Jane Marsh (R): Incumbent Candidate for Zoning Commission

Biography: 

Jane Marsh is a general practice attorney with a focus on real estate and probate. Admitted to the Connecticut Bar in 1980 with a degree from the University of Connecticut School of Law, she has practiced law continuously since. She serves as the town attorney in Deep River and was former general counsel to the Connecticut Farm Bureau. She is a trustee of the Essex Savings Bank, secretary of the Black Hall Association and was an appointed member of the Connecticut River Estuary Planning Agency until 2012. Marsh has served on planning and zoning commissions in town since 1981.

1. Why are you running for the Zoning Commission, and what skills or experiences make you the right candidate for that role?

I am running to continue my 45-year position on Old Lyme’s land use commissions. Serving my community in this way is how I believe I can best use the knowledge and experience I already have to steadfastly protect our beautiful and safe town for the benefit of all the people who live here. 

2. Despite a decade-long effort to create a vision for Halls Road that the community can support, the goal remains out of sight. What do YOU want the future of Halls Road to look like, and what role should the Zoning Commission have in making it happen? 

The Halls Road shopping area is used by the townspeople on a regular basis and our basic needs are met there. True it is not glamorous, but it is functional for us. I believe we all support the idea of making it greener, adding more trees, plantings and walkways connecting it to the other uses nearer Lyme Street, including a new walking bridge over the Lieutenant River. Listening to the many citizens who took the time to attend the hearings on the prior proposal, I did not distill from the comments a great desire for fundamental change, especially change that would generate new development or add residential housing to the area. 

3. Old Lyme, like the other municipalities in the state, is being called upon to increase the availability of affordable housing. Do you think Old Lyme needs more diverse housing options, and what part does the Zoning Commission play in ensuring the appropriate amount of residential development in town? 

Affordable housing has to be located where it makes sense. State policies which mandate suspension of all zoning rules in all 169 towns to give developers “incentive” to build projects is not the way to create such housing. How could I agree that zoning rules are merely extraneous. Any affordable project that has more than a token number of affordable units under the present standards will need to be subsidized continually by the public in order to stay well-maintained and remain a good place for people to live and raise families. The profit motive of individuals will not build and sustain this housing need. When affordable homes are built, they need to be located where there is transportation, infrastructure and employment nearby- and all other things that are needed by the future residents to improve their situation. I believe the State should roll up its sleeves, fund and build the projects that the legislators want to see and in the numbers they believe are needed in proper locations and plan that those projects are a continuing financial commitment for the long term.

4. In order of importance, what do you see as the top three challenges facing the commission over the next five years?

The Zoning Commission has undertaken a complete re-writing of its regulations. These regulations really do fundamentally affect what it feels like to live in Old Lyme. The members need to be very careful to retain all that has made Old Lyme so unusual while at the same time allowing for the necessary changes to meet new concerns of sea level rise and flooding, provide a range of housing choices that residents are looking for and to make sure that what residents need in a primarily residential community is there for them. That means picking and choosing among ideas, knowing which ones are suitable and will stand the test of time.