Groton Open Space Association

What Is An “Open” Zoning Commission Meeting?

GROTON — Is it possible for a Zoning Commission meeting to be both open and closed at the same time?

That question arose following a 6 p.m., Oct. 15, 2007, special Zoning Commission session.

The agenda posted by the Office of Planning and Development Services in Community Room 2 of the Town Hall Annex listed two items of business:

1. A proposed executive (closed to the public) session regarding “pending litigation” on Floating Zone amendment application. The application had been turned down by the Commission on a 3-2 vote Oct. 3.

2. Discussion and possible action on a request for reconsideration of the negative vote.

The Day newspaper, which had a reporter in the lobby outside the meeting room during the vote, reported the session as if it all had taken place behind closed doors. The GOSA website summarized The Day’s story, attributing it to the newspaper. The website report indicated the commission’s decision to reconsider at a forthcoming meeting Nov. 7 came during the executive session.

The OPDS later said the unanimously voted decision to reconsider had been made during a portion of the meeting that was open to the public. It asked the GOSA website to correct its story. It said that a vote could be taken only during a public session.

The OPDS said that a sign was posted on the door of Community Room 2 when the closed session began. The sign was taken down after discussion of the “pending litigation” and prior to the reconsideration vote, the OPDS said, calling this a “very common and prudent practice.”

An official of a neighboring town agreed that signs are common but said the common practice also includes a loud announcement to members of the public outside the door when a sign is taken down. No such announcement was reported Oct. 15. As best could be determined, no member of the public, including a representative of L&L Groton LLC, the applicant, who earlier had been dismissed from Meeting Room 2, was aware of the reopening.

“Maybe someone forgot to shout,” said the neighboring town official.

The “pending litigation” was a threatened appeal of the Oct. 3 vote by L&L Groton LLC Atty. Timothy Bates, who after the Oct. 15 meeting said the vote to reconsider had prevented an appeal.

Is a threatened appeal the same as “pending litigation?” One lawyer said no.

In any case, is a threatened appeal sufficient to justify an executive session? An official of the Freedom of Information Commission in Hartford said, without getting into the specifics of this case, that a vague threat of a suit does not justify an executive session. However, a specific threat in writing “could be OK.” The exact form of Mr. Bates’s threat was not immediately determined.

What remains fully open as a practical question is whether a Zoning Commission meeting can be both open and closed at the same time.