Design Review
ARTICLE XXVII, Design Review Advisory Committee
- A Design Review Advisory Committee is established to advise and help the Planning and Zoning Commission and the Town Council promote and encourage public and private actions to:
- Encourage the highest quality standard of design and development;
- Protect the value of all real property within the community;
- Promote aesthetically pleasing development;
- Promote the development of a harmonious character in newly developing or redeveloped areas;
- Preserve the special character of existing neighborhoods; and
- Thus to promote and protect the public health, safety, convenience and welfare of the community.
- The advice of the Design Review Advisory Committee is intended to encourage higher quality building and site design and result in development that is compatible with the character of the community.
- The Design Review Advisory Committee shall be appointed by the Town Council upon an advisory recommendation from the Planning and Zoning Commission.
- The Design Review Advisory Committee shall consist of (5) five members, plus (1) one alternate.
- To the extent available, at least one (1) regular member shall be an architect and at least two (2) regular members shall be specifically qualified by reason of education, training or experience in landscape architecture, historic preservation, community planning, civil engineering, building trades, graphic arts, the Americans with Disability Act, State Building Codes or other related fields.
- Members must be residents of the Town of Wethersfield.
- Of the five (5) members and one (1) alternate initially appointed, two (2) regular members and one (1) alternate shall be appointed for an initial two (2) year term to expire January 1, 2007, and three (3) regular members shall be appointed for an initial three (3) year term to expire January 1, 2008. All subsequent appointments of members and alternates shall be for terms of three (3) years.
- The Design Review Advisory Committee shall adopt its own rules and procedures, the method of selection of its officers and the establishment of meeting schedules.
- A quorum shall consist of three (3) members.
Any member of the Design Review Advisory Committee may be removed by the Town Council for cause and, on request of such member, after public hearing.
The members of the Design Review Advisory Committee shall receive no compensation for their services as such but shall be reimbursed for their necessary expenses incurred in the performance of their official duties, subject to budgetary limitations.
The Design Review Advisory Committee may appoint employees necessary for the discharge of its duties, subject to budgetary limitations and relevant Charter provisions.
- The Design Review Advisory Committee shall review all applications or project plans referred and shall consider the Design Guidelines contained within Appendix C to the Wethersfield Zoning Regulations when reviewing projects.
- Reports from the Design Review Advisory Committee shall be advisory and not compulsory to the Planning and Zoning Commission or the Town Council, which has final approval authority for the applications.
- The Design Review Advisory Committee shall meet at regularly scheduled meetings to consider applications referred to it.
- Applicants are encouraged to submit preliminary or conceptual plans to the Design Review Advisory Committee for review and comment prior to a formal submission to the Planning and Zoning Commission. In such instance, the Design Review Advisory Committee shall submit a report, together with its recommendations and suggestions, to the applicant no later than twenty (20) days after receipt thereof.
- The Design Review Advisory Committee shall submit its advisory recommendations to the Planning and Zoning Commission in writing at least five (5) days prior to a meeting by the Planning and Zoning Commission on any application.
- The written report shall, to the extent feasible, include specific recommendations regarding plan modifications which the Committee finds desirable based on the standards and criteria outlined in the zoning regulations and the Design Guidelines found in Appendix C to the Wethersfield Zoning Regulations.
- The Planning and Zoning Commission shall not be required to delay its action on an application due to the failure of the Design Review Advisory Committee to act in a timely manner.
The Design Review Advisory Committee shall coordinate its activities with the Planning and Zoning Commission and with other interested officials and agencies of the Town. The Design Review Advisory Committee may invite any person not a member of the Committee to attend and participate in its meetings and deliberations. Such invited person or persons shall have no vote on the actions of the Design Review Advisory Committee.
The Design Review Advisory Committee may advertise and may prepare, print and distribute books, maps, charts and pamphlets which, in its judgment, will further its official purposes, subject to budgetary limitations. These materials shall be referred to the Planning and Zoning Commission and Town Council prior to distribution.
In the performance of its duties and in the exercise of its powers aforesaid, the Design Review Advisory Committee shall not incur any expenses or obligate the Town to pay any expense in excess of the funds appropriated by the Town Council for such purpose.