FARMINGTON — Starting Friday, Oct. 9, Farmington plans to ask its residents what the town should look like over the next 10 years, and what they would be willing to pay for. That is the town survey, and it opens the public's part in writing Farmington's next long-range plan.
The survey serves two documents at once: the town's Plan of Conservation and Development, or POCD, which the Town Plan and Zoning Commission must update under state law, and the Town Council's strategic plan. The last full town plan dates to 2008, with an addendum in 2018. Robert Collins, project manager at Weston & Sampson, the consulting firm the council hired in July, walked the commission through the schedule on Monday, Oct. 5.
The plan sets the town's direction on land use, housing, transportation, open space, historic resources and the economy, and the commission uses it in zoning decisions. It also comes up when the town asks the state for money. "There's always usually the first question on the grant application," Collins said, "is this in your POCD."
Taking the survey
The online survey cannot be saved and finished later; close it, and you start over. Town Planner Shannon Rutherford said most people will need 15 to 20 minutes.
It asks about priorities and about paying for them, including tax dollars for a new elementary school and preschool and a grade for the town's fire stations. "The wish list is huge but who is paying for it and how," Rutherford said. "That's equally as important."
Paper copies will be available at Town Hall, the libraries and the senior center, according to a draft of the survey. Collins said paper copies will also come in Mandarin Chinese, Spanish and Tamil, the languages the Board of Education suggested.
Two priority questions, Nos. 4 and 14, must be answered for a response to count; the rest are optional, and many offer an "I don't know." The survey asks for an email address only if you want updates, and Collins said the addresses go to town staff and are not made public.
The town plans about 30 events through October and early November where residents can take the survey in person, from coffee shops to Friday night football and Saturday soccer, Rutherford said. Collins said about 400 responses would meet the 95 percent confidence level, and that he expects "several thousand."
The dates
- Friday, Oct. 9: the target launch date, Rutherford said; the consultants' schedule lists it as survey launch.
- The close: not set. Collins said the survey will stay open at least until just before Thanksgiving and that the firm and town staff will decide the end date based on how responses come in. The meeting's minutes say mid-November.
- Tuesday, Dec. 1, 5 to 8 p.m.: the first of three open houses, drop in any time. It will cover what the plan is, early survey results and a first look at the town's data.
- Late winter or early spring 2027: a second open house, on a draft vision for the plan.
- Late May or early June 2027: a third open house, on the draft plan's goals and steps.
- Summer 2027: a 65-day review of the near-final plan by the Town Council and the region's council of governments, a step state law requires.
- September or October 2027: a public hearing and adoption, ahead of the current plan's November 2027 expiration.
The commission will also hold extra meetings on the plan alone: one in December and, as placeholders, the fourth Wednesday of each month in 2027.
This coverage is supported by Farmington Storage, 155 Scott Swamp Road, the only storage facility in Connecticut with Museum air. Ten-year plans, like most things worth keeping, last longer in good conditions. 860.777.4001 📦
Jack Beckett has covered enough Farmington planning meetings to know the survey takes about 20 minutes and the plan takes until next fall. He is on his second coffee and has blocked out the 20 minutes. ☕
The Farmington Mercury covers the town nobody else is covering: the survey, the open houses and the 10-year plan they feed. We publish slowly, deliberately, and without apology. Our motto is "Always last to breaking news," and we mean it. Find us at farmingtonmercury.com and tell your neighbors. #WeAreFarmington 📰