Route 202 North to Northville

1. Route 202 is one of the four state highways that converge into the center of New Milford. Like many other principal highways converging into the Connecticut communities, the road follows a low-lying valley, and connects New Milford with other regional communities.
2. Much of the land along Route 202 is constrained from development by some topographic or natural feature, such as steep slopes or waterc00ourses.
3. Route 202 starts within downtown New Milford, extending north towards New Preston, Lake Waramaug and other areas of Litchfield County.
4. Many residents within the towns of Litchfield County, such as Washington, Warren and Cornwall, use Route 202 to travel into New Milford to use commercial services.
5. New Milford Hospital anchors the southern end of the corridor. It is located on the northeast edge of downtown New Milford. Like most hospitals, related medical facilities have sprung up around the hospital, some owned by the hospital, and some independent. This has certain implications for land use and economic development within this immediate area:
   1. Medical care is one of the fastest growing components of the economy.
   2. New Milford Hospital is a regional hospital which serves residents of communities as far north as the Massachusetts state line.
   3. Hospitals usually attract other economic activity. Some of it may be associated with the hospital, but other may be independent. It is common for hospitals to become surrounded by physicians’ offices, diagnostic laboratories, pharmacies, and different type of treatment centers. These facilities like to be clustered together near hospitals, for the convenience of patients and physicians and the desirability of shared services.
   4. There is developable area in the vicinity of the hospital that can either be developed as part of the hospital, or independently as medical facilities.
   5. The area is close enough to the growing downtown area to be considered a part of downtown. The area should be included and linked with the downtown area, through intervening compatible land uses, and a consistent design scheme.
6. Northville is a small concentration of commercial activities located in the extreme northeastern section of New Milford. Like Gaylordsville, it has a strong rural character, and is somewhat remote from the principal commercial and business centers of New Milford. However, it has a lower concentration of uses and activity than Gaylordsville. Uses along this stretch of Route 202, extending north from the intersection of Bear Hill Road, include a grocery store, liquor store, several restaurants, hardware store, assorted other small commercial activities; and somewhat incongruously, an automobile dealership. Indications are that the commercial areas of Northville serve residents of the communities to the northeast, such as Washington and Warren.
7. The northern section of the Route 202 Corridor does not have good east-west road connections to link with the northwestern neighborhoods of New Milford.
8. The proliferation of medical uses is not confined to the area immediately around New Milford Hospital. There is another concentration of medical offices along Old Park Lane approximately one mile north of the hospital. In addition, there are scattered medical offices between the intersection of Ellington Farm Road and Route 109.
9. The area along Route 202 from Ellington Farm Road to Route 109 includes, in addition to the medical offices cited above, a mixture of small scale retail uses, multi-family residential uses, and other types of small offices or service establishments.
10. The Route 202 Corridor includes sizeable areas of relatively undeveloped and low density areas, especially north of the power line crossing. This gives the northern section of the corridor a distinctly rural character, which reflects the surrounding areas within the northeastern section of New Milford. Much of this area lacks access to public utilities.

1. The residential density of those areas that have access to public water and sewer, south of Van Car Road should be consistent with that permitted within the R-8 zone. However, the development permitted should allow a clustering of units consistent with the underlying density of the R-8 district.
2. The residential areas north of Van Car Road with access to public water and sewer should be developed consistent with the permitted densities within the R-20 district. As indicated above, the development should permit a clustering of units, consistent with the underlying density.
3. Residential areas without access to public utilities should be developed only in conjunction with the existing requirements of zoning.
4. The area around New Milford Hospital should be viewed and planned as a component of downtown New Milford. The uses there should be relatively high in intensity, with some common design themes and linkages with the area along the green. In addition, a continuation of higher intensity uses several blocks north of the hospital is also appropriate.
5. Additional neighborhood scale retail and related uses should be located within the general confines of Northville, roughly between Bear Hill Road and the Volkswagen dealership. These uses could include a small pharmacy, several additional restaurants and snack shops, and other retail outlets that may serve residents of that neighborhood, as well as residents of communities to the north. This could include expansion of the existing businesses, to serve the growing trade area.
6. The current strips of commercial uses, primarily between Ellington Farm Road and Route 109 can continue to support small retail, office and multi-family uses. However, these uses should be small scale. Some larger office type uses may be appropriate, but they should be landscaped and sited to avoid the creation of the appearance of a conventional commercial strip.