Tariffville Village Association:
                    Preserving our Heritage,
                                        Planning for the Future

When the village of Tariffville was laid out in the 1820’s, it was a pedestrian-friendly place. Everyone walked to wherever they chose to go, and most of what they needed was available somewhere in the village. When changes were made to accommodate automobiles, too many pedestrian amenities were sacrificed, and most village businesses were unable to compete with larger stores away from here.

Now we are trying to remedy some of those problems, especially safety issues, and also to make changes to improve our lifestyle in Tariffville. We want to make our village, its parks and recreational trails more visible and easier to access. We also want to make our village attract enough visitors to support businesses that will keep it vibrant. We want to encourage our neighbors to spend more time in the village. We don’t want to recreate the 1850 village, but we do want to capitalize on our unique features and make this a more delightful place to live. Your ideas are WELCOME!

The Planning Committee of the Tariffville Village Association is exploring ways to achieve these goals. Our members include residents with experience in this field and the tools to create plans. We have the support of the Simsbury Design Review Board for professional advice. Our town officials believe we are providing an important service based upon local citizen input and they are providing support for our efforts. We expect our final plans to be incorporated in the 2004 version of the Simsbury Plan of Development. The Tariffville Village Association will work assiduously to make our plans come true, and we have already won considerable support from our town officials. The Design Review Board plans to create special design standards to enhance our village charm.

Your Planning Committee is exploring a wide range of design projects. Some are mundane, such as the repair of damaged sidewalks and adding sidewalks to fill gaps, plus the planting of trees along roadsides. We also seek to shift the balance of accommodation between autos and pedestrians back a bit in favor of pedestrians, slowing traffic on Main Street and Winthrop Street and improving pedestrian crossing on Elm Street and Route 189. We want to create safe pedestrian access to Tariffville Park, the Metacomet Trail and the Mill, which we expect to become an attraction under its new ownership. We want to make it safe, easy and pleasant to walk, or push a stroller, around the entire village and to access our recreational trails. We believe our village deserves gateway monuments at the entrances to the village and we seek design ideas. Got any?

Our Planning Committee has so far identified two important attractions to our village, the restaurants and the recreational assets, including the trails, mountain, gorge and river. Future developments at the Mill could also be beneficial. Improvements to roads in Tariffville Park will permit wider recreational use including fishing, canoeing and kayaking, and bringing more people to town to our local businesses. Upgrading the trail along the river from Curtis Park through Tariffville Park and into the village will bring bikers, joggers, and strollers. Since the Town owns a right of way beginning on Winthrop Street and extending into Tariffville Park, we could create a new pedestrian access path. Our villagers will also enjoy these, along with other amenities added to the park, such as fishing sites, picnic tables and benches. Widening sidewalks on Main Street would provide gathering space for people and perhaps outdoor table space for the restaurants. Improved access to the river upstream of the Mill would be nice. We expect that many more good ideas should be explored for inclusion in our final plan to be submitted to the Town. If you have any suggestions, please contact

Frank Haviland at 651-3225, or via e-mail at flhaviland@comcast.net

Better yet, please JOIN the Tariffville Village Association, participate in the debates over what is best to do, and help us find ways to MAKE IT ALL HAPPEN! This is our village and we are planning our own future!