Planners loosen shed regulations

In a move to bring town regulations in line with new state building codes, the Planning and Zoning Commission has nixed a building permit requirement for small sheds and other structures.

Despite concerns about the possibility of having multiple accessory structures on a single property and increased neighbor complaints, the Planning and Zoning Commission approved the new zoning regulations last week.

The vote was not unanimous, as commissioners Phil Mische and Steve Cole panned the idea after a 30-minute public hearing in which one person spoke in opposition to the change.

This is an area where you need some enforcement, said Doug Martin of the Land Conservancy of Ridgefield. If you relieve pressure on this, then youre opening yourself to a few more complaints that you didnt have in the past.

Mr. Martin noted that the land conservancy manages 700 acres in town, and has seen 19 encroachments in the last couple of years, four of which pertained to sheds.

Some were settled amicably, some were not, he explained. These arent violations, rather situations where sheds are barely over the property setback line, and its very easy for this to happen without enforcement.

This amendment presents significant problems, he said.

Town Planner Betty Brosius had argued earlier that the Planning and Zoning Department rarely receives complaints from neighbors about sheds that violate the existing setback lines.

In fact, she said, there had been only two on record in 12 years, and they were in regard to treehouses not sheds.

If we had a litany of complaints, then it would be a different argument, she said. We get more questions about fences than we do sheds.

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Planners loosen shed regulations