NEWINGTON - The Town Planning and Zoning Commission will hold a Transit-Oriented Development public hearing Sept. 24 in order to solicit public comment pertaining to development regulations around Newington’s two CT FasTrak busway stations.

       The Thursday hearing will take place in Town Hall at 6 p.m.

       The TPZ first decided to set the public hearing date after a presentation from Windsor’s Town Planner--part of the Commission’s effort to see what other towns are doing about the issue. At its Sept. 9 meeting, the last time it reconvened, commissionioners discussed the format of the hearing, which will allow for a lengthy public comments segment in which residents can sign up to speak for three-minute durations.

       If time permits, residents can return to the podium to weigh-in some more, commissioners said.

       While the hearing format includes time for TPZ members to provide commentary on Transit-Oriented Development, Commission Vice Chair Carol Anest stressed what she says is an emphasis on resident input.

       â€�"We know what they don’t want,” Anest said. â€�"We want to know what they want. I think this should be the public’s meeting--not our meeting.”

       The launch of CT FasTrak and the establishment of the Cedar Street/Fenn Road and Newington Junction busway stations have raised the issue of how to regulate development in areas where residents have expressed opposition to high-density housing--sentiments that prompted the Commission to institute year-long moratoriums on those types of proposals.

       The moratoriums, both covering the half-mile radius around the stations, are independent of one another, and either can be lifted at any point if regulations are established before the 12-month time frame expires.

       The moratorium applies more specifically to senior independent living, senior housing, the conversion of older homes, small family entry-level housing, and alternate residential building types, but is written to not limit its scope just to these areas. Commissioners worried that a moratorium that is too narrow and scope could open the door for developers to bring proposals to the table while the regulation process is ongoing.

       At its previous meeting, the TPZ heard from Eric Barz, the town planner for Windsor, where transit-oriented development has taken place around the town’s center. Barz described efforts to incentivize development for certain uses, as well as the establishment of a Design Development Village, different from transit-oriented development, where an industrial area meets a busy highway entrance.

       The differences between Newington and Windsor, however, are space and development area location. While Windsor encompasses around 30 square miles, Newington is working with 13 square miles of land that is mostly already developed, commissioners noted.

       There’s also the fact that Newington Junction-expected to be the most complex area to draft regulations for-is not in the Newington Town Center.

       The public hearing will run until 8 p.m., after which the Commission will move to its downstairs location for its regular meeting.