Thursday night, Brookfield residents have been asked to attend a town meeting for a second vote on whether to hire a consulting firm to design a plan for the Four Corners area, also known as the Town Center District (TCD). The $75,000 spending appropriation was rejected at a September 8 town meeting, 32-28, however First Selectman Bill Davidson vowed to bring it forward a second time, as the consultant will be paid for using a grant from the Small Town Economic Assistance Program (STEAP), not out of the general fund.

The second vote has been called for Thursday, November 17 at 7 p.m. in the Brookfield High School (BHS) auditorium.

Pending approval, the town would be hiring the Hartford based planning firm Fitzgerald and Halliday, Inc. (FHI), which was chosen by a four-member committee appointed by Davidson made up of Brookfield resident Peter Petersen, Zoning Commission Secretary Chris Lynch, Planning Commission Chairman Jon Van Hise and architect Leigh Overland, who owns a firm in Danbury.

After receiving 14 responses to the request for proposal (RFP) put out this summer, the committee reviewed each proposal and conducted several meetings with the potential candidates, according to Brookfield Community Development Director Katherine Daniel.

“We spent numerous hours — in excess of 100 hours” reviewing the various applicants, Van Hise said. “We honed them down to four firms, spent an afternoon with them in,” spending an hour or more with each firm, and was particularly impressed by FHI’s plan to reach out to residents for their input, he said.

Daniel agreed that was one of the more impressive aspects of the firm’s proposal, along with their understanding “that it’s not a one-sided affair” and implementing a final plan will take a partnership between the public and private sectors.

“They don’t have any agenda,” Daniel said. “They’re coming to help the people of Brookfield find those things they want.”

The Firm with the Plan

FHI would start by conducting “visual preference surveys, to begin to get a sense of what people like,” according to Susan VanBenschoten, a principle associate with the firm, “Not necessarily architectural style, but a sense of the amenities and the look.”

VanBenschoten said she is familiar with the area and its history — her grandparents, aunts and uncles lived in Brookfield when she was younger — however her goal will be "trying to understand a vision" that the townspeople have for their center.

The next step in that, and the one that most interested Daniel and the committee, would be a multi-day charrette, “where we’re going to have a series of meetings but in more of an open house format,” VanBenschoten explained.

A charrette would be similar to an informational public hearing, however less structured, with different tables and areas for residents to get information and give input.

“I envision it using maps and people drawing pictures and giving pie-in-the-sky or off-the-wall ideas,” Daniel said, “But they’re all taken into account,” with the goal being to “engage Brookfield.”

VanBenschoten also plans to schedule a joint session with the Planning and Zoning commissions to hear about “existing visions and constraints,” and conduct a market study to see what kind of development is sustainable in that area.

All of this will help FHI define the vision, VanBenschoten said, then see how the vision matches the study.

When they are finished, FHI will produce a planning document that will include an overall vision for the TCD, as well as a plan to implement that vision through things like updated regulations and incentives for developers moving into the area.

“We’re looking to help steer the Four Corners to where the community wants it to go,” VanBenschoten said. “This is a rare opportunity to recapture a village.”

The whole process should take “six months or so,” according to Daniel, and will get started as soon as possible, pending a positive vote at the town meeting.

At a recent Board of Selectmen’s (BOS) meeting, the chairs of the Planning and Zoning commissions and a member of the Economic Development Commission (EDC) all spoke in favor of hiring the consultant.

“It’s very important that we have a new, thorough plan for what’s going to go on in the Four Corners areas,” Zoning Chairman Bill Mercer said. “Doing so in the absence of a well-defined plan is at best a hit-or-miss effort.”

“This is a vital step for the betterment of our community,” EDC member Art Kerley agreed. “You’d be hard pressed to find anyone who is not in favor of revitalization.”