I am retired from two concurrent careers, a consultant practice in land surveying and engineering designing residential subdivisions for developers for some 31 years and developing residential subdivisions individually and in partnerships for some 37 years, throughout towns in south-central Connecticut. My expertise in subdivision development and land use was well known, especially by the town where I resided, Guilford, Connecticut. It led to my appointment to a subcommittee of the Planning and Zoning Commission evaluating a land use concept espoused by Professor Randall Arendt of the University of Massachusetts, his development concept maximized open space preservation when land is subdivided. The subcommittee determined that this concept would preserve a minimum of 50% of a property proposed to be subdivided as open space, while maintaining the same lot yield that the existing subdivision regulation permitted. This was a tremendous increase from the present 10% open space requirement and also preserved the financial position of the property owner. It was a win-win for the town and property owner. The regulation to accomplish the above was adopted by the Planning and Zoning Commission, as the "Open Space Development Subdivision Method", for which I am proud to have provided the key technical portion of the regulation. Additionally, this method of subdividing land resulted in a reduction to road and storm water drainage infrastructure, lowering development costs and future maintenance by the town. Later in my career because of my recognition in land use matters, I was appointed to the Guilford Zoning Board of Appeals, as a member I wrote the first regulation standards for variance applications, the main focus of its activities, and eventually became the vice chairman of the commission. I am a co-author of "Madson, On Connecticut Real Property Boundary Law, by T.S. Madson II, 1989, LSS Publishing Company", which was researched and written during a seminar held at the Yale University Law School.
