Old Lyme Wants to Change Zoning Laws

Sept. 20 — OLD LYME — The Zoning Commission plans to spend $129,776 to comprehensively update its regulations, with a focus on meeting the needs of residents in the face of a changing landscape that includes factors such as climate change and the need for more affordable housing.

Hartford-based FHI Studio’s proposal calls for a two-phase approach: The first six months would be devoted to cleaning up existing regulations, while the firm’s second phase over the next year would engage the public in a discussion about what is allowed to be built in the city, where it is allowed and how those regulations could change to better serve residents.

The first phase, which the company is implementing in communities like Stonington, involves reorganizing the document layout, adding diagrams and missing definitions, correcting errors, and addressing inconsistent, unclear, or redundant provisions.

Land Use Coordinator Eric Knapp said Friday that the regulations were last changed in 2008. The regulations also need to be updated to comply with state laws that have changed since then.

Knapp identified a $54,776 difference between FHI’s proposal and the amount already included in the current budget for the regulatory update. Voters will be asked to approve the expenditure on Sept. 30 after it was brought to a town meeting by the City Council and the Board of Finance this week.

Knapp said the Zoning Commission rejected a second proposal submitted through the bidding process by SLR International Corporation of Cheshire. While the proposal was within the budgeted amount, Knapp said it did not include a legal review and did not adequately engage the public in the process.

Key to the overhaul of zoning laws is implementing the recommendations in the city’s 2021 Preservation and Development Plan. The foundational planning document calls for regulations that promote more housing options in the city, including apartments, independent living facilities and accessory dwelling units, commonly known as in-law apartments.

The plan also directed the zoning commission to address rising sea levels by determining how residents could adapt their properties and raise the height of their homes to provide greater protection from coastal storms and flooding.

Knapp said committee members would have preferred to see FHI “much more involved in addressing the issues affecting Old Lyme, whether it’s public housing, climate change or Halls Road.”

The Halls Road Improvement Committee has been working for more than a decade to improve the roughly mile-long, mid-century strip between Lyme Street and Route 156. After two failed attempts to change zoning regulations, members hope to resubmit their proposal for an “overlay” district with additional options for those building or renovating on the road.

The concept would give developers the ability to build apartments or condos that are otherwise not allowed on the street, provided there are shops or restaurants on the first floor of the building facing the street.

Knapp said a review of the zoning regulations could also include the ideas for Halls Road, which could mean modifying them or even determining that the overlay could apply to other parts of the city.

Knapp said he hopes that if voters approve the funding later this month, the company will be able to begin work in October.

He reiterated the importance of engaging residents as the company begins considering bigger changes about halfway through the 18-month process.

“The goal here has to be to get the buy-in from the residents,” he said. “I think part of the result of the 2008 review was the feeling that it was done by the committee, for the committee, without getting enough public input.”

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