New Canaan group launches master‑plan process for Kiwanis Park

An initial public meeting to develop a master plan for Kiwanis Park in New Canaan drew residents, Parks & Recreation officials and a hired planner, who outlined a process of surveys, community input and phased recommendations.

The meeting, convened by Keith Richey and attended by Parks & Recreation Director John Howe, planner Kate Simpson and more than two dozen residents, opened with a review of objectives: update site surveys, gather programmed uses from users and neighbors, and produce a phased master plan to feed into next year’s budget process.

Simpson, the consultant leading the planning work, said the team will combine an up‑to‑date site survey with a program of uses gathered from stakeholders, then develop phased recommendations and supporting rationale. “The more you tell us about the program, the better the chance of getting it right sooner rather than later,” Simpson said. She added she hoped to refine a final master plan “before Thanksgiving,” but called that tentative and dependent on the timing of…