Residents Invited To Give Input On Town Plan
- Philip Thibodeau
- Sep 17
- 4 min read
What do Southington residents think about the current state of their town? And how would they like it to look in the future? Answers to these questions – which will guide Planning and Zoning Board decisions for the next decade – have already been gathered through an online survey. Community members will have an additional chance to share their views in person this Thursday at the Weichsel Center (196 North Main) between 4 and 7pm; that is where a workshop is being held by the subcommittee of Planning and Zoning charged with updating Southington’s Plan of Conservation and Development (POCD).
Highlights Of Online Survey
This past summer, the POCD Subcommittee posted a survey online to gather resident views on town planning. The questions in the survey were developed through a dialogue between committee members and SLR Consulting, a Cheshire-based environmental consulting firm. The survey focused on three main areas: (1) conservation, or protecting resources that residents consider important; (2), development, or guiding growth and change in town; and (3) infrastructure, or identifying facilities and services that support the community.
SLR’s report of the results runs to 18 pages of text and charts. It includes the following highlights:
First, in their preface, SLR notes that “the community is generally happy with quality of life in Southington, with 85.0 percent rating it good or excellent.” To the question "what is special about life in Southington?" the top two answers were "outdoor recreation" (72.0 percent) and "sense of community" (57.5).
When it comes to housing, respondents exhibited two potentially conflicting attitudes. 44.2 percent felt that there were not enough affordable housing options; creating affordable housing and diversifying housing types were also cited among the top-5 priority areas for the town. At the same time, the survey showed that 51.6 percent of respondents do not believe new construction is beneficial for the community; concern for open space preservation was also very strong.
At several places the report suggested that support for increased commercial activity in town was lukewarm at best. About two-thirds of respondents felt that the number of sit-down restaurants, small office, medical offices, and large retail stores is already adequate. Nearly half (47.4 percent) thought that there are too many fast-food establishments. "Commercial activity" and "industrial activity" ranked 10th and 12th, respectively, on a list of 12 areas the town should give its attention to. Residents felt that downtown Southington and Plantsville center were more attractive than the commercial strips on Queen Street, West Street, and Route 322 (the Meriden-Waterbury Road), as well as safer for pedestrians.
When it comes to transportation, respondents overwhelmingly cited traffic congestion (83.0 percent) and traffic speeding (80.7) as significant problems. Concern for pedestrian safety was also marked, with 69.1 percent saying that the town needed more and better sidewalks; a slight majority (54.3) supported more bike lanes and bike facilities.
Respondents felt that Southington had enough active and passive recreation areas, and valued the town’s walking paths (84.1 percent), hiking trails (64.7), and scenic views (61.9). At the same time, about one half of respondents felt that Southington did not have enough open space (55.6 percent) or farmland (51.1).
Finally, the majority of respondents reported that they had experienced loss of power (83.8 percent), loss of internet (72.8), road blockages (59.0), or storm damage (53.6) during the past decade.
One qualification to these statistics may be in order. SLR recommended that at least 2 percent of the population complete the survey for it to constitute a representative cross-section of resident views. In fact, only 664 residents - 1.5 percent of the population - took part in it. Of those who did participate, 89 percent were homeowners, and 70 percent were over age 45.
The full report can be accessed here.
POCD Workshop Details
What can residents who attend Thursday's workshop expect? According to Jennifer Clock, who is a Republican member of the Town Council and co-chair of the POCD committee along with Republican Planning and Zoning member Todd Chaplinsky, representatives from SLR will be setting up stations in the Assembly room at the Weichsel Center where residents can learn more about what the Plan of Conservation and Development is. Participants can ask questions, and then share opinions which will go into the record on any of the topics covered by the survey.
Although the event runs from 4:00 to 7:00pm, participants may arrive at any time and spend as much or as little time there as they wish. There will be no formal presentation; instead, representatives from SLR will be manning the various stations and talking one-on-one with people who attend.
All Southington residents are welcome to participate in the workshop, even if they did not fill out the online survey.
For those who cannot make Thursday's workshop, a second one will be held early in 2026.
