Village Districts are a planning tool in the State of Connecticut overseen by a municipal Planning and Zoning Commission and authorized by Connecticut General Statutes (Public Act 98-116) and as amended in 2000. Village Districts provide for the protection of distinctive character, landscape and historic structures under municipal zoning regulation. Guidelines are developed that specifically relate to the characteristics of each town and projects that are visible from the public way must undergo architectural review as part of Planning and Zoning review.
An important part of Village Districts is the adoption of Design Guidelines which help to identify the unique characteristics of a given town and focus potential applicants on inherent characteristics of the existing streetscape, local building development patterns, streetscape and the natural and designed landscape in a way that importantly, and equally supports the needs of residential home owners as well as those of developers of new properties.
Our work includes authorship of Village District Design Guidelines for two municipalities.