Charter panel reviews case for electing New Canaan planning board

Other Committee · Meeting of March 2, 2026

New Canaan charter panel weighs asking voters to elect the planning board. At a sparsely attended March 2 special meeting, Charter Revision Commission member Joseph Paulo walked fellow commissioner Steve Casease through a case for recommending the town council put the appointed-versus-elected Planning and Zoning Commission question to voters in the panel's May 4 draft report. Paulo said 15,000 residents holding 87 percent of the town's $10 billion grand list have no direct voice in land-use decisions made by 36 appointed officials, and that New Canaan's commission meets only 50 percent of its own stated skill-set goals versus 70 to 83 percent in benchmark towns Darien, Ridgefield, Westport and Wilton.

"The case for keeping PNZ appointed is mostly anecdotal and is frequently contradicted by the data," Paulo said. Casease raised concerns that election rules could bar residents in certain careers from serving, and floated a hybrid elected-appointed board. Commissioners Angela Jameson and Chris Leris were absent; the meeting closed on a unanimous voice vote.

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Source: the Other Committee meeting of March 2, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.

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NEW CANAAN — March 2, 2026 — A two-member quorum of the Charter Revision Commission's Group One subcommittee spent a special meeting reviewing a data-heavy case for asking voters whether New Canaan's Planning and Zoning Commission should be elected rather than appointed.

Commission member Joseph Paulo, who chaired the session, walked fellow commissioner Steve Casease through a presentation first delivered to the full Group One panel on February 25. Paulo said his recommendation to the group's May 4 draft report would be to have the town council put the appointed-versus-elected question directly to voters. No vote was taken on that recommendation; the meeting's only formal action was a unanimous voice vote to adjourn.

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Paulo opened the roll call with two of four Group One members present: himself and Casease. Commissioners Angela Jameson and Chris Leris were marked absent. Paulo noted Jameson had recused herself from the panel's Planning and Zoning research given her own ties to the issue.

Paulo told Casease the subcommittee had gathered roughly 30 to 40 interviews since November, including an hourlong presentation and a letter from the Planning and Zoning Commission itself arguing to keep the appointment process. Paulo said the town has 36 land-use decision-makers, all appointed, while about 15,000 town residents who hold 87 percent of the $10 billion taxable grand list have no direct voice in land-use decisions. He contrasted that with the town's budget process, which mixes elected selectmen and town council members with an appointed Board of Finance, a structure he attributed to comments from Penny Young at an earlier meeting.

Paulo walked through the Planning and Zoning letter's four arguments for appointment: a curated balance of professional expertise, insulation from political pressure, legal defensibility and difficulty replicating that balance through election. He said an inventory prepared by Jennifer Holmes and submitted for the record on February 3 found the current commission meets only 50 percent of the six professional skill sets it aspires to, while elected planning boards in Darien, Ridgefield, Westport and Wilton meet 70, 77 and 83 percent of the same standard, respectively, according to Paulo. He cited former Planning and Zoning member Goodwin, who he said served 16 years and chaired the board despite lacking a background in any of the six identified skill areas.

Paulo also raised a Plan of Conservation and Development provision he said opens the door to mandatory wind-energy standards, illustrating it with wind towers averaging 340 feet, roughly triple the height of existing cell towers in town, with lighting required above 200 feet under Federal Aviation Administration rules. He said early survey results show Planning and Zoning is the top area, cited by 38 percent of respondents, where residents want to see change.

Casease pushed back on one point, saying career restrictions in some professions, including his own background in financial services, could bar qualified residents from running for elected office. "I do think there are many individuals in New Canaan that can't run for office, and having planning and zoning as elected officials would have trouble with some career paths going through the election process," Casease said. He said he remained open to a hybrid board with both elected and appointed seats, an idea he said commission attorneys had called legally unprecedented but not prohibited, citing a legal opinion he attributed to Bertram Roses.

Paulo closed by summarizing his view of the evidence.

"The case for keeping PNZ appointed is mostly anecdotal and is frequently contradicted by the data," Paulo said. — Joseph Paulo, Charter Revision Commission, Group One

Casease said he found merit in eventually letting voters decide.

"I think the success of what we have right now speaks towards the idea that we can make this work in an elected way," Casease said. — Steve Casease, Charter Revision Commission, Group One

Paulo said First Selectman Carlson told the commission on January 26 that "there are certain things that really should not be elected in this town," and separately told the New Canaanite the first selectman did not think it wise to put the question to voters. Paulo said Planning and Zoning Chairman Radman told the commission at its February 20 meeting that he did not believe decision quality would suffer under an elected board.

Why It Matters

The subcommittee's work feeds directly into the Charter Revision Commission's draft report, due May 4, which will recommend to the town council whether New Canaan voters should be asked to change how the Planning and Zoning Commission is selected. Paulo's presentation argues that roughly 15,000 residents holding most of the town's taxable property currently have no direct say over land-use decisions, including a Plan of Conservation and Development provision he says could open the door to mandatory wind-turbine standards. Unaffiliated voters, who Paulo said make up 38 percent of the town, have no guaranteed seat on the town council or the commissions that would decide such changes. The town council's final decision on what to send to voters, and when, remains the next milestone in the process.

Key Motions & Votes

- Action: Recommendation that the commission's May 4 draft report propose the town council put the appointed-versus-elected Planning and Zoning question to voters — Continued to the commission's May 4 draft report review - Vote: Motion to close the March 2 special meeting Tally: Approved unanimously

Source

Town Of New Canaan: Charter Revision Commission, Group One, meeting, March 2, 2026