OLD LYME — The Old Lyme Zoning Commission meeting, originally scheduled for Thursday, Feb. 27, in the Lyme-Old Lyme Middle School (LOLMS) Auditorium, has been rescheduled to Wednesday, April 9, at 6:30 p.m. in the Lyme-Old Lyme High School (LOLHS) Auditorium. The Zoning
The capacity of the LOLHS auditorium is 550 in contrast to that of the LOLMS auditorium at 225.
The agenda for the Feb. 27 meeting included an item under both the Continued Public Hearing and Old Business as follows:
Petition to Amend the Old Lyme Zoning Regulations, Section 5.15-creating a Halls Road Overlay District [HROD} allowing, among other items, mixed zoning use along Halls Road and the entire C-30S Zoning District, with associated architectural design guidelines.
The applicant in both cases was the Halls Road Improvement Committee.
It is assumed the same item will be on the April 9 agenda.
Old Lyme First Selectwoman Martha Shoemaker explained the reason for the postponement in her weekly newsletter sent Friday, Feb. 28, to residents as follows, “One reason for this request was to provide more time to review the additional exhibits that were recently submitted. While it was not included in the letter that was posted on social media, an additional reason for the request to postpone directly relates to potential occupancy. I am aware of the strong interest in the topic of the Halls Road Overlay District proposal.”
She continued, “After consulting with other town officials, there was a concern that the Lyme-Old Lyme Middle School auditorium (with a capacity of 225 people) could be too small for this meeting to take place. Given the importance of having adequate time and space for every citizen of Old Lyme who wishes to attend and/or be heard, we felt it appropriate to make a change. I asked Land Use Coordinator, Eric Knapp to plan for the Lyme-Old Lyme High School Auditorium (with a capacity of 550) for a future date.”
In her original letter dated Feb. 25, in which Shoemaker had requested postponement of the Feb. 25 meeting, she had stated, “The Halls Road Improvement Committee and I acknowledge that the Zoning Commission has received many additional exhibits and request additional time to review them. We would like to request to postpone the meeting of February 27, 2025, until late March 2025. This will provide the committee with additional time to review the exhibits.”
That letter was addressed to Paul Orzel, Chairman of the OL Zoning Commission, and copied to Eric Knapp, Old Lyme Land Use Coordinator; Edie Twining, Chair of the Halls Road Improvement Committee, and William R. Sweeney, Attorney for the Halls Road project,
