Diana Stricker Photo
Mac tells the P& Z he is leaving.
Ellsworth “Mac” McGuigan, the paragon of the Planning and Zoning (P&Z) Commission, is saying good-bye after more than 30 years serving on one of Branford’s most prestigious commissions.
“I have submitted my resignation,” McGuigan said late Thursday night prior to the conclusion of a nearly four-hour meeting. “I’ve been trying to think of a diplomatic way to bow out for six months,” he said with a chuckle. His five-year term ends October 31, 2018.
McGuigan said he would like to leave July 1, but he will stay until there is a vote on the Costco project. That could occur at the June 18 meeting, since the commission asked the staff to draft a resolution with several conditions if there is a vote for approval.
“I can’t imagine this place with you leaving,” said commissioner Charles Andres.
“Well, let me tell you a little story,” said McGuigan, whose sense of humor is well-known. He said when he told his physician that he was going to leave the P&Z commission, the doctor suggested that P&Z was keeping him healthy. “Do you really want to do this?” the physician asked McGuigan. “You’re doing good. You’re healthy, you’re alive, you’re walking.” And McGuigan told the doctor, “Are you kidding, P&Z is killing me.” And then he laughed that familiar laugh.
“I really will miss it here,” he said on a serious note. “And I’ll miss working with all of you,” he said to the commission and staff. “We are a unique group of people. … Everybody contributes, and I really enjoy that aspect of it.”
“We’re sad to see him go,” said First Selectman Jamie Cosgrove after he shook McGuigan’s hand at the end of the meeting. “This is the way a commission should be. It’s not political and it’s unbiased and that’s due to him,” Cosgrove told the Eagle. “But he feels it’s time, and I respect that.”
The commission discussed Costco and the proposed Planned Development District for about 90 minutes Thursday. One of the conditions would require Costco to reduce the amount of impervious surface to 60 percent instead of 65; and another dealt with specific uses that could be included in the Master Plan. We will have a more detailed story on Thursday’s Costco’s hearing soon.
During his three decades on P&Z, McGuigan helped guide Branford through many proposed developments from Beacon Hill to the current PDDs including Atlantic Wharf and the Costco Master Plan. He also took the reins to help revise the zoning regulations and create the town’s various Plans of Conservation and Development. He told the Eagle that at one time the Representative Town Meeting (RTM) wanted to make P&Z membership a paid position. But McGuigan told the RTM that wasn’t a good idea, because the commission worked well as a volunteer organization. McGuigan also chaired the commission when the Wal-Mart application was approved.
Diana Stricker Photo
Bill Horne and Mac.
McGuigan also spent some time last night reminiscing with local environmentalist Bill Horne, who has attended many P& Z meetings over the past 15 years.
“I have a lot of respect for how Mac has led the Planning and Zoning Commission in its day-to- day work, approving applications, the ten year revisions of the Plan of Conservation and Development and the recent general revision of the regulations,” Horne told the Eagle today. “I am sorry to see him leave.”
McGuigan told the Eagle Branford has changed a lot over the years since he was first appointed as an alternate member of the P&Z Commission.
“Branford has changed but I think it’s changed for the good,” he said. “Change is a mark of progress.”
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