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10/26/2022 08:30 AMGuiding development is one of the most important — and most tricky — jobs faced by small towns. As a member of Clinton’s Planning and Zoning Commission (PZC), Mike Knudsen has been working at helping the Town with the balancing act for much of the past decade.
In 2013, when Mike was in the process of moving his business from Branford to a piece of property he owned in Clinton, he became a frequent visitor to the town’s land use office.
“In going though the process and working with them, I thought it might be something I wanted to be involved in. So, I decided I would try,” Mike says.
Mike’s nearly decade long involvement with the town was further spurred by his successful campaign for a seat on PZC in 2013. Since then, he has been re-elected to the PZC and served on the Charter Revision Commission. He also was a brief member of Placemakers. Volunteering on town boards isn’t something that Mike necessarily saw himself doing when he was younger, but it’s something that he says has been rewarding, and he hopes more young people take advantage of.
“It’s something I got involved in after a while because I thought it was time, but I do hope more young people get involved,” says Mike. “It’s very rewarding and it is important.”
As a member of the PZC, Mike says he views the goals of the Commission as helping with potential developments while also making sure rules in place to guide that development are followed.
“We work on the Plan of Conservation and Development which serves as an overall guide for the Town. We update regulations on the books, and when people are before us, we deliberate to make sure their projects follow state statutes as well as the Plan of Conservation and Development,” Mike explains.
“It’s a hard role but it’s a necessary one,” he continues. “Sometimes you want to help someone with their idea but because of state statutes, what they want to do isn’t allowed and it can be hard to tell them no.”
Despite the difficulty, Mike says the work is rewarding — especially when it comes to applications that can lead to development that will excite residents like the Indian River Landing project or the rezoning of the Unilever property.
“Really, for me, the best part has been the people I’ve met. Republicans and Democrats. I’ve met a lot of great people and, overall, I’m proud of how we work together,” says Mike.
Besides his time on the PZC, Mike also served the Town as a member of the Charter Revision Commission in 2018. While that commission sometimes makes minor tweaks such as cleaning up grammar errors, the 2018 iteration recommended major changes. That year, the Commission recommended shifting the style of Clinton’s government from a board of selectman style of government to the town council/town manager form that is in use today. The recommended change was approved by voters in the fall of 2018 and went into effect in 2019.
“We had a great group in that committee. It was actually really fun to go through the Charter and take a kook at what some of the issues were at that time and come up with fixes,” says Mike. “I think going to the town manager was the right thing, and I think it’s worked out really well.”
Professionally, Mike is as an auctioneer and appraiser, a job that requires a lot of travel and leads to unique experiences. Mike says he has done everything from appraising aircraft to machine parts to auctioning antiques at estate sales.
“I love both aspects of it and it’s always something different,” says Mike.
In his spare time, Mike says he enjoys sailing with his wife and kids, old cars, and traveling for fun. Mike was born and raised in Clinton and still enjoys the coziness of the town.
“The small-town charm is my favorite part. I like that you can go into the supermarket still and run into five people you know.”