Affordable means different things to different people at different times. This holds true when one is talking about housing. There is the general concept of affordable housing that applies when talking about communities or demographic groups. There is the specific reality of affordable housing that is pertinent to individual homeowners and homebuyers. Planning and zoning commissions need to …
Slippery slopes are tricky things. Their dangers are underestimated. The ability to navigate them is overestimated. Forgotten past experiences are remembered only after sliding down them. The current situation in Iraq is a slippery slope. “It’s déjà vu all over again”, as Yogi Berra once quipped. In 2011, the U.S. withdrew military forces from Iraq …
Every June 1st, it is National Cancer Survivor Day. One day each year. But, every day, someone is either given the diagnosis of or is undergoing treatment for it. Cancer affects many people. You may know someone. The American Cancer Society estimates there are approximately 14.5 million cancer survivors in the U.S. …
There are two questions that pop up during every meeting I attend of Woodstock’s Planning and Zoning Commission. Why are you doing something? Why are you not doing something? These questions can refer to a specific part of a land use application or to the general concept of planning and zoning. They also may be …
Colorectal cancer affects many people. Every day someone is either given the diagnosis of or is undergoing treatment for it. You may know someone. It is the third most common cancer in the U.S. The American Cancer Society estimates there will be approximately 135,430 people in the U.S. (approximately 1,600 people in Connecticut) given a new diagnosis of …
“Family” is one of those words that everyone knows, yet at times struggles to fully define. Over time, the thinking of what constitutes a family has changed as the actual composition of what is a family has evolved. According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2013 Annual Social and Economic Supplement to the Current Population Survey, …
Permits are authorizations you get to do certain things. If you build a house, then you get many different types of permits, such as building and zoning permits. The many people who build your house get permits in the form of licenses to allow them to do what they do as professionals. Even the contractor …
To Permit Or Not To Permit, That Is The Question Read More »
Jeffrey A. Gordon, M.D. As a member of Woodstock’s Planning and Zoning Commission, I am often asked “why are there zoning regulations” and “what are they all about”. Let’s take a visit to some basics about your town’s planning and zoning. When you drive in your car or walk around, you see your town …
There is an American architectural concept called “form ever follows function”, first used by Louis Sullivan in 1896 to describe a design style for skyscrapers. A building’s functional use would dictate its shape and appearance. Support beams, columns, and infrastructure, usually hidden, were seen to various degrees in an outward manner. For planning and zoning …
Have you thought much about the words and phrases people use? What are their definitions? Planning and zoning commissions think about these things because words and phrases can have legal meanings, impacts and consequences. Your town’s Plan of Conservation and Development (POCD) envisions the goals of guiding your town’s growth, its zoning/subdivision regulations achieve those …