Grant will enhance study of village centers

FALLS VILLAGE — The Northwestern Regional Planning Collaborative has received a grant to begin a study of the village centers in the eight towns served by the organization.

The towns are Goshen, Norfolk, Salisbury, Sharon, Cornwall, Kent, Falls Village and North Canaan.

The $12,000 grant is from the Community Foundation of Northwest Connecticut, and will get the first phase of the collaborative’s Village Center Vitality project under way.

The project is described in the organization’s newsletter as “an ambitious, urgent project to reinvigorate the region’s village centers.�

Ruth Skovron, a member of the Falls Village Planning and Zoning Commission, is working closely with the collaborative on creating affordable housing opportunities in the region. She said previous efforts have tended toward cosmetic improvements to village centers.

“This is more than hanging geraniums or putting in nicer lights,� said Skovron. “It’s an exploration of what kind of businesses could survive here.�

The goals for the first phase are:

• To build collaborative partnerships among public and private stakeholders at regional and town levels to promote economic development.

• To develop and implement regional and town-specific business marketing programs including business recruitment and retention programs.

• To develop and implement regulatory improvements, and to design physical improvements to support village center development and sustainability.

The collaborative’s planner, Jocelyn Ayer, said the work covered by the grant is to be completed by late summer 2010.

“In addition to the $12,000, the collaborative will also be putting significant staff resources on this project,� she added.

Asked how the village center project ties in with ongoing efforts to provide affordable (or “starter� or “work force� housing, terms that have entered the discussion recently), she said, “In many of our towns, getting more housing in the village centers will help the existing businesses and encourage new businesses to fill empty storefronts. This is why our Incentive Housing Zone studies are focused on the village centers.�

Ayer noted parenthetically that, “Incentive housing zones are mixed income housing. They include both market rate and starter/work force housing.�

Skovron said that ultimately the collaborative will produce a package of recommendations for each of the towns involved. The second phase will involve creating and implementing the “Action Programs� for each town. Skovron estimated the cost of Phase II at $150,000 and said the federal and private funds would be sought.

It’s a complicated mix. Businesses need employees, who need housing nearby. And for businesses to survive in the Northwest Corner, they must offer something — a specialty or service — that either cannot be obtained in a bigger town or is priced competitively enough to make it worthwhile to buy locally and not have to drive.

“We know that our towns are concerned with both supporting their village center businesses and creating housing that their young families and seniors can afford,� said Ayer.

“So we will address these issues whenever we make any specific proposals on either the Village Center Vitality project or our Incentive Housing Zone project.�

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