Workshop Seeks Public Input on Tolland Village Area

The Tolland Planning and Zoning Commission will hold a public workshop this Tuesday, Nov. 30 to allow town residents an opportunity to provide input on potential development styles for the Tolland Village Area.

The conceptual village-like downtown, if seen to fruition, would be located adjacent to the Exit 68 interchange.

This interchange, which extends from exit 68 off I-84 up to the Tolland Green, has been identified as a prime location for future development. It is an area of town that is already close to the "town center" of the Green with access to the highway, good water quality and on-site septic system capability.

Input from workshop attendees on Nov. 30 will "directly influence the look and feel of the area. Their feedback will guide development to reflect the feel and character of the town," said Heidi Samokar, AICP Planning Consultant at Planimetrics, the land use planning and consulting firm that acts as project consultant.

Many townspeople have heard bits and pieces about the Tolland Village Area, some of which has been inaccurate, Samokar said. The beginning of the Nov. 30 workshop will be spent giving an overview of the project.

"Residents will get to learn what it is and what it isn't," Samokar said.

One common misconception is that the Tolland Village Area project is already set in stone, and that it will be built in the next few years.

"The Tolland Village Area is a concept plan that could be one feasible way of addressing development in the interchange area," said Director of Planning and Community Development Linda Farmer.

Weighing the cost versus the benefits, it could be 10-30 years before the downtown village is constructed, Farmer said.

Another common assumption is that the cost of development will fall on the town's taxpayers. According to Farmer, the high-density area is "mostly privately-owned property that will be developed one way or another," unless the unlikely happens — the town buys up all the land from the private owners.

Michael J. Cardin, chair of the Planning and Zoning Commission, said Tolland did not have the tax base to support the business of development, unlike West Hartford, for example, whose larger tax base supported the construction of the impressive shopping complex Blue Black Square. Cardin felt that having this project be more property-owner driven was key to its success.

Cardin said that a property owner by the Mobil gas station at the interchange could get the ball rolling with condominium-sized, residential development there. "Once you see more people living in that area, you'll see more property owners will want to give them more services," he said.

Residents have expressed their desire for more residential choices in town at previous workshops hosted by the commission.  "They said we have too many large, single-family homes," Farmer said. "We don't have enough apartments, condos and duplexes." Residents have also said the town needs more elderly housing.

Tolland lacks public transportation, another negative to the aging population. Busses from Hartford stop at exit 67, and UCONN busses don't transport people into Tolland.

"We wondered, what will it take for busses from Hartford and UCONN to come to Tolland?" Farmer said. She explained that there had been talks with the Department Of Transportation over whether the commuter lot currently next to Dunkin' Donuts could be moved to a different part of town.

Residents who cling to the "bedroom community" environment that Tolland has been for so many years are reluctant to embrace the increase in traffic and commercial activity, especially when there has been mention of a hotel in Tolland Village Area plans. With only two entry points from the highway to the town, these are legitimate concerns, Farmer concedes. Yet with the existence of only one hotel at UCONN, "building one at exit 68 could be an anchor, and it would make us more viable a location for public transportation," she said.

Farmer expressed a view of community where "people can live, work and play in nodes that have access to public transportation."  This vision includes bike and walking paths, parks and open space, along with a village-like town center, where people can easily walk from common gathering spots to retail shops to living quarters.  Glastonbury was mentioned as a model for success at developing commercial areas that are consistent with the look and feel of the rest of the town.

"We share the concern that the development won't be consistent with what we think of as Tolland, with its colonial buildings on the Green," said Farmer. This is why the PZC stresses the importance of the public's input at these workshops. "We need to be proactive not reactive," she said.

Workshop participants will have the chance to participate in a visual preference survey, looking at a multitude of photographs that display a variety of building styles. Attendees will indicate what style will look best in Tolland.

The results of this workshop will help consulting firm Planimetrics develop 3-D visual models of the conceptual town village. "It's hard to get a sense of what development will look like through a one- or two-dimensional drawing," said Cardin.

Members of the zoning commission were able to see multi-use development and density-based models of Simsbury. "They showed what layers of a building would look like at a street corner," Cardin said. "Having that type of visual model, people will start to understand what we're envisioning here."

The public workshop on Nov. 30 will take place at 7:30 p.m. at the Lodge at Crandall Park, 124 Cider Mill Road.

For more information on the Tolland Village Area, please visit the Planning and Zoning Commission web site.