Couldlawblocking Stamford charter changes about petition process also affect Westport?

Jul. 22—Westport has had a petition process since the late 1950s, Town Attorney Ira Bloom said. The Fairfield County town of about 27,000 people had its charter established, like Stamford, through a state legislature special act in the 1950s.

Under a state law passed last month, cities and towns cannot amend their charters to change: the way petitions are filed to appeal zoning decisions to a local legislative body; vote requirements for eminent domain proceedings; vote requirements for sales of municipal property; or "any regulations concerning any planning commission, zoning commission or combined planning and zoning commission."

All of those changes had been proposed by Stamford's Charter Revision Commission, and the law would keep them from potentially reaching voters. Stamford Mayor Caroline Simmons said that she advocated for the restrictions outlined in the state law.

Westport is not currently revising its charter. Due to a low threshold for appealing land use changes to the city's Representative Town Meeting, petitioning already "could not be easier," said Danielle Dobin, chair of the town's Planning and Zoning Commission.

Dobin said the new state law would have "basically no impact" on Westport, as there aren't plans to change the town's charter any time soon. Still, should the town ever wish to change the petition process through charter, the statute would prohibit them from doing so.

There is at least one other community that has a policy on the books allowing petitioning in some form, though its policy is different from those in Westport and Stamford.

—

Hartford Democrats endorse Arunan Arulampalam in mayoral race

—

Farmington River Tubing expected to resume business operations

New Haven's code of ordinances includes a provision wherein if enough owners in a district present a petition to the mayor, they can request "an amendment or repeal of any such regulation," that can at least temporarily delay a change from taking effect.

New Haven Corporation Counsel Patricia King did not respond to an immediate request for comment Friday regarding the impact of the state law.

Petitions can be brought by two members of the Westport RTM or 20 members of the town's electorate. They can challenge changes to the town's zoning regulations, zoning map amendments or municipally-owned property. The first two motions appeal decisions made solely by the Planning and Zoning Commission, while the latter addresses the commission's response to a decision made by the town's first selectwoman.

Stamford's now-outlawed charter changes would have made petitioning easier by extending a 300-signature requirement — currently reserved for changes affecting multiple zones — to decisions affecting individual zones. It also would have created a definition for "landowner," which the current charter lacks. According to the special act undergirding Stamford's charter, only signatures from landowners count toward petitions.

Despite Westport's low threshold, the petition process is "used sparingly and the decisions are made judiciously," said Matthew Mandell, who chairs the town RTM's planning and zoning committee. The committee presides over petition hearings.

"Any time one body is being asked to review another body's decision will be contentious," Mandell said. "It's all part of checks and balances — and that's good democracy. That's why we have it. That's why it's in our charter. And no one's looking to change that by a charter revision."

Westport First Selectwoman Jennifer Tooker did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday.

In Westport, the Planning and Zoning Commission is an elected body, unlike in Stamford where officials are appointed by the mayor and confirmed by the city's Board of Representatives. Decisions are also made by a combined commission, as opposed to Stamford's separate Planning and Zoning boards. Any member of Westport's electorate can sign petitions, Dobin said, not just landowners.

There have been two petitions in Westport in the last three years. In 2021, the commission settled an 18-year-old proposal under Connecticut's 8-30g law, which allowed 157 units in a mixed-income apartment complex. And earlier this year, a text amendment paved the way for a mixed-use development with increased density near the town's main train station.

The RTM voted to uphold both decisions.

Despite the low threshold, Dobin said the petition process is not abused in Westport.

"It defies the expectations," Dobin said. "The fears about a petition process are basically that the RTM or the town council is going to kowtow to loud vocal voices. But that's not actually how it's worked in reality."

Dobin said the process strengthens the public's understand of land use decisions in Westport.

"Especially with regard to the most complicated and contentious decisions, allowing more members of the public to understand what motivated the commission, why we've made the choices we did, why we voted the way we did ... I think it's a really important part of participating in municipal government," Dobin said.

Mandell kept his comments brief when asked about the state of affairs in Stamford.

"Anytime that the state tries to usurp local control, it's problematic," Mandell said.

Only Stamford and Westport can have petition processes because the special acts creating their charters predated Connecticut's home rule law. Established in 1957, home rule allowed cities and towns to write and adopt their own charters.

After the law came into effect, municipalities had state-issued parameters for what they could and could not adopt in their charters. But provisions existing through earlier special acts could be kept, said Steve Mednick, an attorney advising Stamford's Charter Revision Commission.

"Where you have special acts that you want to keep in place, you're severely constrained in terms of what you can do to change the special act," Mednick said. "That's the reason those petition processes were all created before (home rule)."