A Derby Planning and Zoning Commission meeting from January. (Left to right) Commission chairman Gino DiGiovanni, Jr., city engineer Ryan McEvoy, commissioner David Kopjanski and commissioner Paul Denice.
DERBY – A lawyer on May 20 advised the Derby Planning & Zoning Commission to stop holding “informal discussions” about development proposals.
“I don’t think this board is in a position to give an informal opinion or informal advice. That’s just not something that is appropriate,” Brian Lema, a lawyer for the commission, said.
The Derby commission has allowed developers to appear in front of them for feedback on development applications before the applications are formally submitted. It’s not an uncommon practice in Connecticut, according to this 2002 legislative report.
Critics said informal discussions in Derby raises questions of fairness. A developer, or a developer’s lawyer, can talk in public about a potential application, and even submit paperwork to the commissioners for their informal review.
The informal discussions happen at public meetings, but the public doesn’t get the same access to the commission, nor is the public guaranteed access to the documents submitted.
The fear is that the informal discussion practice could give developers with controversial plans an advantage before neighbors know what’s going on – and create the perception that the commissioners favor developers.
Every proposal for development atop “Telescope Mountain” has been opposed by neighbors for decades.
In March 2024 the commission’s agenda included an “informal discussion with (a land use attorney) on various subjects,” when, in fact, they were talking about a potential development application of 100 housing units on Telescope Mountain.
At the May 20 planning and zoning commission meeting, Lema suggested a developer with questions about a potential application can address his or her inquiries to city staff – such as the zoning enforcement officer, the corporation counsel and the city planner. The staff members can provide feedback or interpretations of specific zoning rules.
Derby City/Town Clerk Marc Garofalo questioned the practice during the public portion period of the meeting.
“I ask the board to caution itself in the use of informal discussions on agendas on a regular basis because it does not allow the public access to know what’s going to be discussed,” Garofalo said.
The town clerk specifically pointed to an informal discussion that had been scheduled for 35 Belleview Drive, which real estate websites show as 19 undeveloped acres between Belleview Drive and Baldwin Road in Woodbridge.
The agenda stated the address and “three lots with single driveway.” There was no additional information in the agenda packet posted online.
Garofalo said development on Belleview Drive had been controversial previously, and the public had a right to more information.
“In the past it was always listed as informal discussion, and those discussions got pretty formal, deep and detailed,” Garofalo said. “If they are going to be put on here, there should be information made available to the public.”
Paul Dinice, Jr., a member of the planning and zoning commission, questioned whether informal discussions put the commission in legal danger.
“There’s no such thing as an informal discussion. Court cases have said that the process that goes on here is certainly part of the process of reviewing an application,” he said.
Dinice also questioned whether a developer could make a case in court by claiming that the commission liked the application during the “informal” process, but then didn’t like it during the “formal” review process.
Dinice said a neighbor could also claim the informal process isn’t fair.
A neighbor could say, ‘I never had a chance to testify. I never had a chance to comment on the application,” Denice said.
Ryan McEvoy, Derby’s engineer, pointed out the city’s subdivision regulations specifically allow subdivisions to come before the commission for “informal consideration.” The section is embedded below.
However, Lema said “pre-application” meetings are usually done by staff – not the full commission.
“It uses the term commission, but I would interpret that broadly as commission staff as opposed to the commission itself,” Lema said.
In 2024, Linda Fusco, Mayor Joseph DiMartino’s chief of staff, read a statement to the commission from the mayor detailing transparency concerns over informal discussions. Click here for the story.
