The town's strong conservation ethic is also evident in its land-use policies, which strictly limit new development. Washington was one of the first Connecticut municipalities to establish zoning regulations, which were enacted in 1939, The town's contemporary land-use policies are substantially natural resource-based, and they have been expressly conceived to maintain the community's rural character. Washington is one of only two municipalities in Connecticut to base permissible residential density on the soils composition of land parcels, and it was one of the first Connecticut towns to adopt net-density subdivision regulations, which render wetlands, flood plains, and steep slopes ineligible for satisfying the minimum acreage requirements for creating new building lots Consequently, even large tracts of land may not qualify for subdivision. Washington's inland wetlands regulations are similarly rigorous