Berlin Town Council Endorses New Plan of Conservation And Development

The 2013 Plan of Conservation and Development has been prepared and the Town Council endorsed it at its Tuesday meeting.

The plan has been sent to the Planning and Zoning Commission and the Regional Planning Agency for consideration.

The plan has to be updated every 10 years and this plan was a by-product of the hard work of Hellyn Riggins of Development Services, Jim Mahoney of Economic Development, town staff and a bevy of boards and commissions.

“It has been an ongoing process and is needed since the plan has to be updated every 10 years,” Berlin Mayor Adam Salina. “I applaud the work that the staff and commissions have put into the plan. We as a Town Council endorsed it unanimously.”

Should the Town Council not have approved the plan, it would have had to have been passed by a 2/3 margin by the Planning and Zoning. Now that the plan has been endorsed by the Council, a simple majority vote will be enough to pass the plan.

“The plan is used for a lot of things but is most often used by the Planning and Zoning Commission as a guideline to make the tough decisions they have to make,” Salina said. “We have to make sure they are comfortable with the plan so that they can enforce it and apply it where it is necessary.”

The plan is a guideline but Salina said there are a few highlights to it.

“One of the things we saw is that although we have done a good job in acquiring open space over time that we can do more to help farms,” he said. “We can help the agricultural properties in towns so that we will be able to continue to operate as farms.

“We have also identified some areas known as TEDs or Targeted Economic Development areas. The downtown, with projects such as the railroad station, Depot Crossing, the Main Street façade grant and the police station nearby continues to be a focal point in us trying to create a town center and attract business.