Broad consensus and sharp disagreement

By Wiley Wood

Imagine gathering a large, random group of Norfolkians to discuss what’s good and bad about the town and asking them to suggest one or two things that need doing in the next ten years. A recent community survey did essentially that, but gathered the responses online. The comments and suggestions of all 208 participants have since been posted on the town website, and a few noteworthy trends emerge. The full survey results are available on the Town of Norfolk website, on the Planning and Zoning Commission page.

Almost everyone agrees that Norfolk is a beautiful town and that this is a good thing. They take pride in Norfolk’s natural beauty, its forests, hills, ponds, and trails, the cleanliness and classic architecture of the village area, its peace and tranquillity as a small rural town. Great Mountain Forest and the Norfolk Land Trust, which make land available for public use, are praised, along with Barbour Woods (which is dog friendly) and Haystack and Dennis Hill State Parks.

Norfolk’s community is also strongly appreciated. The people in town are described as friendly, engaged, welcoming, nice, ready to volunteer, neighborly, interesting, and sharing a strong sense of community.

Town consultant Glenn Chalder, who collated the results in connection with the 2019 town plan, characterizes Norfolk’s sense of community as unique. People in many small towns feel a commitment to their community, says Chalder, and as a town’s size increases, of course, that feeling gets diluted. But in looking at the Norfolk survey, he said, “the warmth that comes through, the sense people have that they’re connected to Norfolk, jumped off the page.”

There is also wide agreement that Norfolk’s cultural offerings are a source of pride. The programs at the library, the collections at the Norfolk Historical Society, the concerts at the Music Shed and Infinity Hall and the activities offered at Weekend in Norfolk are all mentioned.

Fully three quarters of what people listed as the town’s strengths fall into one of these three categories: the physical beauty of the town, its community, and its arts and culture.

A grab bag of other features of the town come in for commendation: the low mill rate and reasonable taxes, the Tiffany windows in Battell Chapel, George’s Garage, the closure of Maple Avenue on Halloween, the farmers market, the Curling Club, Santa’s special delivery, Botelle Elementary School, Meadowbrook Senior Housing, the shops on Station Place, the Memorial Day parade, Norfolk Now, the First Congregational and Immaculate Conception Churches, the NVFD and Norfolk Lions Club Ambulance, and the Icebox’s cool summers and extreme winter weather.

The rosy picture of Norfolk as an attractive, friendly town with bountiful arts and culture assumes a more complex shading when residents are asked to name what they consider its bad aspects.

“Utterly boring,” says one respondent. “Lack of family activities,” says another. “Empty in winter,” says a third.

Among the more specific responses, a surprising number focus on sidewalks, especially the crumbling, beat-up sidewalks downtown. And there is a quiet drumbeat about the lack of a walkway or bicycle path along Route 44 to Botelle School, where students may not arrive except by motor vehicle.

Also surprising is how many people regret the loss of the pizzeria. A fixture along Greenwoods Road North for many years, first as Mizza’s, then as Haystack Pizza (the sign still hangs next to the leasing company’s), the pizzeria was a famously unprofitable business, especially for the last owner. But it filled a need that some survey takers still experience for a local, low-cost, family eatery.

Slowing traffic through town, particularly along Route 44, is widely seen as a priority. This message seems to have already reached Town Hall. A task force that includes First Selectman Matt Riiska has been exploring remedies to the speeding problem with the Connecticut Department of Transportation, which has jurisdiction over state roads.

Botelle Elementary draws a more varied response than any other element of town. While it is a positive feature for many people, it is a source of negative feelings for others, either because it costs too much or because it is underfunded in the town’s budget.

The failure to partner with Colebrook on a regional elementary school is still widely felt as a lost opportunity. The effort was shelved in 2015 after a referendum vote that would have needed the approval of both towns to pass. Norfolk voted in favor of the measure, but Colebrook, which would have had to shutter its school and bus its children to Norfolk, voted against it.

“If you’re involved with the school,” says Glenn Chalder, “the fact that it’s small, that it has a strong community and a small class size is all good. As you step back, you see that fiscally and otherwise it’s a big challenge.” Norfolk may want to revisit regionalization, he adds, maybe with Goshen or Falls Village, as costs climb higher and programs get more threadbare. “But we’re not quite there yet,” says Chalder.

Among other lingering regrets, the loss of the Yale Farm golf club still resonates. “Major blunder of denying the Yale Farm golf facility,” writes one person. Another points out that the club and its luxury residential complex would have provided jobs for young people and extra tax revenue for the town. But when developer Roland Betts pulled the plug on the golf course in April 2009, he blamed the poor state of America’s economy and the unlikelihood of finding enough takers for the club’s six-figure membership fees. The project had received approval from Norfolk’s Planning and Zoning Commission and its Inland Wetlands Agency. By Betts’s own assessment, the opposition of town activists and the support of first selectman Sue Dyer were all largely irrelevant to his decision.

The major beef about Norfolk, unsurprisingly, relates to the lackluster regional economy, the scarcity of jobs, the high cost of housing, excessive taxes, the flight of young people and the inability of the town to draw and keep families with children.

And while airing their beefs, some respondents described the people in town as self-absorbed, very old, snobbish, small-minded and not too friendly. And some weren’t happy about the eyesores around town or the litter on the roads either.

Broadband internet and improved cellphone service are a critical need, said some respondents, citing poor cell reception in South Norfolk particularly. A plan to bring fiber-optic service to every home and business in twenty-five towns in Northwest Connecticut is currently being promoted by an advocacy group, Northwest Connect. The organization will start soliciting community support for network funding this fall, according to its website (www.northwest-connect.org).

A persistent thread in the comments faults the town for preventing non-retail, industrial businesses from moving in. “Address zoning rules that limit business activity,” says one comment. Michele Sloane, chairman of the Planning and Zoning Commission, expressed puzzlement. She considers the commission friendly to business and invites dialogue. “Anybody can at any point petition the commission to amend the regulations,” says Sloane.

A related accusation is that Norfolk is resistant to change and hostage to a group whose concerns are mainly aesthetic and impractical.

Among the competing visions for the future of Norfolk, there is one that sees industrial development as the town’s salvation, since forests and pastures don’t generate much income for the town, although they cover a large part of its area. “The present plan of not allowing industry in town has failed. We cannot live by culture alone,” says a respondent. Manufacturing, while it might not be palatable to weekenders, would provide year-rounders with solid job opportunities.

A second, alternative vision sees Norfolk’s most valuable asset as its natural resources, “the amazing hills, trails, ponds, streams and woods” that can be explored on foot, skis or bike. More emphasis on the recreational possibilities of Norfolk’s existing open land and the creation of a townwide trail system anchored by the rail trail could make Norfolk a destination for youth-oriented activities, according to this line of thinking.

A third vision focuses on Botelle School. Pouring resources and effort into elementary education could provide the best possible experience for local children and attract more young families to settle here, reversing a demographic trend toward a graying population.

And finally, there are those who say that Norfolk is pretty wonderful and should only be changed carefully. But a grocery store downtown would be nice. And a summer camp for kids.

One suggestion, possibly a valuable one, was for the town to hold an annual barbecue “to get to know your neighbors.”