Politics & Government

On The Agenda: Cos Cob Plan, Proposed Fees to Hire Consultants

The Greenwich Planning & Zoning Commission to hear input on proposed neighborhood plan, and a plan to charge residents if consultants are needed to review development plans.


Two proposals before the Greenwich Planning & Zoning Commission will be the topics for public input Tuesday night — the Cos Cob Neighborhood Plan, and a plan to charge residents if a consultant is needed to review development proposals submitted to the town.

The meeting begins at 7 p.m. in the Town Hall Meeting Room.

The final draft of the Cos Cob Neighborhood Plan, which has been in development, will be presented and open for public discussion. The plan provides an overview of the historic neighborhood as well as details on how the area could be preserved and improved.

The 154-page document, which can be found here, includes discussion of possible rerouting of traffic to ease congestion, the Cos Cob Park at the former power plant site, building of affordable housing, dredging of Mill Pond and Cos Cob Harbor.

Also on the agenda is a proposal for the town to have residents pay for consultants to review development plans that either the Planning and Zoning Director or the Planning and Zoning Commission deem needing technical review.

The planning director would be allowed to impose fees at 150 percent of the charge imposed by outside consultants.

Here is the proposal:

"The Planning and Zoning Director and/or the Planning and Zoning Commission may require additional technical assistance in evaluating either a preliminary or final site plan applications submitted, or a modification to an application, if it finds that the nature and intensity of development may have a significant impact on the site and its surrounding areas. After such determination is made, the applicant may be required to pay for hiring one or more outside consultants to assist the Planning and Zoning staff and Commission in analyzing, reviewing and reporting on areas requiring technical review. Such consultant(s) may include, but shall not be limited to engineers, traffic engineers, surveyors, architects etc. 

"The expense of the additional technical assistance shall be estimated by the Director or Commission based on a preliminary estimate from the consultant chosen by the Planning and Zoning Commission or Director of Planning and Zoning. The estimated cost of reviewing the application times one hundred-fifty percent (150%) shall be paid by the applicant and deposited with the Planning and Zoning Department. This amount shall be held in escrow until the technical review(s) are completed and the Commission finds the reports and reviews satisfactory. Upon completion of the technical review and final action by the Commission on the application, the Town shall determine the costs incurred for the review and refund the excess monies to the applicant. This payment shall be considered as an integral component of the application and failure by the applicant to make this payment shall render this application incomplete as determined by the Planning and Zoning Commission. Applicants shall not be responsiblefor the costs incurred for technical assistance which exceed one-hundred fifty-percent (150%) of the Commission’s estimate."


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here