New Village Center Zone Approved Tuesday

A new village center zone has been created, which paves the way for a site plan to be submitted for developing a new Avon town center in the future.

The Planning and Zoning Commission unanimously approved adding the village center zone as an amendment to the current zoning regulations on Tuesday night, along with the design guidelines for the 2006 Plan of Conservation and Development. Both with go into effect on July 6.

The new zone essentially allows for a variety of different types of establishments to be developed on a property. This is important for the conceptual plans for the town center, which will likely include residential buildings, offices, restaurants and retail stores.

That does not mean that Ensign-Bickford's land, which is currently zoned as an industrial park, are now in a village center zone.

Linda Sadlon of the Planning and Community Development office described the zone as a "floating zone" because "no properties are automatically included or changed as a result of the newly adopted regulations or guidelines." 

"Property owners will have to apply to [the Planning and Zoning Commission] for a zone change and have it approved before they can submit applications under these new rules," she wrote in an e-mail to Patch.

The property owner, currently Ensign-Bickford, would need to apply for a zone change prior to submitting a site plan for any future village center.