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To the Editor:
While Fairfield’s Town Plan and Zoning Commission (TPZ) doesn’t typically get much attention, it is arguably the town’s most important elected body. The TPZ not only votes on proposed developments; it also shapes and ultimately provides the overall guiding vision for Fairfield: our open space, our housing, our transportation, our sustainability, and our coastal resilience. The Plan and Zoning Commission has the potential to be a profound force for good. But disappointingly, it has squandered that potential.
That is why I’m asking you to vote for me and for the entire Democratic ticket for Fairfield’s Plan and Zoning Commission on November 7.
My name is Tom Corsillo. I’ve been a strong advocate for safe and livable streets here in Fairfield. I’ve spent the last 18 years working professionally in land use and zoning in towns half the size of Fairfield as well as in big cities. And I’ve served as an alternate on the Plan and Zoning Commission since 2022. That experience has given me the expertise and wisdom needed to implement a new vision for our town.
It’s time to put people first.
Fairfield’s people are what make our town so great. If I and my fellow Democrats are elected, we will put forward a people-centric vision for Fairfield. What does that mean?
- We can create diverse home options for seniors, young people, and the folks who keep our town running, like firefighters, teachers, and police officers.
- We can transform our Black Rock Turnpike and Post Road commercial corridors into vibrant, welcoming, safe, and walkable destinations.
- We can enhance pedestrian and bicycle safety while reducing vehicular traffic.
- We can preserve and expand our open spaces.
- And we can generate new revenue by expanding our tax base to support investments in our schools and infrastructure.
Fairfield deserves leaders who have ideas for how we can proactively do these things – like removing unnecessary red tape that makes it nearly impossible to put a modest two floors of apartments above ground-floor retail along Post Road even though zoning already allows buildings taller than three stories. Or eliminating the excessive setbacks on Black Rock Turnpike and parts of Post Road to bring our shops and restaurants toward the sidewalk instead of the massive asphalt parking lots that dominate the streetscape today.
I respect our opponents’ willingness to serve our town. But each has spent years on the TPZ, and the status quo simply isn’t working.
We are still woefully short of the homes we need to allow long-time residents to stay here and to attract the talent our local businesses need to thrive. Many of our streets are too dangerous to walk or bike on, which means cars are the only way to get around, adding to traffic congestion. And Black Rock Turnpike – unattractive, uninviting, and unsafe – remains a monument to wasted potential.
It’s time for something new.
My wife and I chose Fairfield as the place to raise our young family, and we are committed to its future. I want to help make our town better for all of us, and I want others to have that same opportunity to live here that my family has had.
We can create that opportunity while maintaining what we all love about our town. It just requires vision, creative thinking, experience, and commitment – which I promise to bring to the Plan and Zoning Commission.
For a people-centric vision for Fairfield, please vote for Tom Corsillo, Jeff Randolph, and Jeff Galdenzi for Plan and Zoning Commission on November 7. To learn more about my qualifications and priorities, click here.
Tom Corsillo
Fairfield
Tom Corsillo is a Democratic candidate for Fairfield’s Town Plan and Zoning Commission.