NORTH STONINGTON VILLAGE: ENSURING A SENSE OF PLACE

The purpose of this research project is to determine how North Stonington, Connecticut, can best protect and enhance the character of North Stonington Village through land development regulations. The character of North Stonington Village is in jeopardy as a direct result of its current land development regulations. Stated in both the North Stonington Zoning Regulations (1985) and, indirectly, in the North Stonington Plan of Development (1981), the citizens of North Stonington desire to protect and enhance t11e Village's character to ensure its unique sense of place. The main product of this work is a proposed Village District. This district, if adopted, would effectively protect and enhance t11e character ofNort11 Stonington Village because the proposed district's regulations are based on tile Village's specific character-defining elements. However, because one of the integral elements of t11is district is to increase the permitted building density by lowering the minimum lot size, the recommended Village District presents environmental issues which must be addressed. Therefore, the recommended regulations presented in this work are dependent upon establishing alternative sewage disposal and/or water supply in the Village which will mitigate primary negative environmental effects of increased building density. This work also presents general and master planning recommendations that are intended to enhance the Village. These recommendations address the existing sign ordinance, a possible historic overlay district and relevant design guidelines, a parking study, the Town Commons, new parcels for infill development, and circulation. All of the recommendations presented in this work intend to make the Village a better place to live, work, and visit by protecting and enhancing the characteristics that contribute to its sense of place.


INTRODUCTION PURPOSE AND OBJECTIVES
The purpose of this research project is to determine how North Stonington, Connecticut, can best protect and enhance the character of North Stonington Village through land development regulations. In existing municipal documents, the Town supports this goal, both directly and indirectly. In the North Stonington Plan of Development (1981 , 81) various goals supporting this concept are listed under "Community Character'' including the following: • Preserve the present rural character throughout as much of the Town as possible ....
• Encourage land uses, ownerships, and landdevelopment, conservation, and preservation techniques that result in as much land as possible being retained in a natural condition or devoted to agricultural use . .. .
• Preserve the town's rich historical, architectural, and archeological heritage.
The third goal more directly supports tllis research project t11an the first two goals do. The relevance of this project to the first two goals will be clarified in Chapter Eight.
In the North Stonington Zoning Regulations, the intent of tl1e Village Preservation Overlay Area also directly supports the overall concept of this project and is stated as follows : " . .. is intended to protect and preserve the appearance and character of the Village and its individual buildings .. . " (1985,.
Protecting and enhancing the character of North Stonington Village is unquestionably an important goal for the Town. This research project determines how to accomplish this by undertaking the following objectives: • ascertaining what characteristics of the Village contribute to its sense of place; • analyzing how those characteristics could change as controlled by the existing municipal land development regulations; and • exatnining six village-oriented land development regulations which are intended to protect and enhance the character of similar East Coast villages.
The overarching objective of this project is to devise recommended amendments to the North Stonington Zoning Regulations that will best serve the intent currently as defined for North Stonington Village.

PROJECT SIGNIFICANCE
North Stonington's current zoning for the Village, which is called the Village Preservation Overlay District, has the potential to destroy its sense of place. In fact, although the zoning ordinance states that "tl1e purpose of this overlay area is to recognize and preserve tl1e unique historical character of the village area", this district's zoning is designed in a way that could transform what remains of this historic village into a low-density residential neighborhood with a typical suburban settlement pattern.
As defined by the North Stonington Zoning Ordinance, the Village Preservation Overlay area overlays the Town's R40 High-Density Residential District. The R40 District is primarily zoned for detached single-family houses with 40,000 square foot (sf) minimum Jots (approximately one acre) and minimum front setbacks of 35 feet.
The overlay district gives authority to the Planning and Zoning Commission to prohibit any building, structure, or use" ... that would be inconsistent or harmful to tl1e historic charm and character of the Village ..
." (North Stonington Zoning Regulations 1985, 4-3). However, the ordinance does not include specific dimensional and use regulations designed to further the intent of the overlay district.
As defined for the purposes of this research project, a village is a small, dense, mixed-use neighborhood, often witl1 a defined edge, that serves as a nodal center to the citizens of the town. A village generally includes a mixture of housing, commercial and professional establishments, and recreational and civic establishments.
North Stonington Village is currently of a much greater density, has significantly smaller building front yard setbacks, and is enhanced by a greater mixture of uses than the current underlying zoning would allow by right. The vague nature of the overlay district regulations coupled with the superfluous review procedures necessitated by acquiring special use permits endanger the integrity of this historic village.
The proposed Village District regulations, presented in Chapter Seven, directly address the problems of the current regulations through specificity to the existing settlement pattern of the Village.

DOCUMENT ORGANIZATION
This document is meant to guide the reader through the progression of this project and is divided into eight chapters. Chapter Two presents tl1e findings of the literature review covering the topics of sprawl, neighborhood character, design, and methods for protecting and enhancing vilJage character. Chapter Three lays out the project methodology and details both quantitative and qualitative methods used to accomplish the objectives of this study.
Chapter Four presents the elements that define the character of the Village and their attributes, as based on field measurements, municipal sources, interviews, and tl1e Kevin Lynch analysis (explained furt11er in Chapters 6 Two and Three). Chapter Five reviews and evaluates the Village's existing land development regulations and illustrates their potentially ominous effect on the character of the Village. Chapter Six presents six case studies of village-oriented land development regulations geared toward small, historic, East Coast villages.
The recommended amendments to the existing land development regulations are presented in Chapter Seven. These amendments include specific dimensional regulations and use regulations. Chapter Seven also includes general recommendations for master planning and future study.
The last chapter analyzes the implications and significa11ce of the findings for the Town as a whole and the region. Also, it gives direction for further research and projects that can spiral from and strengthen the work begun with this research project. In particular, the concluding chapter addresses the issue of protecting the rural character of the Town and region from suburban sprawl and other potential growth pressures. 7 0~-1 :::cm-1-a)>:CO

LITERATURE REVIEW
The literature pertaining to this work includes publications on traditional and neo-traditional design, sense of place, village character, New England character, village zoning, regulations for historic preservation, and the effects of sprawl. These issues can be categorized into four overall concepts: sprawl, community character, design, and zoning as a method to protect character. This chapter summarizes each of these concepts in relation to this research project.

SPRAWL
This section demonstrates that discouraging sprawl by encouraging compact development, such as the protection and enhancement of existing villages, has enormous environmental, social, and economic benefits.
The negative effects of sprawl are well known throughout the planning profession. Numerous authors have elaborated on the devastating environmental, social, and economic effects of sprawl in America. In general, sprawl is: . . . unplanned, uncontrolled, and uncoordinated singleuse development that does not provide for an attractive and functional mix of uses and/or is not functionally related to surrounding land uses and which variously appears as low density, ribbon or strip, scattered, leapfrog, or isolated development (Nelson 1995, 1).
Sprawling development, which is immensely wasteful of land, excessively costly to service, irreparably damaging to the environment, and unduly forces automobile dependency, has been rapidly increasing in the United States since the mid-20th century.
After English colonial settlement in this country, the landscape of New England traditionally consisted of cities and rural areas with small villages or hamlets. With the advent of transportation innovations, such as the railroad and the street car, suburban development began. After the invention of the automobile and its increasing popularity as a primary means of transportation in this country, suburbs became even more idealized. This ideology was manifested in various powerful federal policies, including subsidies for highway building and home mortgages (Kay 1997, 198-201).
Data from various places illustrate the reality of sprawl. In the Puget Sound area in Washington State between 1970 and 1990, developed land increased by 87% while population increased by only 36% (Arendt 1994, 19). In Rhode Island in 1908, farmland amounted to approximately 270,000 acres. In 1960, the amount of farmland in Rhode Island decreased to about 70,000 acres; and in 1990 tl1e farmland decreased to about 35,000. (Poon 1997, c-4) Since the 1950s, Pennsylvania has lost an area of farmland larger than the combined size of Connecticut and Rhode Island (more than four million acres). However, since 1940, Pennsylvania's population has only grown about 20%. Between 1970 and1990, land consumption in the Philadelphia 8 area increased 32% while the population actually decreased by 3%. (Hylton 1995, 16, 42) During the period 1950 to 1970, in western Massachusetts, the average per capita land consumption in three counties combined was 0.51 acres per new resident. Between the years 1970 and 1985, that figure jumped to l.83 acres per new resident -more than three and a half times the earlier period's average land consumption. (Arendt 1994, 19) Environmental Impacts Sprawl unnecessarily and disproportionately increases environmental degradation. Since sprawling land development practically mandates the use of automobiles, air pollution is a direct result of this development pattern. Air pollution from gasoline-powered vehicles includes the release of carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, and particulates into the atmosphere.
Such chronic poisons ingested through the lungs and penetrating into the body through the respiratory system, or even through the skin, hit the stomach and bloodstream. Together they interact, increasing the probability of disease years down the road -cancer, lung diseases like asthma and bronchitis, [and] possibly cardiovascular conditions. (Kay 1997, ll l) Deforestation, an activity which provides material for new development, leads to global warming, a phenomenon in the forefront of global issues.
Through deforestation carbon dioxide is produced. This is one of the gases that work to trap heat in the Earth's atmosphere. Global warming would affect humans dramatically, including western drying (greatly decreasing crop production and increasing the frequency of wildfires) and a rise in sea levels which would endanger coastal settlements and possibly contaminate groundwater supplies with salt. (Schneider 1990, 25-34) Due to increased road and parking lot area, surface run-off leads to water pollution. Automobiles directly cause various pollutant by-products such as nitrogen, phosphorus, lead, and zinc. Pollutant loading of storm water increases with the amount of impervious land cover (such as asphalt). This is because the pollutants are not given the opportunity to leach into the ground, but, instead, are directed into storm drains which drain directly into designated water bodies without being purified first. " ... the amount of storm water pollution per person actually decreases with higher residential densities" because there are less impervious surfaces per person. (Marsh 1991 162) As more natural areas are stripped and wetlands drained through the course of development, ecological cycles are disrupted and biological diversity is endangered.
The human species came into being at the time of greatest biological diversity in the history of the earth. Today as human populations expand and alter the natural environment, they are reducing biological diversity to its lowest level since the end of the Mesozoic era . . . The ultimate consequences of this biological collision are beyond calculation and certain to be hannful.. That, in essence, is the biodiversity crisis. (Wilson 1990, 49) Wilson also points out that the loss of biodiversity is the only environmental process that is wholly irreversible. Its consequences are the 9 least predictable because ". . . the value of the earth's biota . . . remains largely unstudied and unappreciated." (Wilson 1990, 49) Another environmental hazard of sprawl is the disruption of groundwater recharge and sedimentation of water bodies. These processes occur when woodlands and wetlands are developed. The process of sedimentation destroys water quality due to added muddiness and chemicals, and can choke stream channels and reservoirs (Marsh 1991 , 178).

Social Impacts
The social effects of sprawl are not as often written about as the environmental and economic effects, however, sprawl is unquestionably altering society for the worse. Economic and 'ability' segregation are major effects of sprawl. By spreading development over tl1e landscape and segregating land uses, automobile use is required for efficient transportation between work, home, entertainment, and services. Since automobiles are costly to purchase, maintain, and insure, people witlt low incomes have difficulty affording them. Thus, this pattern of development blatantly decreases opportunities for the poor as well as the disabled, elderly, and very young. (Goldson 1995;Hylton 1995, 18;Kay 1997, 35-53) In a house-poor nation -a nation with 75. 9 percent of its elderly over sixty-five years of age living alone, a nation hard-pressed for affordable housing, a nation with dwellings too isolated for children to be independentdense living is the geometry of humanity (Kay 1997. 300).
Forced car reliance is also a great safety hazard. Motor vehicle fatalities have risen to 43 ,000 persons per year or 120 deaths per day. In the same 40 days that 146 people were killed in the Persian Gulf War, 4,900 people died "with equal violence on our country's highways. (Kay 1997, 103) Sprawling development comes in the fom1 of suburbia. Although there are many forms of suburban development, the general physical design of suburbia (after the advent of the automobile) is dominated by detached single family houses with lawns, driveways, and garages, oversized streets (designed for emergency use), and separated land uses. This type of physical design fosters isolated households and a diminished sense of neighborhood community (Solomon 1989, 21-38).
Although there is still debate over tl1e reality of physical determinism, Caltl10rpe makes sense when he writes: . . . building walkable neighborhoods may not get people out of their cars and building front porches and neighborhood parks may not create more integrated, convivial communities. To this I can only assert that people should be given the choice and that, neitlter black nor white, the result will probably be mixed -and tltat is OK. (Calthorpe 1993, 10)

Economic Impacts
Sprawl is excessively costly to service. Spreading development necessitates increased miles of highway, electric and telephone lines, and water and sewer pipes. Dr. James Frank, professor of urban and regional planning at Florida State University, claims tltat if suburbanites were to pay the full costs of their lifestyles, they would be paying more for roads, because they drive longer distances; and more for electric, telephone, and sewer service, because of the longer transmission distances and higher lot frontage costs . . . no one knows how many people would switch [to urban and traditional town lifestyles if we had to pay for what we use] (Hylton 1995, 42).
Frank found that the high density of traditional towns and vilJages cost only a third to a half as much for infrastructure as the low-density development of suburban sprawl. Currently, these services are being subsidized by the ratepayer and taxpayer. (Hylton 1995, 42)

COMMUNITY CHARACTER
Community character is an indispensable concept in regulating any community. For the purposes of this research project, community character is the essential nature that physically distinguishes a place where a group of people live.
The land use regulations for a place will ultimately determine the future parameters of its character. The major elements that work together to make up a community's visual character are its natural setting, settlement patterns, vegetation, architecture, and civic art and amenities (Colorado 1980, 18). These elements will be clarified below.

Natural Setting
The natural setting provides the context for all the people-made structures in the community. Topography, water bodies, climate, wildlife, and vistas can all contribute to a community's character and, in fact, often shape the settlement patterns of the community through numerous constraints that are countered and opportunities that are taken advantage of.

Settlement Patterns
Settlement patterns include street layouts and widths and how buildings relate to tl1e street as well as how buildings relate to each other. Trancik identifies six typological patterns of solids and voids which can be detemtined tluough a figure-ground analysis.
The solid-void relationships fonned by the shape and location of buildings, the design of site elements (plantings, walls), and the channeling of movement result in six typological patterns: grid, angular, curvilinear, radial/concentric, axial, and organic (Trancik 1986, 101). According to Webster's Dictionary, pattern is "a form or model proposed for imitation." (1974). The Colorado Historical Society's definition of pattern is: "objects arranged in a formal or rectangular manner where the arrangement is reproducible" (1980,12). Pattern can also be informal and curvilinear and still be reproducible. Elements contributing to settlement pattern are building setbacks, nodes, junctions, open space, and spatial location ofland uses (i.e., civic, institutional, residential, and commercial).

Vegetation
Vegetation gives shape, fonn, shade, softness, and color to the built environment and can help define edges of streets, sites, and districts in the village (Colorado 1980). Mature trees lining streets can transfonn the feeling of a neighborhood, provide shade and protection from winter winds, and can psychologically work to slow traffic.

Architecture
A significant element in the character of a village is its buildings. Important factors in detennining architecture's specific contribution to the character of a village include style, fonn, rhythm, materials, age, height, details, craftsmanship, placement on and relation to the site, and maintenance.

Civic Art and Amenities
Civic art can create focal points and landmarks in a village and can emphasize part of the village's unique character through remembrance of events, people, and places.
Amenities (such as street lights, benches, clocks, and bicycle paths) can create a visual cohesiveness that ties the viIIage together and can provide residents and visitors additional comfort while enjoying the viIIage.

The Lynch Method
Authors have numerous opinions about positive and negative elements of community character. Kevin Lynch developed a leading method to detennine the physical strengths and weaknesses of community design as described in The Image of the City (1960). Lynch's overall objective is to detennine if the look of cities is of any importance and whether the look can be enhanced. Lynch states that: "The urban landscape, among its many roles, is also something to be seen, to be remembered, and to delight in." (Lynch 1960, v) Although Lynch writes about city design, his work can be adapted to apply to community design. The Lynch method combines verbal interviews and field analysis. This method is based on the belief that the best way to define a common physical reality is not through any quantitative methods.
The creation of the environmental image is a two-way process between observer and observed. What he [or she] sees is based on exterior form, but how he interprets and organizes this, and how he directs his attention, in its tum affects what he sees. (Lynch 1960, 131) Tluoughout the interview, the subject must draw a sketch map of the

DESIGN
Literature on neighborhood design concepts abounds, especially regarding the concept of neo-traditional design within the New Urbanism movement.
Classic literature is also quite useful today such as Lynch's work discussed above. This section will describe the general essence of New Urbanism design concepts and Lynch's five elements of community design.

New Urbanism
This urban design and town planning movement relates back to concepts of design that were prevalent in the late 19th and early 20th centuries in the United States, planning in the lime before the automobile dominated settlement patterns. The New Urbanism goal is to: ... capture a stronger sense of place through tl1e layout of its streets, the arrangement of its open spaces, the appearance of its streetscapes, and its link to historical and regional prototypes (Bookout 1993, 23 The Pedestrian Pocket is a simple cluster of housing, retail space, and offices within a quarter-mile walking radius of a transit system ... It is a planning strategy that preserves open space and reduces automobile traffic. . . (Calthorpe 1989, 3) Elements of communities U1at are of special concern are: density to foster a sense of community, setbacks to create street-edge definition, pedestrian orientation, maximization of alternative transportation, mixed use, walkable distances between residences, employment and services, and U1e provision and design of public open space.  can be weak or strong components of an area. These elements should be identified and evaluated to determine design solutions for communities. (Lynch 1960) • "Paths are the channels along which the observer customarily, occasionally, or potentially moves" (Lynch 1960, 47).
• Districts are sections of a community which one mentally enters inside of and are recognizable as having a common identifying character (Ibid.).
• "Nodes are points, the strategic spots in a [community] into which an observer can enter, and which are the intensive foci to and from which he [/she] is traveling'' (Ibid.).
• "Landmarks are another type of point-reference but in this case the observer does not enter within them, they are external" (Ibid. , 48).

ZONING AS A METHOD TO PROTECT CHARACTER
Even though most villages are pre-zoning forms, zoning is probably the most common metJ1od used to preserve and recapture village character.
Zoning can include regulating land uses, intensity of use, bulk and dimensions of buildings, parking allowances, design, and relation of buildings to their site. Zoning can also be based on performance standards which allows more flexibility rather than being based on minimum and maximum amounts. For example, in a flexible zoning ordinance, a district may allow smaller lot size on tJ1e condition that the lot be connected to the sewer line before use of the lot begins.
Zoning can dramatically change the appearance and essential nature of a village. By increasing lot size and front and sideyard setbacks requirements and eliminating or minimizing mixed use, a community can transform a once vibrant and dynantic village into a sterile single-use district like tJ1e multitude of suburban subdivisions seen today. (Arendt 1994, 22) However, by allowing for higher densities through small lot sizes, enabling more community interaction through decreased setbacks, and encouraging Local governments can set up local historic zoning overlay districts through historic preservation ordinances which establish design review processes that can be either regulatory or advisory. Whether the process is regulatory or advisory, it is important to create and use design guidelines that are tailored to the conununity in order to avoid ambiguity and subjectivity.
Also, "the more detailed the design standards, the less vulnerable they will be to possible constitutional due-process or void-for-vagueness challenges" (Lassar 1989, 59

LITERATURE REVIEW
The review of literature included the following methods: •

CHARACTER OF THE VILLAGE
A modified version of Randall Arendt's analysis method for "Rediscovering Traditional Townscape Elements", Roger Trancik's figure-ground analysis (Trancik 1986, 98-105), and Kevin Lynch's analysis (Lynch 1960) was used to analyze the existing character-defining elements in the Village.
The Arendt-based methods are as follows : • list all the dilferent land uses in the Village; • describe various sizes, types, and architectwal styles of the buildings in the Village; • measure distance relationships between house fronts and the sidewalk and the street, width of cartway; and • calculate the existing distribution of developed lot size, frontage, and setback.
Since the figure-ground analysis in its pure form is more applicable to The scale that the participants drew each element and the order in which they were drawn were also indicators. This analysis is based on the assumption that stronger elements will be drawn on the maps more frequently, larger, and sooner than weak elements. For example, in Figure   1, the Shunock River is drawn very large and was also drawn first.
Therefore, the Shunock River is a strong image element for this participant. The existing and future figure grounds are displayed side-by-side to emphasize the radical change that the land use controls encourage. Stonington is about 36,032 acres (or 563 square miles). In terms ofland area, North Stonington is the nint11 largest in the stale (Elias 1998

THE VILLAGE
As discussed in Chapter One, North Stonington Village originated as a mill village which prospered in the 19lll century. Norll1 Stonington Village retains some of its l 9ll1 century village character, as evident in its remaining density, the small building setbacks, llle 19th century architectural styles that are exhibited in the majority of the dwellings and commercial buildings, the numerous extant outbuildings, and its mixture of uses.

Paths
As identified through field observations and the participant sketch maps, the paths consist of the major roads: Main Street, Rocky Hollow Road, and Wyassup Road. The west end of Main Street was identified most frequently on the sketch maps. It appears on eight maps and the east end of Main Street appears on five maps. Wyassup Road was identified on seven maps and Rocky Hollow was identified on six. Although Route 2 was drawn on five of the maps, it is viewed as an exterior edge to the Village rather than a patl1. No strictly pedestrian or bicycle paths were identified because pedestrian, bicycles, and automobiles share the main paths.
Main Street and Wyassup Road fonn a modified "T" intersection which visually tenninates at the hardware store building. Main Street and Rocky Hollow Road form a "V'' intersection.

Edges
The major hard edge of the Village is Route 2 which defines the Village's south and west boundaries. The brook, although a seemingly soft edge, does not appear to function as an edge. It was only drawn on four of the interview sketch maps. Since it runs through the Village center underneath buildings it is not a highly visible element in tlie Village nor does it physically separate districts.

Districts
Although the Village is relatively small and compact, three general districts

Summary Of Lynch Analysis
The are the major conclusions tliat are drawn from the Lynch Analysis are: • Mixed-use (especially commercial, civic, and professional uses) is important to the image of tlle Village. This is concluded because the defined node is also the commercial core of the Village and many of the identified landmarks are commercial, civic, professional, or institutional.
• Good design is important to the image of tJ1e Village. This conclusion is based on tJ1e fact tllat most of tlle landmarks chosen were also architecturally significant buildings (Connecticut Historical Commission 1997) in ilie Village (such as tlle Wheeler Library and ilie two churches).
• One strong boundary edge of the Village is Route 2. This conclusion is based on the layouts oftlle participants' sketch maps and helps to define the study area for this project (see Map 3).  1981). The waler quality of the ground water (as determined by ilie quality of the well water) is variable and highly susceptible to pollution from salt storage and septic systems (Mullane 1998). In fact, three wells in U1e

21
Village are currently polluted as a result of salt storage (Ibid.). These properties are obtaining water from ilie Town well (Ibid.).
According to the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection, the water quality in the Shanuck and Assekonk rivers is Class A which means it's very clean (Hust 1998). The classes range from AA to C, C being the lowest quality (Ibid.).

Soils
Most of the Village is sited on Hinckley Gravely Sandy Loam which is an excessively drained soil. Table 3 lists the soil types found in North Stonington Village and the drainage category for each. The Hinckley soil series was formed in glacial outwash, its slopes can range from 0 to 35 percent, and the depili to the high water table is over six feet (USDA 1983   The land uses in the Village are mixed (see Table 4). The majority oflots are used as single-family residences (53 percent). Ten of the lots are vacant. Included in the other use categories are a lawyer's office, the Historical Society museum, a hardware store (see Figure 8), two antique stores, a bed & breakfast, the Town Hall, two churches, a school, a library, and four multi-family residential structures. feet (based on field measurements at four random points along the roads) (see Figure 9).
As displayed in Table 5, the majority of lots in the Village are smaller than one acre. In fact, the largest category shown below is for lots between 10, 000 and 19, 999 square feet (approximately 114 to 112 of an acre).
Vacant lots are discounted from the calculation in Table 5.      Figure 10).
This area is lined with large coniferous trees. Many of the house lots have small shrubs and garden-type vegetation in their grassy yards. In the Village, the median floor area is 3,816 square feet (Tax Assessor   North Stonington Village is notable for its amount of extant outbuildings including carriage houses, sheds, outhouses, and workshops (see Figure   12).

AMENITIES
The Village has a few amenities. In November 1997, the Town installed a freestanding clock at the street edge of the municipal parking lot. Some In the center of the Village, the River is lined with stone walls, harmonizing with the stone fences found in the rural areas of North Stonington (see Figure 13).   The Village is also located in the Aquifer Protection Overlay Area. The intent of this district is to preserve" ... the quality and quantity of the Town's major groundwater resources." (3-3).

SUMMARY OF FINDINGS
The majority of the uses prohibited in the AP area are related to hazardous chemicals or other polluting by-products. The only prohibited uses that may be appropriate in a village context are: mortuary; dry cleaning operation; veterinary operation; photographic processing or laboratory; and furniture stripping, refinishing, or reconditioning operation. ( 4-6) The AP area does not have dimensional regulations.

CRITIQUE
Based on field measurements and tax assessor maps and cards, the Village is currently of a much greater density, has much smaller front yard setbacks and frontages, and is enhanced by a greater mixture of uses than zoning requirements of its R40 base zoning: • As opposed to the R40 requirement of 40,000 sf minimum lots, t11e largest category for lot area is lots between 10,000 and 19,999 square feet (approximately 1/4 to 112 of an acre).
• In contrast to the 150 foot lot frontage requirement, the majority of lot frontages are less than 150 feet, with the highest category being lots of between 100 and 149 feet.
• Front yard setbacks are also much smaller than the zoning requirement of35 feet; the majority of buildings in the core of the Village have a front setback of between 10 and 20 feet from the roads' edge.

Dimensional Regulations
Undoubtedly, the R40 zone dimensional requirements are quite oversized when compared to the existing dimensional characteristics of the Village.
Although the dimensional regulations as defined for t11e R40 zone are not inherently bad, they are not appropriate for North Stonington Village, and in time could change the very nature of the Village.
In fact, if these dimensional regulations dominated the appearance of t11e Village over t11e next few decades, it is probable that the Village would appear and function like a typical suburban residential neighborhood. This historic Village would no longer be a Village. Another special place is being "zoned out." Why are t11e dimensional aspects of a village so vital to its character? A village needs density and close proximity of buildings to t11e road to foster communication and neighborliness. Anton Nelessen, one of tl1e leading village planners in this country, defines a village as follows : Villages are mid-sized small communities . . . Villages are characterized by a compact nature, a distinctive and unique building design vocabulary, a community focus, and perhaps a green or common defined by buildings ... The low density periphery of the village is no more than a 1/4 mile walking distance from t11e end of the commercial spine, community center, or Main Street. (Nelessen 1994, 16) The dimensional regulations for the Village are probably oversized due to the environmental constraints of the area. The Village is served by individual septic systems and private wells, is located in an aquifer protection area, and is sited along two rivers. Alt110ugh the quality oftlle rivers is defined as Class A by the Connecticut Dep~ent of Environmental Protection (Hust 1998 a few houses in the Village for discharging sewage directly into the rivers (Graeci 1998

Use Regulations
Essential to the nature of a Village is a mixture of uses. The benefits of a mixed-use community are many. First, due to tl1e convenient location of goods and services from residences, auto reliance is reduced. Reduced auto reliance is not only good for the environment but also for physical and mental health. Mixed use creates more appeal and convenience for using alternative modes of transportation such as walking and biking. Physical Although villages are intimate residential communities, they should offer the most basic employment services, and shopping for tl1eir residents as well as for those living in surrounding low-density, rural, or exurban reserve areas .. . Housing and offices may be located above shops. A variety of community and social facilities [should be] present. (Nelessen 1994, 16) The uses observed in tl1e Village include: residences; a hardware store; a stationery store, art gallery, and tea salon (recently out of business); antique stores; the historical society museum; two churches; parking lots; and the town hall complex. Among these, the hardware store (retail), recently closed stationery store, art gallery, and tea salon (retail and restaurant), and antique store (retail)

Protecting Historic Architecture
Another aspect of the Village that is in great jeopardy is the integrity of its historic architecture. Currently, no substantial protection exists to maintain that sense of place which the Village's great wealth of historic architecture provides. The VP Overlay Area offers minimal protection and is vaguely worded as discussed above. The Village has been fortunate to have property owners who seem to care about and respect tl1e historic These zones protect Cranbury Village which is a densely developed residential area with small retail and service establishments forming its core. The V/HR district is defined through permitted uses, conditional 37 uses, and area and bulk regulations. The VC district is defined through permitted uses, prohibited uses, and area and bulk regulations.

VIHR
The permitted uses in the Village/Hamlet Residential Zone consists of: • detached single-family dwellings; • commercial and home agricultural; • places of worship; • public utility and service structures; • family day care homes; • community residences for the developmentally disabled; • community shelters for victims of domestic violence; • home occupations; • bed and breakfast establishments; • public parks, playgrounds, buildings, structures, and uses owned and operated by the Town; and • accessory uses.

vc
The uses permitted in the Village Commercial Zone consists of: • detached single-family dwellings; • two-family dwellings; • retail and service establishments; • offices for professional services, commercial, business, and government; • banks and financial institutions; • funeral homes; • restaurants, excluding drive-through restaurants; • clubs, lodges, and fraternal organizations; • dwelling units within mixed use buildings; • commercial and home agricultural; • places of worship; • public utility and service structures; • child care centers; • public parks, playgrounds, buildings, structures and uses owned and operated by the Town; and • accessory uses.

Conditional Uses
In the V/HR zone, the conversion of a single-family dwelling into a twofamily dwelling is permitted upon the following conditions: • the dwelling was built before 1953; • each dwelling unit has separate ingress and egr~ss; • off-street parking is provided in accordance with the requirements of this ordinance (Article V: 1.25 for each one bedroom or efficiency unit; 1.75 for each 2 bedroom unit; and 2.0 for each 3 or more bedroom unit); • minimum lot size is 18,000 sf; • minimum size of each unit is not less than 600 sf; and • any conversion shall not alter the exterior architectural appearance of the structure with the exception of an additional entranceway. Any alterations shall " . .. be in harmony with the architectural style, materials, and scale thereof."

Prohibited Uses
In the VC zone, drive-through uses are prohibited.

VIHR
The following regulations apply to this zone: • minimum lot size: 15,000 sf • minimwn side yard width: eight feel for one yard; 24 feel for combined side yards; or when the side lot line of the yard coincides with another residence zone, the requirement for that zone shall take precedence

H/A
The Historic/ Architectural Overlay district was created: . . . to recognize the unique features of the existing village in tenns of their historic and architectural qualities as well as the smaller lot sizes and limited commercial services available within them (Tewksbury Zoning Ordinance, 46).

Village
The intent of the Village district is to : • identify the boundaries of the villages; • encourage the preservation of the historic and architectural qualities that now exist; • provide for review of the compatibility of the design of a proposed development located at the perimeter of the HI A District; • maintain a size and level of intensity within the villages consistent with the present character of the villages; and • recognize small enclaves of development with clusters of older homes on smaller lots.

Commercial
The intent of the Commercial district is to identify the few small commercial service areas now in the Town.

HIA
The following uses are permitted in this district: • detac11ed single-family dwellings; • government and public buildings and services necessary to the health, safety, convenience, and general welfare of the residents of the Town; and • churches and public and private, non-profit schools whose curriculum is limited to the general education of children in grades K-12 and whose curriculum is provided by the State.

Commercial
The following uses are pennitted in the commercial district: • retail store or shop; • restaurant; and • office.

HIA
The following accessory uses are permitted in this overlay district: • garage for parking vehicles of the residents on the lot; • building to house domesticated animals (other than a farm building); • building tools and equipment used for maintenance of the dwelling and grounds; • home occupation; • one earth tenninal antenna with associated dish (in rear yard or on roof and below the ridge -screened from view of the street); • UHF/VHF television antenna; and • fences that are set back at least five feet from the right of way (not located in sight triangle); fences and walls shall be reviewed by the Historic/ Architecture Committee.

Commercial
The pennitted accessory uses in this district are the following: • a building with a business use on the ground floor may also have one apartment dwelling unit; • storage facilities necessary to the conduct of the commercial uses permitted by this section; and • one free standing flag pole (not more than 18 feet in height).

HIA
The conditional uses pemutted in this district (within the underlying Village District) are public utility facilities that are owned and operated by a public utility company serving a franchise area of the Town.

Village
For residential uses in the village district, the following regulations apply:

VILLAGE OF OREGON, MANHEIM, PENNSYLVANIA
Manheim Township, Pennsylvania, adopted an historic overlay district as part of its zoning ordinance in 1993. In part, this historic overlay district protects the Village of Oregon which is a mostly residential village with some mixture of uses (see Map 12). The Township is largely agricultural.
The historic overlay district is defined through intent, general provisions, definition of historic resources, role of the historic preservation trust, modification of lot area regulations, standards for rehabilitation, permits, and demolition criteria and procedure.

Intent
The purpose of this district is to protect the general welfare by preserving the historic values in the Town' s environment. It is intended that the effects of this district will . . . encourage continued use and facilitate appropriate adaptive use of historic resources, encourage the preservation and restoration of historic settings and landscapes, and discourage the demolition of historic resources (Manheim Zoning Ordinance Article 20A 1993, 20A-l).

General Provisions
The overlay district applies only to those historic resources as identified and mapped. The overlay district regulations shall supersede any provisions of underlying zoning unless those provisions are more restrictive.

Definition of Historic Resources
The

Role of the Historic Preservation Trust
The Historic Preservation Trust is established with advisory power. The Trust shall make recommendations upon: • the establishment of or amendments to the official map and list; • requests for special exceptions, conditional uses, or variances affecting historic resources; • rehabilitation, alteration, or enlargement of historic resources; and • the demolition of historic resources.
All recommendations must be made within 30 days of receiving a request.

Modification of Lot Area Regulations
Any subdivision of a lot that contains an historic resource shall preserve the integrity of the setting of the resource in size and configuration. The size and configuration shall be dependent on the class of the resource and the characteristics of the landscaping of the lot and adjacent lots. • the Trust issues a report of no detrimental effect;

Standards for Rehabilitation
• the applicant revises the plans according to the Trust's recommendations; or • no later than 90 days from the date of receipt of a complete application.

Demolition Criteria and Procedures
No historic resource shall be demolished by neglect, which includes leaving a resource open or vulnerable to vandalism or decay. No historic resource shall be demolished without obtaining a permit from the Zoning Officer.
The following information shall be provided with the permit application: • owner of record; • classification in Historic Resources Map;

44
• site plan showing all buildings and structures on the property; • recent photographs of the resource; • reasons for the proposed demolition; • method of proposed demolition; and • future uses of the site and the material from the demolished resource.
The Trust may take the following actions: • recommend immediate approval of the permit; • elect to use a maximum time period of75 days to document the resource or discuss alternatives with the applicant; or • use the 7 5 day time period to recommend approval of the permit. These sections are summarized below.

VCR
The intent of this article is to . . . encourage the maintenance and enhancement of the existing visual character and residential life-style of the defined Tylersport Village area ... which exhlbits a mixture of single-family detached, single-family semidetached, and converted multi-family dwellings, as well as scattered commercial uses and home occupations, on smaller lot sizes than those generally found throughout the Township.
The intent also includes the following: • guide preservation, future development, and redevelopment of tJ1e Village through strict controls and guidelines; • introduce neighborhood-scale office and retain commercial enterprises; Overall, tJ1e intent of tJ1is district is to regulate the location of development and the uses permitted in the transitional zone of the underlying zoning districts .

VCR
The following uses are permitted by right in tJ1is district: single-family detached dwellings; single-family semi-detached dwelling; municipal uses; and home occupations.
The following are permitted as conditional uses: conversion of a residential use to a single-family or multi-family use; conversion of a residential use to a non-residential use (including municipal, office, personal service shop, small-scale neighborhood retail, those from section 1000, and any use of same general character of those already specified); agriculture; accessory uses; and signs.

VTO
All uses as allowed in the underlying zoning districts except R-90 Residential, R-40 Residential, MF-Multi-Family, and passenger stations.

VCR
Height limitations are a maximum of 3 5 feet, not exceeding two and onehalf stories.

VTO
These regulations are the same as the VCR district.

Development Requirements
This section addresses conversions of buildings to residential uses and to non-residential uses. The standards for conversions to residential uses are as follows : • a single-family detached or semi-detached (twin) building, with a minimum ofa 4,000 sflot, can be converted to a maximum of three dwelling units per building or two dwelling units per twin; • an accessory use, with a minimum of a 4,000 sflot, can be converted to a maximum of four dwelling units in both a principal and accessory building; • a non-residential use, with a minimum of a 4,000 sf lot, can be converted to a maximum of two dwelling units with a non-residential use and three w1its with no non-residential use; and • all of the above types of conversions must have a minimum of two offstreet parking spaces per dwelling unit on the same lot. They must also have not less than 750 sfoffloor area per unit.
The standards for conversions to non-residential uses are as follows: • for conversions to a municipal, professional, office, retail, personal service shop, or similar uses, the lot must be a minimum of 25,000 sf; and • for conversions to accessory uses to a use specified above, there is no minimum lot area requirement and no lot shall contain more than three dwelling units and one non-residential use. One additional off-street parking spot must be provided beyond the usual requirement for residential uses.

Application Procedures for Conditional Use
All applications for conversions, as listed above, shaJI be submitted simultaneously as a Conditional Use Application and as a Land Development Application and must be approved simultaneously. AH other Conditional Use Applications shall be sent to the Board of Supervisor only.
The applicant shall include with the application for conditional use: • the relationship of the project to the intent of this Article; • statement of the compliance with or a request for waivers from the requirements of this Article; • a general description of the architectural features of the building and its relationship to the character of the Village; • a description of the alternatives considered by the applicant prior to selecting the proposed action; and • a set of plans to detail the construction work to be done.
Review and action on a conditional use includes a public hearing with the

Board of Supervisors and recommendations from the Planning
Commission. With any negative decision against any proposal," . .. the Board of Supervisors must clearly set forth the reasons for their decision" The Board must also offer any ameliorative steps that the applicant could take to address the problems.

Legislative Findings
The legislative findings recognize that the village has a unique character created by its buildings, landscape, and streetscape, and that this character is what gives identity to the Town as a whole. These findings also recognize that change should be a part of the community and that new construction can be positive if visual integrity is maintained.

Purpose
The purpose of this article is to ensure that the natural beauty and visual character of the Village are maintained and promoted in order to protect and foster the economic, cultural, and social well being of the community.
An additional purpose of this article is to improve or stabilize property values.

Applicability
Approval is necessary from the planning commission with any of the following acts within the Village Historic Area: construction or relocation of a building; addition or alteration of the exierior of a building; and construction or alteration of fences fronting or adjacent to specified roads.
Approval is necessary from the Planning Commission prior to obtaining a Zoning Permit.

Exemptions
Routine maintenance which uses the same or similar materials and does not alter the exterior appearance of a building and a change of use or type of occupancy (not causing any exterior alterations) are both exempt from Historic Area Approval.

Application Procedures
To begin the process, application materials must be submitted to the Zoning Administrator. The application is forwarded to the Clerk of the Planning Commission. The Conunission reviews the application and issues a written decision to the applicant within 45 days. The approved plans are filed in the Town Records and shall not be significantly changed during construction witl1out an amendment.

Review Limitations
The Planning Commission is limited in their review in that they shall not insist that new construction should copy existing styles or details. It also shall not be overly restrictive when the building is of little historic value or not visible from a public right of way.

Criteria for Approval
Various criteria are listed to consider before granting approval. The heights and setbacks shall maintain the prevailing dimensions existing in the immediate area. The following elements of a building shall be considered in relation to the buildings in the surrounding area: proportion; roof shape, pitch, and direction; pattern (rhythm); materials and texture; and architectural features (details).

Demolition Criteria
Any demolition in the Historic Area requires approval from the Planning Commission. The Com1nission may determine that there is valid reason for preservation, than it may impose a waiting period of up to 60 days to afford tl1e applicant time to arrange for the building's preservation. However, any building of substantial structural instability is exempt from the requirements of this section.

Purpose and Intent
This district enables the development and re-development of village centers " . . . in keeping with their historic development patterns, including the size and spacing of structures and open spaces."

Definitions
In this section, tl1e ordinance defines village development (overlay) districts, special permits, and special permit granting auiliority (SPGA).
This model ordinance gives two options for requiring special permits: l. for all uses required to obtain a special permit under underlying zoning 2. for an increase in floor area by greater ilian _ _ sf

Pre-Application Conference Requirements
A pre-application conference is required for special permit applications in the form of a public meeting with the SPGA. At this conference the purposed development is discussed in general terms. The purpose of this conference is to inform the SPGA of the preliminary nature of the proposed project.

Site Planning Standards and Filing Requirements
This section addresses access, parking lot design, pedestrian access, landscape and appearance, and plan filing requirements.
• access: new curb cuts shall be minimized through (a) common driveways, (b) existing side or rear street, or (c) cul-de-sac shared by adjacent premises.
• parking lot design: (a) lots must be located on tile side or rear of the structure, (b) lots must be shared wiili adjacent businesses, (c) must include provisions for parking bicycles, (d) include adequate provisions for on-site retention and treatment of stom1 water, and (e) lots serving uses other than solely residential shall be paved unless an alternative surface is approved by the SPGA.
• pedestrian access: plans for new construction must incorporate provision for safe and convenient pedestrian access; new construction should improve pedestrian access to building, sidewalks, and parking areas and" . .. should be completed with considerations of pedestrian safety, handicapped access, and visual quality." • landscaping and appearance: (a) a landscaped buffer strip may be required adjacent to adjoining uses, (b) large parking areas (more than 20 spaces) shall be separated by landscaped islands of eight to ten feet in width; one shade tree shall be planted for every three spaces, (c) exposed storage areas, machinery, service areas, and utility structures shall be screened from view of abutting properties, and (d) maintenance of landscaping is required and any tree or shrub that dies within one growing season shall be replaced by a tree or shrub of similar type and size.
• plan filing requirements: (a) a locus inset at 1"=1 ,000' scale, (b) a plan with dimensions of all existing and proposed buildings on lot not to exceed 1"=40', (c) elevation showing existing and proposed buildings as viewed from all sides not to exceed 1"=40', (d) all buildings, parking areas, bicycle racks, roads, etc. within a radius of 800 feet on a plan of 1"=100', (e) location, species, and dimensions of trees and other landscape features within a radius of 800 feet at l "= 100', and (f) a proposed landscape plan of l "=20' .

Height, Bulk, and Setback Standards
Two options for height standards are presented: (1) a fixed maximum height of a certain measurement as based on in-field measurements of existing village heights, or (2) the SPGA can allow a height increase of up to _ percent above that in the underlying zoning district in conjunction with allowing a decrease of required parking spaces if the additional height is found to be consistent with the scale of adjacent structures.
Options for floor area ratio (or square footage) requirements are also presented as either: (1) a fixed number, or (2) a percentage increase along witl1 a reduction in required parking if found that this additional bulk reflects the scale of adjacent structures.
The bylaws present two options for setback requirements: (1) a fixed minimum and maximum front yard setback, or (2) SPGA can allow a reduction of setback standards upon finding tl1at tl1e setback's in the underlying district are not in keeping with the area's scale and character.

Parking Requirements
The SPGA is aut110rized to reduce the parking requirements of the underlying zoning up to _ percent. To determine the appropriate reduction, ilie SPGA many consider ilie hours of usage of ilie proposed use, hours of usage of other uses, amount of shared parking with oilier uses, and t11e opinions of merchants, residents, and municipal officials.

Allowable Uses
• Residential: single family, two-family, and multi-family with specified density; t11e provisions of this section only apply if ilie underlying district is less restrictive.
• Non-residential: retail, business or professional offices, banks and oilier financial institutions, restaurants or oilier places serving food, but not including fast food restaurants.

Special Permit Standards and Criteria
When granting a special permit, the SPGA must consider the following: • adequacy of the size of the site; • suitability of site for proposed use; • impact on traffic and pedestrian flow and safety; • impact on neighborhood visual character; • adequacy of utilities (including sewage disposal, water supply, and storm water drainage); and • degree to which proposed project complies with the goals of the Town Comprehensive Plan and this ordinance.

Review By Special Permit Granting Authority
The Planning Board is designated as the SPGA under this ordinance and shall apply the criteria of this ordinance for review of special permits.

SUMMARY OF FINDINGS
This chapter examines the land development regulations of small historic villages that serve to protect and enhance the present character and visual integrity of the villages. Each community furthered this intent by either designating an individual zoning district or an overlay district. Although the cases presented in this chapter range geographically from Pennsylvania to New Jersey to Vermont, they exhibit various commonalties that deviate from conventional zoning.
Generally, these regulations allow and encourage mixture of uses within the villages. This allowance contrasts with the concept of Euclidean zoning (strict separation of land uses) that many current land use ordinances are based on. Uses that are deemed compatible through these village-oriented regulations include single-household, two-household, and multi-household dwellings; small-scale retail; professional offices; personal service shops; home occupations; restaurants (except drive-through or fast food) ; municipal services; parks; and mixed-use buildings.
These regulations also largely allow for smaller setbacks, lot sizes, street frontages, and parking requirements than conventional zoning typically allows. In the examined regulations, designated front yard setbacks are as small as five feet (in the Tewksbury ordinance) . The front yard setbacks (as well as height limits) are also determined in relation to existing conditions. In fact, five of the ordinances mandate compatibility with adjacent lots rather than a fixed minimum and/or maximum setback.
Salford had the only ordinance that only provided a fixed minimum front setback (25 feet) .
Lot size requirements were as low as 6,500 sf (in the Cranbury ordinance).
Street frontages ranged from 40 feet to 100 feet.
The Cape Cod Commission Model Ordinance presented an interesting option for village parking requirements. The ordinance allows the review board to reduce the parking requirements of the underlying zoning through the development of shared-parking plans.
The role of the designated review board in each of these ordinances was regulatory (as opposed to advisory) in all but Manheim.

Village District
The

List Of Use Regulations For The Village District
Any use not listed above is prohibued in the Village District.

Comme11tary
The intent of these use regulations is to allow by right a mixture of uses that is in harmony with the concept of a rural village. North Stonington Village, being primarily residential in nature, can greatly benefit from a appropriate mixture of uses that will enhance the neighborhood services in the Village for both residents, employees, customers, and other users of the Village.

Section 700 Special Permits
Those uses listed as conditional will be subject lo the following criteria within the Village District and will require the Commission to grant a special use permit upon finding that the conditions are met.

Veterinary Hospital
The building footprint shall be no more than 3,000 sf

Small Retail Store
The building footprint shall be no more than 3,000 sf

Theater
Shall have no more than one theater and the building footprint shall be no more than 3,000 sf

Day Care/Nursery School
A minimum 20-foot front yard is required. No building, parking lot, driveway (except for the entrance of the driveway onto the street), play area, or any other use is permitted in this buffer area.

Accessory Structures And Uses
All accessory structures (including attached garages) must be placed toward the rear of the lot and have a minimum front setback of 35 feet to reduce their prominence from the road.

Commentary
The conditions applied to veterinary hospitals, small retail stores, theaters, and day cares/nurseries are meant to ensure that all uses allowed in the Village District are fully compatible with its small-scale nature. The maximum building footprint allowance of 3,000 sf is based on the footprint of the existing hardware store building which is 3,201 sf (N.S. Tax Assessor Field Cards).
The condition applied to accessory structures and uses (garages) is intended to require traditional development patterns that are in keeping with the historic development of the Village by placing outbuildings including carriage houses, garages, and sheds toward the rear of the lot. Assessor's field cards, only seven lots in the village fall below 10,000 sf, whereas 15 lots are between 10,000 and 19,999 sf (see Table 5).

Table Of Minimum Lot Area And Width And Minimum And Maximum Yard Requirements For Principal And Accessory Structures And Uses
The same rationale helps to determine the lot frontage and maximum front setback regulations. The minimum setback requirement is based on the Cranbury, New Jersey, regulations (see Chapter Six). The side and rear yard regulations are the same as the current R40 district regulations, because there is no need Lo alter them.

(Revised)
The minimum lot area must include at least 10,000 sf on contiguous The existing R40 regulations were used to detennine the maximum building height and the residential floor area. A minimum building height is added and is based on the existing buildings which are mostly two to three stories in height. This requirement of two stories (minimum) is intended to discourage single-use, one-story, non-residential uses (e.g., retail store, restaurant) and to encourage mixed use buildings with residences or offices on the second stories and commercial uses at the street level.
The maximum building coverage is an alteration of the existing ordinance's requirement for a minimum building covernge, and is based directly on the distribution of building coverage existing currently in the Village as calculated directly from the Tax Assessor's field cards.
The residential floor area requirement is the same as the existing Town standard as required for all zoning districts.

(Revised)
Driveways shall be provided with an all-weather surface and shall be 20 feet wide for two-way traffic and 10 feet wide for one-way traffic. No driveway shall be closer than 40 feet from another driveway or 50 feet from a street corner.

Commentllry
The recommended minimwn driveway widths in the Village District are reduced from 30 feet wide for two-way traffic and 15 feet wide for one-way traffic. Both of these widths are excessive and would negatively impact both the visual character of the Village and the environment due to increased surface runoff. The required distances between other driveways and street corners is not altered.

1000.4a (Added)
Recognizing that the general parking requirements (as designated by use)

Sign Ordinance
The Town should undertake a professional study of the existing sign regulations (Section 900) to determine if a separate section is needed that specifically applies to the Village District in order to protect and enhance the historic character of the Village. This type of study was beyond the scope of this work, but is especially important considering the commercial and professional uses recommended in the proposed Village District.

Historic Overlay District
The Village District could work in harmony with an historic overlay district which would require design review to ensure the historic integrity of the Village. The types of design elements that can be regulated include roof pitch, sheathing materials, window configurations, and overall proportion.
For this type of review a specific commission would be created and could be required to consist of professionals and experts in the fields of historic preservation, architecture, history, and/or planning.
The Town should hold educational workshops on the costs and benefits of an historic district and, afterwards, undertake a study of citizen opinion which relies heavily on direct citizen participation (such as focus groups rather than a survey). Citizen participation is not only an opportunity to hear citizens' viewpoints and explore the deeper meanings and agendas behind these viewpoints, but also an opportunity to educate and be educated.
An historic overlay district should not only be discussed as a possibility through citizen participation, but, if consensus supporting such a district is reached, then the regulations and design guidelines should be created with strong input from a citizen advisory committee in addition to professionals in the fields of historic preservation and planning. The design guidelines should be tailored to protect the specific nature of the historic architecture in North Stonington Village and its character-defming qualities.

Parking Study
The Town should undertake a parking study for the Village which detennines the amount of existing on-street parking, opportunity for additional on-street parking, amount of parking in existing lots (both private and public), and the existing frequency and amount of use of the existing lots. This study should be used: 1. to detem1ine the amount of reduced parking requirements allowed for applicants using the benefits of the proposed requirements of section 1000.4a (above); and 2. to justify or prove unfeasible various master planning ideas suggested below.
Three major reasons that on-street parking should be encourage in the

MASTER PLANNING Sewage Disposal And Water Supply
As detailed in Chapter Four, the majority of the Village is built on excessively drained soil, all developed lots currently rely on individual septic systems and wells, the Village is in close proximity to an aquifer protection district, and two rivers run directly through the Village. The combination of ll1ese factors creates a situation that will not support individual septic systems and wells on 10,000 sflots, tl1e minimwn lot size recommended in the proposed Village District regulations.
The Town has various options to remedy ll1is situation. A 10,000 sf lot with excessively drained soil in the Village could probably safely handle eill1er a well or a septic system, but not both together (Lumis 1998). Before rezoning the Village, the Town needs to conduct a feasibility study to detennine the most cost-effective way to either provide for at least one of these systems.
Options include extending municipal water to the Village, establishing a municipal sewer facility and extending it to U1e Village, establishing community wells, or establishing community waste collection systems. The municipal waler extension may be a viable possibility since Wheeler High School (localed within the project study area) is already connected lo municipal water, however, the existing facility's capacity will need to be increased to properly handle the additional load of the Village (Mullane 1998). Also, if this water is being extracted from groundwater other than the Shanuck River aquifer and being discharged into llus aquifer, then an increased watertable in the Shanuck River aquifer could cause septic system failure (Lumis 1998). These are just a few of the issues that should be addressed in the feasibility study recommended above.

Park
The Town Commons is not a functional design element of the community due to both its location in the Village and its design. This assessment is strengthened by the results of the Lynch Analysis as presented in Chapter Four. No participant in the Lynch Analysis initially drew the park on his/her maps. When asked to locate and describe the Town Commons, most of the participants had difficulty with both mapping the park 's location and describing its physical elements. The elements most participants did recall were the flag pole, bench, and brook.
A central green or commons acts as a foundation for the social life of the community and should be an integral element of every small community ... The green is best located where it is accessible to the highest possible number of residents and adjacent to any mixed-use core. Thus, the commons will be surrounded by buildings which should enclose and define the central space. (Nelessen 1994, 170) The  Figure 14). The design should also incorporate numerous benches oriented toward the rivers and a flag pole lo distinguish the area as a civic center. This location for a park is ideal lo visually enhance the Town's civic center as it is located across the street from the Town Hall buildings.
Trees, as opposed to shrubs, should be used to buffer the new park from the remaining parking lot because they can provide a visual buffer while allowing for virtually unobstructed access between the park and parking lot.

New Parcels
One of the essential elements of a vital village is density. In order to increase density, the Town should actively establish new parcels for development. These parcels should infill the existing core of the Village first and move outward toward the Village's outer boundaries in subsequent phases.
As discussed above in the Park section, the Town should relocate the Town Commons to the lot directly across from the new Town Hall (the curre' nt municipal parking lot). The land currently used as the Town Commons should be designated as developable land.
The Town should also create buildable lots on Main Street at the rear of the Baptist church parking lot in order to continue the definition of that street edge (see Figure 15). Planning for this project should be accompanied by the parking study mentioned above to determine how many on-street parking spots could be available to accommodate the displaced cars (if any) resulting from the proposed lots.
A portion of the yard of Wheeler High School should also be parceled as developable lots along Main Street (see Figure 16). An appropriate buffer of side yard should be maintained around the Wheeler School and Library building in order to protect the visual integrity and prominence of this historic building (identified in the Lynch Analysis as a landmark).  However, because one of the integral elements of this district is to increase the permitted building density by lowering the minimum lot size, the recommended Village District presents environmental issues which must be addressed. Therefore, the recommended regulations presented in tllis work are dependent upon establishing alternative sewage disposal and/or water supply in the Village which will mitigate primary negative environmental effects of increasing density.
This work also presents additional general and master planning recommendations intended lo enhance the Village. These rec01mnendations address t11e existing sign ordinance, a possible historic overlay district and relevant design guidelines, a parking study, t11e Town Commons, new parcels for infill development, and circulation.
All of the reconunendations presented in this work intend lo make t11e Village a better place to live, work, and visit by protecting and enhancing the characteristics that contribute to its sense of place. The major positive village-characteristics that are identified in this work are the mixture of uses, building density, building in close proximity lo the road, and t11e scale. Some aspects of the Village which should be enhanced are its pedestrian comfort-level, the appeal oft11e Town Commons, and street-edge definition.

THE BIGGER PICTURE
Protecting and enhancing the character of Nort11 Stonington Village is only the beginning of a larger idea. This larger idea is a strategy to protect the rural character of the Town and region from suburban sprawl and other potential growth pressures and involves amending current Town and regional policy.
The purpose of tllis section is lo look at the bigger picture by analyzing tlle implications and significance of tllis project al t11e Town and tlle regional levels. To conclude this section, I suggest furt11er research and projects that can spiral from and strengthen the work begun with this project.

Local Perspective
The North Stonington Plan of Development states the following two goals for community cllarac:tcr: • Preserve the present rural character throughout as much of the Town as possible.
• Encourage land uses, ownership, and land development, conservation, and preservation techniques tllat result in as much land as possible being retained in a natural condition or devoted to agricultural use. (1981,81) Preserving the rural character of North Stonington is certainly a valued community goal.
To transfonn this goal into a reality, the Town must alter the prevailing land use pattern by directing new growth into village growth centers and discouraging non-agricultural growth from locating outside these village growth centers. Various smaller industries and neighborhood service clusters were scattered throughout Town as well. These smaller service clusters typically consisted of a post office, general store, and school house, such as the historic cluster along Northwest Corner Road. The growtl1 management concept presented here is similar to these historic settlement patterns of North Stonington .

Regional Perspective
Unquestionably, the region would also benefit from altering the prevailing land use pattern by encouraging strategic compact development in conjunction with preservation of farmlands and open space. From a regional policy perspective, the same types of growth management strategies mentioned above can be implemented in various combinations at the regional (state/county) level. These strategies can direct new development towards existing and new village and urbru1 growU1 areas while discouraging growth from locating in existing farmland and open space areas.
A renowned case example of this type of effort is the state of Oregon, which implemented a state-wide regional growth management program that began in 1973 with the Land Conservation and Development Act (Nelson and Duncan 1995, 75-76 The regulations establishing village districts shall protect the rural character, landscape, and historic structures of such areas . .. " (H.R. 5487) In the face of a largely decentralized national government, the nation-wide problem of suburban sprawl must be overcome incrementally at the local and regional levels. As Calthorpe states, "the current round of suburban growth is generating a crisis of many dimensions .. . " (1989,3). The devastating effects of sprawl are discussed in further detail in Chapter Two.
Calthorpe has developed a growU1 management concept similar to the concept explored here that he calls "Pedestrian Pockets." Calthorpe's concept is one well-known vision among many lesser-known visions aimed at countering sprawling and wasteful land development patterns tl1at are all too prevalent in this country.

Future Research Needed
To realize the full potential of tl1e concept presented in tJtis chapter, a study needs to be conducted to detennine what combination of growth management techniques should be implemented at either the regional or local level.
It seems tJ1at a policy combining a transfer of development rights (TDR) program and zoning for village districts could give vitality to this concept.
A TDR program typically permits owners of land in development-restricted areas called sending districts to sever the development rights from their property and sell those rights to property owners in specified receiving districts (Nelson & Duncan 1995, 48).
Zoning for village districts simply means to designate areas in Town as village districts. These districts would allow a similar dense settlement pattern and ntixture of uses that are allowed in the proposed Village District presented in this work.
To determine the real potential of such a combination (TDR and village districts), furtl1er study could include determination of marketable strategies for establishment of a TDR program as well as a village and agricultural land suitability analysis.

SUMMARY
This work proposes various courses of action for North Stonington to protect and enhance the character of historic North Stonington Village.
These courses of action include establishing a Village District to replace the present R-40 District and Village Preservation Overlay area and undertaking various general and master planning recommendations.
Also presented is the kernel of a larger idea for preserving the rural character of the Town of North Stonington and its region. North Stonington, like other rural towns in the face of suburbanization, has precious little time to take action against sprawl. Halting growth is not economically or socially productive, but halting sprawl is essential for tl1e vitality of our economy, society, and natural world.