Open space panel resists new council subcommittee

Other Committee · Meeting of October 7, 2026

Newington's Open Space Committee resisted a Town Council plan to create a separate three-member subcommittee on open space, calling it duplicative. Members Bernadette Conway and Gail, a Town Council member who also sits on the committee, argued the panel already does much of what the proposed subcommittee would do and should instead strengthen its own outdated 2017 charter. Councilor Matt Plourd said the proposal stems from council research into funding mechanisms and the town's municipal zoning exemption.

No vote was taken; the committee asked staff liaison Eric to compile members' concerns and requested the council hold off until a special meeting can be scheduled. Separately, staff reported roughly 120 town parcels zoned open space need a map correction headed toward a future Planning and Zoning Commission public hearing. Minutes from the prior meeting passed 5-0 with one abstention.

In the full story:

• Who Was There
• Organizations And Documents Referenced
• The complete report — 1,869 words

Source: the Other Committee meeting of October 7, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.

The Full Article

Roll Call, Agenda and Minutes

Six members answered roll call: Kathy Gonzalez, a member identified at roll call as Julian Chen but addressed throughout the meeting as Jade Chen, Caleb Draco, Bernadette Conway, Beth Del Bueno and Gia Pasquarelli, who ran the meeting. The agenda was approved without changes on a unanimous voice vote. The prior meeting's minutes were approved 5-0 with one abstention; Bernadette Conway abstained because she had not attended that session. No members of the public were present, in person or online.

New Business: Draft Town Council Resolution for an Open Space Subcommittee

Background and stakes: The Newington Town Council circulated a draft resolution to create an "Open Space Protection and Ordnance Development Subcommittee," a three-member Town Council body. The draft includes five areas of focus: developing ordinances and policies to increase barriers to disposing of open space parcels, developing funding mechanisms for land acquisition including grants, identifying parcels suitable for conservation easements, and working with the Open Space Committee on both town-owned and privately or state-owned parcels. Councilor Matt Plourd told the committee the proposal grew from his council caucus's research into how other towns structure council-level open space protections, plus a legal opinion the Zoning Commission received on the town's municipal zoning exemption.

The question before the body: Whether to endorse, amend or oppose the council's draft resolution before it advances to a council vote.

Substantive content: Members compared the five bullet points in the draft against work the committee already performs. Bernadette Conway said items three through five "has been done, even though there's more work to do," and worried about duplication. Gail, a Town Council member who also serves as an appointed voting member of the Open Space Committee alongside Kathy Gonzalez, argued the committee has drifted from an advocacy posture into a passive one since cutting its meeting schedule from monthly to quarterly years ago. She said some of the duplicated items, like developing policy on funding mechanisms, are things the council itself already has authority to do without forming a new body: "All of the things you said are things the council can already do," she said, questioning the need for a separate subcommittee rather than the council simply adopting open space as a standing focus.

The deliberation: Beth Del Bueno said she was initially uncomfortable with the resolution but could not articulate why until the discussion clarified her concern: that a future, differently composed council might not share the current leadership's good intentions. "What is this going to look like in the future if there's a different council, if there's a different makeup of people that we now are kind of giving some of our power over to as a committee," she said. Jade Chen echoed concerns about redundancy and suggested a formal liaison role, though Gia Pasquarelli clarified that Gail and Kathy Gonzalez are appointed voting members of the committee, not liaisons, even though information flows back to the council through them.

Plourd pushed back gently on the characterization of overlap, saying council-level work on items like the Land Acquisition Fund's "regular funding mechanisms" and the town's municipal zoning exemption are squarely council business that complements, rather than duplicates, committee work. "Increasing our voting thresholds so that future councils would find it more difficult or prohibitive" to weaken protections, he said, is the kind of policy only the council can enact. He added that the subcommittee could help formalize Open Space Committee charter recommendations once drafted: "This subcommittee, like we do in many cases... forming subcommittees to review resolutions or forming subcommittees to amend ordinances, this subcommittee could be helpful in that regard."

Bernadette Conway proposed softening the resolution's language so items framed as the new subcommittee's original work instead read as "reviewing the work of the Open Space Committee's findings," crediting existing committee research rather than duplicating it. Gail went further, arguing the two committees' charters should be reviewed "simultaneously" so neither group creates overlapping authority, and recalled the committee being told in the past it was "at the mercy" of the council rather than an independent advocacy body, citing a prior hesitancy to write a letter supporting open space preservation at the former Hartford Hospital property.

Procedural steps and outcome: No motion was made or vote taken on the resolution itself. Gail asked directly whether the council would be "comfortable with tabling this" until the Open Space Committee could hold a special meeting to review its own charter. Kathy Gonzalez said she could not commit the full council but believed members would be reasonable about a short delay: "I don't see any damage to be done by waiting." The committee agreed, by consensus rather than formal vote, that staff liaison Eric would compile members' comments into a memo for the town manager and council, and that Gia Pasquarelli would separately try to locate the committee's original 2017 charter documentation that evening. Eric confirmed the Open Space Committee has no separate bylaws and can set its own meeting frequency without council approval; the committee's calendar is typically set at a January organizational meeting. Members indicated they want a special meeting scheduled before the subcommittee resolution advances further, though no date was set.

Implications and what is next: The council's subcommittee resolution appears to be on hold pending the Open Space Committee's own charter review. Eric said he would distribute the committee's founding 2017 resolution to members, after which Gia Pasquarelli is to contact Eric or town staff member Charlie to schedule a special meeting. Any resulting charter changes or a council vote on the subcommittee resolution would be a future agenda item.

Old Business: Open Space Parcels for Grant Funding

Background and stakes: The committee had previously reviewed open space parcels as candidates for grant funding, with related discussions occurring in a Town Council executive session.

The question before the body: Whether any update was needed on parcel-grant work.

Substantive content and outcome: Gia Pasquarelli said the topic was not being revisited Tuesday because it had already been addressed at the prior meeting and at the council's executive session. No new information was presented and no vote was taken.

Old Business: Inventory of Town-Owned Open Space Parcels

Background and stakes: The town is updating its inventory of roughly 120 parcels zoned open space, checking each against deed records, easements and the 2017 zone change that created the open space zoning district.

The question before the body: Whether to receive an update on the inventory and mapping-correction project.

Substantive content: Staff liaison Eric said the town currently has approximately 120 parcels zoned open space and that a map amendment will be needed to remove parcels "erroneously added in 2017" and to add parcels acquired since then. He said staff are comparing each 2017-era parcel against current zoning regulations to confirm it fits "the spirit of the regulation," and that some parcels include structures or third-party ownership that should not have been zoned open space in the first place. Any resulting zone change will require a public hearing before the Planning and Zoning Commission, which Eric said is likely "in the next few months" once the mapping work is finished. Bernadette Conway, who chaired the committee when the original open space zone was created, said she recalled the committee pushing for specific town parks such as Indian Hill but could not explain how other parcels ended up zoned open space; Eric said the original 2017 zone change appeared to rely on a reduced-size town map with handwritten boundary markings rather than an itemized parcel list, making the current cleanup necessary.

The deliberation: Beth Del Bueno asked whether the project would also clarify which open space parcels carry formal deed restrictions versus conservation easements, referencing confusion that arose publicly when development was proposed on the Mill Street extension and residents assumed the parcel was protected open space. Eric said the town does not generally record deed restrictions for open space; instead it holds conservation easements over property still owned in fee simple by the landowner, with numerous restrictions on use. He said he would also cross-reference the town's Plan of Conservation and Development, which codes open space in two different categories, though the Planning and Zoning Commission's regulations remain the governing authority for the pending map amendment.

Procedural steps and outcome: No vote was taken. Eric agreed to share Charlie's parcel spreadsheet and inventory updates with the committee once a milestone is reached, even outside of a regular meeting. Bernadette Conway thanked staff for the work, noting the difficulty of tracing decades-old meeting records to explain how certain parcels were zoned.

Implications and what is next: The eventual zone change will need a public hearing before the Planning and Zoning Commission, giving residents formal notice and comment once the mapping correction is complete. No hearing date has been set.

Public Comment and Adjournment

No members of the public spoke. Beth Del Bueno thanked colleagues for a non-contentious conversation on the subcommittee question and said she looked forward to the committee revisiting its own charge. Bernadette Conway moved to adjourn; the motion was seconded and approved unanimously.

Gia Pasquarelli, member, ran Tuesday's meeting. Kathy Gonzalez, Town Council member and appointed Open Space Committee member, present at roll call. Jade Chen, member, recorded at roll call under the name Julian Chen. Caleb Draco, member, present at roll call. Bernadette Conway, member and former committee chair, present at roll call; abstained on minutes vote due to absence from prior meeting. Beth Del Bueno, member, present at roll call. Gail, Town Council member and appointed Open Space Committee member; participated extensively but was not named in the formal roll call. Matt Plourd, Newington Town Council member, joined partway through the meeting to provide context on the council resolution; his name was also rendered as "Plort" in the transcript. Eric, staff liaison to the committee. Charlie, town staff member leading the parcel inventory and mapping project, referenced but not present speaking on the record. Lucas, noted as joining the meeting partway through; no further role or comment attributed. No public commenters attended, in person or online.

Newington Town Council — originated the draft resolution to create an Open Space Protection and Ordnance Development Subcommittee, discussed throughout the new business item. Newington Planning and Zoning Commission (TPZ) — governing body for the pending open space zone map amendment and future public hearing; also issued a legal opinion on the municipal zoning exemption referenced by Councilor Plourd. Open Space Committee's 2017 charter/resolution — the document that created the town's open space zoning district and last amended the committee's charge; members asked staff to locate and recirculate it. Town of Newington Plan of Conservation and Development (POCD) — cited by Beth Del Bueno and Eric regarding differing classifications of open space. Land Acquisition Fund — council-controlled fund discussed by Councilor Plourd as needing more regular funding mechanisms. Mill Street extension development dispute — referenced as a prior example of public confusion over open space zoning status. Hartford Hospital property — referenced by Gail as a past instance where the committee hesitated to formally advocate for open space preservation.