Glastonbury planning chief Rebecca Augur leaving for state job

Jul. 6—GLASTONBURY — Rebecca Augur, who has been the town's director of planning and land use services for a little more than a year, is moving on to a job at the state Office of Policy and Management.

Robert Zanlungo Jr., the chairman of the Town Plan and Zoning Commission, said at the end of the commission's meeting Tuesday that Augur would be moving to the state job after Friday.

"You will be missed," Zanlungo told Augur. "I wish our time together was longer."

PLANNER LEAVING

WHO: Rebecca Augur, who has been Glastonbury's director of planning and land use services for a little more than a year

WHY: Augur has accepted a job with the state Office of Policy and Management that will include work on a state plan of conservation and development.

Commission Vice Chairwoman Sharon Purtill called Augur "very professional" and said she had enjoyed working with her.

Commission Secretary Michael Botelho said Augur has been "calm and cool under pressure."

And member Corey Turner told Augur, "You've been great. You will be missed."

Augur replied that she has enjoyed her time in Glastonbury.

She said after the meeting that her responsibilities at OPM will include working on development of a state plan of conservation and development similar to those Connecticut towns have developed and update regularly.

Augur's predecessor as Glastonbury planning director was Khara Dodds, who held the job for more than five years before leaving in early 2021 to move with her family to Texas.

Dodds followed Kenith E. Leslie, who was the town's community development director for some 30 years and could remember every development and every owner in town, commission member Raymond Hassett has said.

Augur has served as president of the Connecticut chapter of the American Planning Association.

One of Augur's duties in Glastonbury was providing staff assistance in the development of the town's affordable housing plan, which the Town Council adopted in June.

The plan, which was required by state law, sets a goal of adding 105 units to the town's stock of affordable housing in the next five years, although Augur told the council in June that nothing in the plan is binding.

She leaves while a major and highly controversial affordable housing proposal remains pending before the TPZ. That is a developer's plan to build a five-story, 74-unit apartment building on a 2.4-acre property at Manchester Road and Hebron Avenue.

The proposal seeks to qualify for the state exemption from zoning laws, as 23 units, or 30%, would be rent-restricted for 40 years to meet state affordability standards. The TPZ's public hearing on the plan is scheduled to resume at the commission's July 19 meeting.

One multifamily housing proposal that the TPZ approved during Augur's tenure was the plan to convert the former Consolidated Cigar Corp. warehouse at 38 Hubbard St. to 30 condominium units.

The "Warehouse 38" proposal wasn't for affordable housing, as the units are expected to be priced in the $300,000 to $450,000 range. But it encountered vigorous opposition from neighbors. The owner of one neighboring property, Leonard J. Factor, is appealing the TPZ's approval to court.

A major proposal that was filed during Augur's tenure but has receded from the limelight in recent months is the Residences at Hebron and Main, a proposed large-scale residential and commercial complex on the west side of Main Street, running south from the Hebron Avenue intersection. That plan has run into opposition from the Town Council on historic preservation grounds.

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