Open Space Plan - letter to editor

The Mayor was adamant that the Open Space Plan receive great emphasis on public involvement, especially for those people who live nearby a greenway corridor and should be made knowledgable about possible acquisitions or passive recreation use conceived for property already acquired.

To that end, I have talked to reporters who have written information about upcoming review/update to the Open Space Plan in articles about the CFPA award. I have also have writeen letters to the editor (identical) that have been printed in:

Connecticut Post: http://www.connpost.com/letters/ci_10531744
Huntington Herald: appeared in print Sep24. Does not offer letters in online venue.
New Haven Register:

Letter to the Editor:
There has certainly been a great deal of interest in the city of Shelton's proposed charter revision, and while that is important, there are also other planning or guiding documents on which the public will soon have opportunity to offer input, which have impact not only on the lives of residents, but also on visitors to and workers in Shelton who simply enjoy its suburban environs.

A short time ago, the city of Shelton completed its Plan of Conservation and Development, sometimes referred to as the Master Plan. It laid out several tasks to be accomplished to support the plan's goals. One of those tasks was for the Conservation Commission to update Shelton's Open Space Plan, which they have been drafting. That work is now entering the public comment period.

The Open Space Plan for Shelton was last updated more than 10 years ago, and the draft update does not stray from its core principals, which have served the community well during that time. The rewarding "greenway" concept remains in place, where multiple parcel acquisitions accumulate to a larger mass that can offer to serve more varied passive recreation needs or better preserve wildlife habitat and migration corridors. Modern mapping facilities allow better definition of preserved and conserved acreage, and with overlays of these conceptual greenways, improved decisions can be made by land-use boards.

The major difference for this plan's adoption process is the availability to communicate its content in the modern age of digitized information. The plan and maps are available online for anyone to view and take benefit from, including those considering becoming residents. I encourage the public to inform themselves of the content and prepare any comments as they review them, both positive or negative, for submission during the process. As an official planning document that supplements the Plan of Conservation and Development, the Planning & Zoning Commission conducts the approval process which will involve a public hearing in the coming months.

Please visit the Conservation Commission page of the cityofshelton.org Website which can direct you to the numerous online resources that can educate you further on this issue.

Thomas Harbinson - Chairman
Conservation Commission Shelton