Stonington — The town has come up with a proposed new zoning district that is designed to encourage investment and revitalization in downtown Pawcatuck.

For years, the revitalization of the area has stalled and lagged well behind that of neighboring downtown Westerly, which has developed a vibrant scene of locally owned restaurants and shops over the past decade.

But just across the river in Pawcatuck, several buildings remain vacant and the Campbell Grain Building is being torn down. Owners of two downtown buildings, though, recently gained approval to renovate second-floor space for apartments after the town helped bring in Internet service.

The Economic Development Commission is slated to discuss the proposal at its 7 p.m. meeting Feb 15 at the Human Services Building.

“Everyone who comes through there feels sorry for us,” commission Chairman Dave Hammond said about the downtown area. “I’ve lived here for 20 years and it hasn’t changed.”

In an explanation of the new zone, the town’s Planning Department wrote, “Downtown Pawcatuck represents untapped potential to become a thriving village center. For over a decade, Pawcatuck residents have hoped that the revitalization that has occurred in Downtown Westerly would spread over the bridge. While progress has been made in the form of some building rehabilitations and new businesses, there are still many under utilized buildings and properties that are ripe for reinvestment.”

Hammond said his commission is in favor of zoning revisions that spur investment in downtown Pawcatuck. He said the commission has done a number of exercises to come up with ideas about how different areas of town, such as downtown Pawcatuck and the Olde Mistick Village area, can be put to even better use to boost the grand list and increase tax revenue for the town. He said those issues have become critical with Gov. Dannel Malloy’s proposal to dramatically cut funding to many non-urban communities such as Stonington.

He said the commission will review the proposal to replace the existing DB-5 zone in downtown Pawcatuck with the new PV-5 zone, which would allow greater density of residential development, more flexible off-street parking requirements and which prohibits parking in front of buildings to maintain a village-scale development.

It also would allow A-frame sidewalk signs to advertise businesses, which currently are prohibited by zoning. Some business owners, however, ignore the ban. The proposal also would streamline the permitting process, allow larger wall signs and an expanded variety of commercial uses with staff or commission approval.

The zone would extend west from the Pawcatuck River to Liberty Street, north to Noyes Avenue and south along the Amtrak line to Palmer Street. It would not affect the northern edge of the manufacturing zone along Mechanic Street that houses the former Yardney mills.

The PV-5 zone also could replace the existing LS-5 zone to the west or it could remain in place to buffer adjacent residential areas. The LS-5 zone extends west to approximately Lincoln and Lester avenues with roughly the same north-south boundaries as the DB-5 zone.

The Planning Department wrote that “there are several cases in which the current DB-5 regulations hamper redevelopment — particularly the type of village-scale, mixed-use redevelopment that is recommended in the town’s Plan of Conservation and Development,” which was developed with input from residents who want to see the downtown redeveloped.

Hammond said the Economic Development Commission and Planning Department plan to host a number of workshops that will gather input from the public on the proposal “so people are comfortable with this.”

If there is support for the idea, the Planning and Zoning Commission could submit a formal application for the new zone to itself. After a public hearing, the commission could approve the new zoning district.

Hammond said the goal of the new district is to encourage development in which people can live where they shop and work. He added, though, that the rezoning is only one of the steps needed to transform the downtown.

He said another way the town could spur more investment is to change an existing regulation in which downtown building owners are barred from making investments in excess of 50 percent of the value of the property over a five-year period unless they comply with costly flood-zone improvements such as raising the height of their buildings. Such changes are not only expensive but could change the character of the downtown, he said.

Hammond said a change to a one-year period, which is what is in effect in downtown Westerly, would promote investment as renovations could be done over consecutive years.

Another proposal is to construct a footbridge at the end of Cogswell Street to create a walking loop with the Pawcatuck River bridge between the two downtowns.

The town’s proposed capital improvement plan has increased the priority of the project and calls for allocating a total of $750,000 for the bridge in the 2017-18 and 2018-19 budgets.

j.wojtas@theday.com