The People of the Town of Fairfield find and declare as follows:
A. The Town has adopted ordinances and a general plan relating to the regulation for residential development.
B. The Town is experiencing a period of residential development which is adversely affecting the capacity of the streets to meet traffic demands, the capacity to provide fire services and water, the capacity of the area school to absorb children in an orderly way, the historic character of the community, the quality of life which had characterized this community, and the cost to households for utilities and municipal services.
C. It is the intent of the people of the community to achieve a steady rate of residential growth each year rather than a fluctuating, overly rapid rate, in order that the services provided by the Town and area schools, parks, utilities and service agencies operating in the Town and surrounding region, can be properly and effectively staged in a manner which will not overextend existing facilities, and in order to bring existing services up to necessary standards while minimizing the avoidable cost of short sighted facility expansion, by means of long term planning.
D. It is the intent of the people of the Town to establish control over quality, distribution, and rate of growth of the Town in the interest of:
1. Preserving the character of the community;
2. Protecting the open space of the community;
3. Protecting the quality of life in the Town;
4. Ensuring the adequacy of Town facilities, school facilities, recreation and park facilities, and services;
5. Ensuring the adequacy of fire protection; and
6. Ensuring an adequate water supply for current and future residents.
E. It is the purpose of this ordinance to augment the policies of the town as recorded in the general plan and other town ordinances relating to regulating development.
F. In order to facilitate purposes, the town must be able to control the rate, distribution, quality and economic level of the proposed development. Control systems for the town codified in this ordinance shall be in effect after its effective date until amended.
G. It is furthermore the intent of the people of the Town that the awarding of building permit allotments pursuant to this ordinance be accomplished in accordance with the criteria set forth herein, fairly, impartially, and without discrimination against any particular parcel of land, development project, or developer.
H. This ordinance shall regulate the time or rate of development based on existing zoning or other land use approvals applying to a particular parcel of land or development.