Planning & Zoning Department

Responsibilities

The Planning and Zoning Department has a large number of responsibilities including:

• Helping the public with applications, questions, and complaints
• Advising Commissions
• Enforcing zoning and other regulations
• Assisting other Town departments
• Keeping the public fully informed about current land use applications

For information on Citation Appeal Hearings, agendas, and time details, please visit the Agenda Center.

Customer Service Times

To better assist our customers, the Planning and Zoning Department is implementing dedicated permit office hours to provide blocks of time to address permit requirements for land use permits and address customer concerns.

• Permit Office Hours:   M-F 8:30 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.
• Inspections & Appointments:  M-F 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. (start times)

General calls can be made to our main number of 203-287-7070 and our staff will try to take your call unless they are with another customer.

Consultations for developments can be conducted during regular office hours or appointments can be made if there are spaces in the planned field time.  Our staff will attempt to respond to emails and phone calls during office hours or during inspection hours provided there is space between on-site inspections or other appointments.

Requests for Information / Lot determination

Please be advised that many requests for whether a property is able to be developed is often more complex than a yes or no.  These requests will require more information from you than just a location or more time to do research.

When it comes to land use development, whether a lot is a building lot or what can be built questions are not always easy to answer.  In order for you to determine the feasibility of development, you would need to have the property researched and evaluated by some professionals such as a land use attorney and/or other land use professional, such as a Civil Engineer or Land Surveyor, to do things such as a title search to see what, if any, restrictions may have been placed on the property working. 

A Professional Engineer or Land Surveyor can also provide an updated Survey and Site Plan of the existing conditions including topography and any wetlands and/or watercourses.  An Engineer can also help you with things like:

• compliance with our wetlands regulations, 
• subdivision and zoning regulations (see the left menu)
• access to public utilities such as sewer and water or whether you would require septic or well.  

Once you determine feasibility of a proposed desired development, then you can proceed with acquiring your permits, such as: 

• Inland Wetlands (depending upon wetlands findings), 
• Subdivsion or ReSubdivision,
• Zoning Permit 
• Building Permit (please see our Building Department for more information)  

It can be a complicated process with no guarantees, which is why consultation with professionals to represent your best interests is critical to that process.