YOUR MONEY IS YOUR PROPERTY Money is property. Whether it is tangible as dollar bills and coins or intangible as numbers on a bank statement, money belongs to someone. When you have a job and you work, you earn money. When you make and sell something or provide a service, you make money. When you …
I spent last night meeting with Woodstock’s Economic Development Commission (EDC). We discussed ways the Planning & Zoning Commission (PZC) and the EDC can work together. Good talk about ways to encourage appropriate economic development and tax base diversity for our community. The PZC has been doing a lot for economic development and agriculture support, …
Woodstock’s Planning & Zoning Commission was not able to hold its monthly meeting this month. The Commission will continue its work on the important issue of economic development and business regulations, items that were on the agenda for the March meeting. The next regular Commission meeting is scheduled for Thursday, April 20th, at 7:30 PM …
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One Society By Jeffrey A. Gordon, M.D. President, Connecticut State Medical Society September 28th, 2016 Thank you for bestowing upon me today the distinguished honor of President. One hundred and seventy-seven physicians have held this office before me. I hope many more men and women hold it long into the future. We rejoice outwardly this …
Your town’s planning and zoning commission makes legislative and administrative decisions. Underpinning these decisions is the receipt of testimony from applicants, municipal staff and agencies, professional experts, lawyers, and members of the public. A planning and zoning commission makes good decisions when it takes into account all of the testimony it receives, follows its review …
The first part of my article series (July 31st) touched upon some of the constitutional issues regarding the taking by government of private land. Article V of the Constitution says, in pertinent part “nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation”. This says that when private property is taken, government must …
The Supreme Court has ruled that land use regulation is constitutional so long as it “substantially advance[s] legitimate governmental interests” to protect public safety, health, and welfare. Regulations must follow constitutional due process and equal protection. Government has a role in setting and enforcing reasonable and common sense laws for the communities in which we live, …
Part #1 of my series on the U.S. Constitution and land use touched upon the constitutionality of municipal zoning regulations. It is one thing to have regulations. It is another thing to use them. It is this latter item – how regulations are used – that generates a lot of legal push and pull, and …
Constitutional law can be exciting, confusing, and controversial. People appropriately chafe at burdensome laws, yet civilized societies are not civil without laws. There is a balance. Democracy is not just about finding a meaningful consensus and the majority opinion prevailing when a vote is taken, but it is also about engaging people to find solutions …
There’s a controversy in Hartford about eleven people, many unrelated to each other, living in a house zoned for single-family use. Because Hartford’s zoning regulations do not define them as being a “family”, they are in violation of the regulations about who may reside in a single-family house. “Family” is one of those words that …