Old Lyme Zoning Commission Meets Thursday to Continue Discussion of Halls Road Overlay District

Summary Given of All Related Communications Received by LymeLine

OLD LYME—On Thursday, Feb. 27, the Old Lyme Zoning Commission will hold Public Hearings and a Special Meeting starting at 6:30 p.m. in the Lyme-Old Lyme Middle School Auditorium.

Zoning Commission Chairman Paul Orzel notes that the Middle School has a hard “close” time of 9 p.m., which the Commission intends to honor.

The agenda notes 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 is the Halls Road Improvement Committee.

Additional information on each case is available for review in the Old Lyme Land Use office and on the Zoning Commission website at this link.

Members of the public, who would like to submit written comments on either case, are encouraged to email a copy of their comments to Old Lyme Land Use Technician, Craig Bonatti, at least one day prior to the Public Hearing at cbonatti@oldlyme-ct.gov.

We also recommend readers to review the Halls Road Improvement Committee’s page at this link, which contains links to numerous pages detailing the proposals.

The HROD proposal has aroused significant controversy throughout the town and on social media. A large number of residents is expected to attend the meeting.

To assist our readers in understanding the various and conflicting opinions on the Halls Road Overlay District (HROD) proposal, we provide links below to all the correspondence/op-ed’s/opinion pieces that we have received regarding the matter. Be sure to read all the Comments, which have been posted, too.

• Letter to the Editor: Disagreements Voiced with HROD—Pause Plan Now, Discuss it Further, Make New Proposal Supported by Majority from Charles and Joan Meek, 02/24/25
• Letter to the Editor: An Open Letter to the People of Old Lyme—Take Action to Support the Halls Road Overlay District from Edie Twining, 02/20/25
• A View From My Porch: A Short History of the Halls Road Overlay District (HROD), Why it is ‘a Worthy Project’ by Thomas D. Gotowka, 02/19/25
• Letter to the Editor: Halls Rd. Overlay District Proposal is ‘All About the Money’ by Sloan Danenhower, 02/19/25
• Statement from Old Lyme’s Halls Road Improvement Committee: “Setting the Record Straight on the Halls Road Overlay District (HROD)” by the HRIC, 02/14/25
• Op-Ed: Support HROD—Inevitable Halls Rd. Will Change, Optional Overlay Positions Old Lyme to Better Manage Its Future: Other Choice is Leave it to Chance by Howard Margules, 02/08/25
• Op-Ed: Reject HROD—Don’t Compromise Old Lyme’s Identity: “Thoughtful, Transparent Planning” Needed from Jill and Russell Todd, 02/05/25
• Letter to the Editor: Halls Rd. Overlay District Will Allow Old Lyme to Remain a Small, But Walkable, Vibrant Community from Katy Klarnet, 02/04/25
• Letter to the Editor: Halls Rd. Overlay District is Good for Old Lyme, False Information Harms the Town from Mark Terwilliger, 02/03/25
• Letter to the Editor: Halls Road Improvements Committee’s Proposals are ‘Extreme’, Zoning Should Keep Intensity, Scale of Plans ‘in Keeping with Rest of Town’ from Sloan Danenhower, 02/01/25
• Letter to the Editor: Halls Rd. Overlay District on Agenda at Old Lyme Zoning Meeting; Residents Encouraged to Attend, Support Proposal from Edie Twining, 01/13/25

Please let us know promptly if we have omitted any correspondence in our listing above.