CHAPTER 1 – OVERVIEW

The Bristol Planning Commission has prepared this Plan of Conservation and Development in accordance with the provisions of Section 8-23 of the Connecticut General Statutes. Those provisions mandate that every municipality in the state prepare a Plan of Conservation and Development and that such plan be reviewed and updated if necessary at least once every ten years. The local planning commission is given the statutory responsibility to prepare the plan and has sole authority for adopting and amending it.

Section 8-23 states in part that "[t]he plan of conservation and development shall be a statement of policies, goals and standards for the physical and economic development of the municipality" and that "the plan shall be designed to promote with the greatest efficiency and economy the coordinated development of the municipality and the general welfare and prosperity of its people." Thus, one objective of the Plan is to guide the growth and development of the community in a manner that affords economic, housing and recreational opportunities for its residents and, at the same time, creates an attractive environment in which to work and live.

This current plan – intended to update the Plan of Development adopted by the Bristol Planning Commission in July of 1989 – was prepared over a period of approximately two years by the Commission with the assistance of both its professional staff and the planning firm of Buckhurst, Fish & Jacquemart, Inc. of New York City. The process was also aided by the citizens of Bristol, whose input was encouraged via a "mailout/mailback" survey of community attitudes (which generated a response rate of nearly 25 percent of the 3,000 households to whom the survey was sent) and at several public workshops. This collaborative effort afforded local residents, the business community and other interested parties a number of opportunities at critical points throughout the planning process to express their views about the past, present and future of the city.

The Planning Commission recognizes that a number of physical, economic and social conditions in the city have changed since the 1989 Plan was adopted and that new planning techniques are available to respond to these changes. This Plan of Conservation and Development is designed to promote and guide both the development and preservation of Bristol. The plan presents a vision for the future of the city and discusses the tools and techniques needed to achieve that vision. Of crucial importance to the ongoing planning process is review and modification of the plan, to assure that it remains representative of the community's vision and that the selected implementation strategies are those that the city can achieve.

As vacant land grows more scarce, the regional economy experiences further change and market conditions shift, Bristol will need to focus on the kinds of growth and development that create jobs, increase tax revenues, and foster reinvestment. The Plan of Conservation and Development is integral to shaping this process. Further, the Plan can discourage arbitrary or piecemeal public and private investments. Under the guiding hand of the Plan's goals and policies, the sum of the many individual investment decisions made over the next ten years can lead to the realization of the community's vision.

By statute, the Plan of Conversation and Development must:

• Contain the Planning Commission's recommendations for the most desirable use of land within the municipality for residential, recreational, commercial, industrial, conservation and other purposes;
• Contain the Planning Commission's recommendations for the most desirable population densities throughout the municipality;
• Make provision for the development of housing opportunities – including opportunities for multi-family dwellings – consistent with soil types, terrain and infrastructure capacity, for all residents of the municipality and the planning region in which the municipality is located;
• Promote housing choice and economic diversity in housing, including housing for both low- and moderate-income households; and,
• Encourage the development of housing which will meet the housing needs identified in the five-year housing plan prepared by the Commissioner of Economic and Community Development and the Connecticut Housing Finance Authority under Section 8-37t of the Connecticut General Statutes and in the State Plan of Conservation and Development.

In addition, the Plan may contain the following:

• Recommendations for a system of principal thoroughfares, parkways, bridges, streets and other public ways;
• Recommendations for airports, parks, playgrounds and other public grounds;
• Recommendations for the general location, relocation and improvement of public buildings;
• Recommendations for the general location and extent of public utilities and terminals, whether publicly or privately owned, for water, sewerage, light, power, transit and other purposes;
• Recommendations for the extent and location of public housing projects;
• Recommendations for the conservation and preservation of traprock ridgelines, as defined in Section 8-1aa of the Statutes;
• Other matters as will, in the judgment of the Planning Commission, be beneficial to the municipality; and,
• Programs for the implementation of the Plan.

In preparing the Plan, the Planning Commission must consider the need for affordable housing; the protection of existing and potential public surface and ground drinking water supplies; and the municipality's Community Development Action Plan, if any. In addition, the Commission "may consider physical, social, economic and governmental conditions and trends, including, but not limited to, local, regional and state studies of the human resource, education, health, housing, recreation, social services, public utilities, public protection, transportation and circulation, cultural and interpersonal communications needs of the municipality and the objectives of energy-efficient patterns of development, the use of solar and other renewable forms of energy, and energy conservation." The Commission may also prepare and adopt plans for the redevelopment and improvement of districts or neighborhoods which, in its judgment, contain special problems or show a trend toward lower land values.

Connecticut Plan of Conservation and Development – The Connecticut General Statutes require that the Office of Policy and Management (OPM) prepare a state Conservation and Development Policies Plan every five years for adoption by the Connecticut General Assembly. The first such plan was adopted in 1979; the most current one was adopted in May 1998 and covers the period from 1998 to 2003. The State plan is "a statement of the State's growth, resource management, and public investment policies. [It] provides a policy and planning framework for the administrative and programmatic actions and capital and operational investment decisions of state government, which influence the future growth and development of the state." (Conservation and Development Policies Plan for Connecticut, 1998 - 2003) The overall strategy of the State plan is "to reinforce and conserve existing urban areas, to promote staged, appropriate, sustainable development, and to preserve areas of significant environmental value." To that end, the plan apportions the state into eight broad land categories according to each area's characteristics and suitability for different forms of development or conservation action, and then establishes priorities for these categories.

Section 8-23 of the Connecticut General Statutes requires that each municipal plan of conservation and development "take into account the state plan of conservation and development…and…note any inconsistencies it may have with said state plan." In addition, the State plan serves as a document of reference for certain types of municipal projects for which state funding is sought; such projects must be reviewed by OPM to determine the extent of their conformance to the State plan. In general, a municipal project which is in (greater) conformance with the State plan is more likely to receive state funds than one that is less so. As such, it is in the city's best interest that, to the maximum extent possible, this Plan of Conservation and Development be consistent with the State plan.

Central Connecticut Regional Plan – The Connecticut General Statutes require that the state's regional planning agencies also prepare and adopt comprehensive plans. The Central Connecticut Regional Planning Agency (CCRPA) first adopted a regional development plan in 1978; it has been updated three times, most recently in 1993. Entitled Central Connecticut Regional Development Plan Future Land Use – 2010, the regional plan "evaluates the Region as it is presently developed and suggest scenarios and levels of development for the future" to 2010. The regional plan serves as a policy guide to regional growth, seeking to have an impact on decision-making at the local and regional levels.

In addition to Bristol, the Central Connecticut planning region comprises the communities of Berlin, Burlington, New Britain, Plainville, Plymouth and Southington. According to the regional plan, the major issues facing Bristol are growing traffic congestion, the lack of mass transit, the economic viability of its downtown, and the limited amount of dedicated open space. In response to these issues and other factors – such as existing land uses, environmental features, community identity, resources, and regional concerns – the regional plan presents a "blueprint for growth" called a Future Land Use Plan. It foresees for Bristol a central commercial core, with commercial strips along Routes 6 and 72. Most residential areas contain low- and medium-density housing, with scattered areas of high-density housing. Remaining agricultural lands are concentrated in the northwest section of the city. Other significant land uses are protected watershed lands in the northern half of Bristol and an industrial district in the city's southeast section, near the Southington border.

Bristol's present character and role as an industrially based urban center was shaped incrementally over the last two hundred years. The following synopsis highlights the events in the city's history most responsible for its current physical layout.

Early Settlement – In the early 1640's, settlers came from Hartford to farm an isolated area known as West Woods in the town of Farmington. The town was also occupied in other areas by the Tunxis Indians. The remoteness of the West Woods was partly responsible for its slow development, as was a restrictive land ownership agreement that eventually ended in the 1730's. In 1746, a five-mile square parish, known as New Cambridge, became the "foundation for all subsequent local government" and the first settled nucleus. It was the institutional and commercial core of the settlement with the construction on Federal Hill of the Congregational church and the schoolhouse, and the setting aside of public land for pasture and militia training.

In 1785, a new town called Bristol was created by the state's General Assembly, incorporating the parishes of New Cambridge and West Britain. At this time, Bristol's population was about 1,000, with nearly all residents living on farmsteads widely dispersed on the hilly, infertile lands. The center on Federal Hill had not grown substantially since the earliest days of the parish. There were now two churches, a tavern, and a few houses in addition to the first uses there. Industry existed to support the needs of an agricultural economy: a 1792 map shows, in addition to three churches, five sawmills in Bristol, three gristmills, one iron works or blacksmith, and one fulling mill.

Industrialization – Small manufacturing businesses were established around the turn of the eighteenth century, which expanded upon the existing agricultural-based industries and were linked to regional, state and foreign economies. Toll roads built by private companies were an early key to increased industrialization and greater integration with other Connecticut towns and their economies. The construction and maintenance of passable, straight roads had long been the townspeople's largest public expense, and the difficulty of doing so in hilly Bristol had been a primary cause of the early settlement's slow growth. In the early 1800's, two major turnpikes were established, which follow the present Route 4 and Route 6. The construction of the Middle Road Turnpike (Route 6) led to the development of a second nucleus.

The first clockmakers, located on a stream in North Village, marked Bristol's transformation from an agricultural economy to an industrial one. The town had a "unique role in the development of the American clock industry…[C]lockmaking became the single most important economic activity in Bristol in the years prior to the Civil War." As the clock industry grew, support industries, particularly metal fabricators, grew alongside. These in turn became forces in their own right, expanding Bristol's industrial base to include machinery, foundries, saws, woolen cloth, and mining. Bristol Brass was founded in 1850. The street pattern characterizing present-day downtown Bristol was laid at this time following the privately-funded construction of a road and bridge crossing over the Pequabuck River to the Jerome clockworks complex in South Village.

Increased economic diversification also brought population growth and change. Towards the end of the 1800's the population stood at 7,362, with one in five residents foreign-born and half either born outside the country or children of immigrants. One of Bristol's first historians identifies 1870 as the year Bristol made the irrevocable physical change from a "small rural village, having no public utilities and no urban institutions, to an enterprising modern city." The physical character of modern-day Bristol was established, as the small villages centered around factories, local churches and stores gave way to new streets, subdivided land and a commercial center which grew up near the train depot. The area between Federal Hill and Water Street was fully developed, with new subdivisions created south of South Street and in the western portion of the town. The downtown was laid out and built up in a way that would remain until the onset of urban renewal in the late 1950's. Significant numbers of new houses were constructed in and around the main streets of the center.

Outside the area that was to become the borough of Bristol in 1893, two unique places developed. One was Lake Compounce, created as a summer entertainment area. The other was Forestville, the "largest and most independent" of the smaller communities within Bristol, "[with] its own schoolhouse, post office, railroad depot, and two stores," social and civic organizations, political identity, and heavily Irish population.

By the end of the First World War, the rapid and uncontrolled development had led to a community-wide desire for a plan to assert the needs of residents against the power of the large industries and railroad. Cars and trucks congested narrow farm roads, houses had been built in the hundreds, the sole high school was over capacity, there was little open space in the town's densest areas, and there was no order or attractiveness to the downtown. A City Planning Commission was created, and the first comprehensive plan was written in 1920.

Bristol implemented the Plan's recommendations for parks and playgrounds, improved land subdivision regulations, and gained the knowledge that privately inspired growth could be shaped. The new subdivision regulations controlled the spate of new housing in the 1920's and 1930's to the north and on the open, flat land between Forestville and the city's center. Zoning, which was adopted in 1930, created separate residential, commercial, and industrial areas. While the 1920 Plan's central recommendations for the downtown were not heeded, strong private sponsorship led to the creation of Memorial Boulevard, and a new high school and parkland were created in the 1920's. Other civic improvements at this time included brick schools, a hospital, the Bristol Boys and Girls Club, and a new state armory.

Following World War II, the city experienced a boom in single-family house construction. New subdivisions shaped the northern and eastern sections of Bristol. These subdivisions generally were laid out along standard block sizes, with regular roads, identical lot sizes, and houses conforming to a few designs. By 1964, the rate of new residential construction was so great that the number of post-War houses in Bristol exceeded the number of houses built between 1720 and 1940. This led to increased demands for municipal water and sewer services, new schools, flood controls and streetlights. During the twenty years between 1949 and 1969, school additions and new schools were responsible for a significant part of the municipal budget. Public housing was not a priority, except for the few projects constructed for the elderly and veterans.

In the 1950's and 1960's, Bristol's economic base began its permanent shift away from heavy manufacturing and metalworking toward a more diverse economy that was more reliant upon modern technology and the service sector. Manufacturing plant closings and the construction of the New Departure facility on Chippens Hill marked the physical changes in Bristol caused by this economic transformation. When, beginning in the 1960's, the city's central business district was leveled and redeveloped, a symbol was created for Bristol's profoundly altered economy. Ultimately, the downtown was reconstructed with a shopping mall at its heart but, in the interim, its competition was established in a new commercial corridor along Farmington Avenue.

Five times since the 1920's, the Bristol Planning Commission has adopted a plan of development to define and guide the course of future development in the city. Each of those plans is summarized below.

Local Survey and City Planning Proposals (1920) – This plan, by the renowned John Nolen of Cambridge, Massachusetts, presented recommendations for improvement in seven areas: main thoroughfares, retail business area, public activities, expression of civic spirit, factory district, railroad facilities, and housing, schools and local recreation. The plan also established standards for the city's school playgrounds and for the acceptance of new plats. These latter regulations covered allowed land uses ("districting"), blocks, lots and yards (setbacks), streets and sidewalks, parks and recreation areas, and public building sites. Other significant recommendations concerned municipal services and the upgrade to "first class areas" of residential, industrial, school, and recreation districts. Compared to later documents, the Nolen plan is short but highly focused, with simple, strong statements regarding the improvements. For example, the plan chastised Bristol for its lack of civic spirit, declaring that "Bristol has reached the point where it should awaken and show to the world that it has ideals above those of common necessity and higher than the mere earning of a livelihood." Arising from this, the plan's central recommendation proposed a city center, whose retail spine would be Main Street from the railroad bridge to South Street. The Nolen plan largely resulted in the adoption of land use controls which shaped Bristol over the following decades, especially with regard to residential land uses. Unique improvements to Bristol's physical character, such as Memorial Boulevard, were created, not by the plan, but by private initiative and philanthropy. This had traditionally been the way, with the creation of Rockwell and Page Parks.

Report on a General Plan for Bristol, Connecticut (1958) – This plan, prepared by John T. Blackwell of Boston, noted that Bristol's future lay in transforming itself from a manufacturing-based economy and civic culture to "a future of increasing urbanization and economic involvement in the continuing industrialization of Connecticut." Recommendations addressed capital expenditures for streets and highway improvements, flood control works, and the "urgent" school building program. The 1958 plan also noted that Bristol was at "a decisive moment in its history as a trading center," necessitating the redesign of the downtown's physical pattern. Following substantial public discussion, zoning recommendations were presented affecting residential, industrial and business districts.

Comprehensive Plan (1964) – Written by the Planning Services Group of Cambridge, Massachusetts, this plan presented a series of objectives, policies and standards for economic development, residential development, municipal improvements and plan implementation. The most important recommendation enacted from this plan was the creation of the Redevelopment Agency to redesign the downtown. Few copies of this plan appear to exist, leaving the subsequent two plans as the most recent and readily available in the city's planning history.

Bristol, Connecticut, Plan of Development (1979) – This plan was prepared by Brown, Donald and Donald of Farmington. It was a thorough presentation of existing conditions regarding land use, demographics, the local economy, transportation, housing, municipal facilities, open space and recreation, and the coordination of downtown studies. However, the plan contained few specific recommendations, except for residential zoning policy proposals covering all densities, housing types, and locations. There were no new recommendations made for the downtown. For the most part, this plan is considered to have been adopted but generally not implemented.

Plan of Development (1989) – Harrall-Michalowski Associates of Hamden wrote a plan that focused on determining municipal goals and policies, understanding Bristol's development potential and concomitant impacts, and analyzing the city's demographics; housing; economic base; parks, recreation and open space; and traffic circulation and street network. Routes 229, 6, and 72 were the subject of in-depth planning studies that addressed both traffic and land use issues. The plan devoted a modicum of attention to downtown Bristol. Within each of these functional elements, existing conditions that created problems were discussed, and specific recommendations that thoughtfully responded to the issues were made. A citywide future land use plan was presented. Care was taken that many of the recommendations contained in the plan could be achieved either by amending the local zoning regulations or through other local actions.

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