Development plan 'basically done'

WINSTED — Work on the town’s revised plan of conservation and development is near completion. The committee charged with updating the document is now focused on editing the final language that will appear on its pages.

“All the work has basically been done,†said George Closson, second selectman and the chairman of the Plan of Conservation and Development Subcommittee, in a Jan. 7 interview.

The subcommittee, under the Planning & Zoning Commission, has been working for several months to update the current plan, which was completed in 1994.  

Closson said subcommittee members agreed on the plan’s final outline at a Jan. 6 meeting.

He added that the group is now working on transferring the final draft’s presentation from a bullet point presentation to that of a document “written prose style.â€

“We’re not covering new ground here,†Closson said of the subcommittee’s current focus.

More work was expected to be completed and approved at the subcommittee’s Jan. 14 meeting.

“We’ve still got some loose ends to tie up,†Closson said.

Connecticut law requires that each municipality update and file a plan with the state every 10 years. The plan serves as a guide for town officials and developers for Winsted’s economic growth.

Before town planners adopt an official version of the revised document, the final draft will be passed along to the Board of Selectmen and the Litchfield Hills Council of Elected Officials for their review.

Residents will also have an opportunity to make comments and voice their opinion on the draft at a public hearing sometime before the final plan is approved.

Last month, a draft of the town’s revised plan of conservation and development was posted online at the Economic Development Committee’s Web site (winchesterctdevelopment.org).

That document, however, was not the final, completed plan, or even a final draft. The document contained the comments of former Planning & Zoning Chairman James Roberts.

A note clarifying that Robert’s draft was not the subcommittee’s final, approved plan was added a short time after the document was posted online Dec. 14.

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