Killingly, CT

Muni Initiative Program Town, Year 4

One of a series of old mill towns stretching from Worchester to Norwich, Killingly is the most populous town in Connecticut’s “quiet corner” with nearly 17,000 residents. Housing demands from the southern Massachusetts and Rhode Island markets have driven a significant increase in building permits over the past ten years. The town had contracted with the North East Connecticut Council of Governments (NECCOG) for an update to the 15-year old Plan of Conservation and Development as well as the subdivision and zoning regulations

Killingly’s first tackled the plan update. As mentioned above, Killingly faces a diverse set of issues, from urban revitalization and affordable housing to open space planning and natural resource protection. The plan specifically targeted several water quality issues, focusing on the importance of “clustering” development to protect open lands and the use of low impact development techniques in both urbanized and rural settings. The plan is in the final stages of preparation and is scheduled to go to public hearing this year.

The Task Force has also undertaken an update to the subdivision regulations to implement some of the recommendations of the plan. Besides modernizing the 15-20 year old document, major changes have been made to include the use of “low impact development” techniques and the use of the CT DEP Stormwater Quality Manual for stormwater management. These new standards would apply to all new subdivisions.

After the plan and subdivision updates are complete, the task force will move on to a zoning regulation revision. Key among the topics to be addressed are a buildout analysis of the town to assess current zoning, parking standards and design, and impervious cover requirements. The task force hopes to begin this process in the fall of 2006.

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