Regulations

Summary

The Planning & Zoning Commission derives its authority from two main sources: (1) the state legislature, which "enabled" municipalities to establish zoning commissions (CGS Chapter 124) and/or planning commissions (CGS Chapter 126), and (2) the Ridgefield Town Charter (Part I, Article IV), where our Planning & Zoning Commision is actually established, and given "the powers and duties of both a planning commission and a zoning commission under the laws of the state, except the power vested in a planning commission by C.G.S. § 8-29 to make assessments of benefits and damages" [related to takings of property for public use].     

Based on the above, the PZC has a "legislative" role, in which it creates and amends Ridgefield's Zoning Regulations, Zoning Maps, Subdivision Regulations, and other regulations as permitted or required by state statutes.  However, these are not re-written on a whim or by surprise.  Whenever the PZC considers a change to its regulations, before voting we conduct a Public Hearing, after providing Public Notice, which is typically after informal discussion(s) at one or more public meetings.  Also, when an application or matter is submitted to the PZC (for a Special Permit) or its staff (for a Zoning Permit), the decision must be based on the regulations as they are published at that time; the PZC cannot revise the rules in order to either accommodate or oppose a pending application.

Note: From 1974 to 2019, the Town Charter also assigned the Planning & Zoning Commission to the statutory role of Inland Wetlands Board and Aquifer Protection Agency; those roles were divided-out and a new IWB/APA was formed and first elected in November 2019.

Zoning Regulations

Our complete Zoning Regulations may be found here.

Subdivision Regulations

Our complete Subdivision Regulations may be found here.