Stamford planning board finalizes wording changes to 2035 comprehensive plan, asks staff to refine details ahead of vote

STAMFORD, Conn. — The Stamford Planning Board spent its Sept. 30 meeting reviewing final edits to the city’s draft 2035 comprehensive plan and asking staff to polish language on several contentious items before the plan was brought back for a vote.

Chair Jennifer Gazzano opened the virtual session by noting the meeting’s primary purpose: “final discussions on the comprehensive plan,” and the board approved minutes from four prior meetings before turning to a line‑by‑line review of edits staff had made in response to public comment.

The staff presentation, led by project manager Lindsay Collin and Land Use Bureau chief Ralph Blessing, summarized an engagement process that included steering‑committee and technical‑advisory meetings, multiple open houses, neighborhood workshops and a youth survey. Collin told the board the outreach produced roughly 225 attendees at the first open house and about 250 at a second event, and that the campaign generated about 25,000 impressions across the city’s channels.

The board focused on wording changes to clarify intent rather than adopting new regulatory authority. On accessory dwelling units (ADUs), staff removed language that would have directly instructed zoning changes and instead proposed a study: “conduct a study to revise ADU regulations … to encourage development of ADUs,” language the board accepted as a way to explore options…