations. While it is always good to monitor and update our zoning regulations, it is definitely prudent to evaluate and update them after a POCD is adopted to ensure the regulations are in alignment with the POCD. In our case, Norwalk’s zoning regulations haven’t had a comprehensive update in nearly forty years - that’s over 3 POCD’s ago! Considering all the changes that seem to be occurring around us so rapidly, now is a perfect time to update the land use rules that govern our City.
To help us determine what the new regulations should include and how they should be constructed, as well as identifying the deficiencies in the existing regulations, the City engaged with the CT firm of Planimetrics to aide in the preparation of an initial evaluation of the existing regulations.
While there have been periodic amendments to the regulations, those amendments resulted in piecemeal changes which have led to structural deficiencies and inconsistencies throughout the document.
We have set this page up with the goal of addressing many of the questions and issues that may arise. Scroll down to find informational documents that provide guidance on various topics and issues that we believe are significant changes from the existing regulations. And when you look at the regulations for the first time, a very natural response is: “isn’t this entire document a significant change?” Yes, absolutely! The first info sheet, “What is form based code and why are we doing this”, will hopefully answer some of those questions. There is also an informational document that highlights the significant changes proposed to the zoning map.
The draft regulations and draft map can be found below. The various articles of the regulations and use table are also provided separately if you want to just focus on individual sections.
Starting April 26th, we will begin a series of meetings (Schedule & Outreach, to be updated as meetings are added) within each of Norwalk’s voting districts, in conjunction with the elected Common Council members for your districts. We will also work through designated neighborhood groups on additional meetings. While those meetings are occurring, the Planning & Zoning Commission will also be reviewing various parts or themes within the regulations, such as single-family zoning, multi-family zoning, sustainability, etc. In addition to the meetings, we are also providing a fillable form for additional feedback, which we will collate and provide to the Commission for consideration.
We tried our best, but we are betting that there are still some typos or inconsistencies in the text as well as other items that need to be clarified, so if you see one or any other errors, no matter how small, please let us know. You can email me directly skleppin@norwalkct.gov or Bryan Baker bbaker@norwalkct.gov, with any questions you have.
Steve Kleppin, AICP
Planning & Zoning Director