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Planning Commission pushes to rewrite regional town-plan survey for clarity and local focus
Summary
Members recommended rewriting boilerplate survey language from the regional planner (BCRC) to prioritize land use, separate natural-resource questions from housing, and reduce question burden (switching to 'top 3' priorities).
Commissioners criticized the regional draft survey as too boilerplate and urged a more Stamford-specific approach. One commissioner proposed reorganizing the priorities so that "land use" appears before "development" and removing leading language that frames infill and density as primary objectives.
"I propose that we change that sentence to the town plan helps to create a vision for our communities on issues of, number 1, land use," one member said while reading suggested edits. Members also recommended changing some ranking questions to a 'top 3' format to reduce respondent burden and to add brief definitions for technical terms (for example, 'infill housing') so mailed surveys are understandable to residents without planning expertise.
The commission agreed to customize the survey language, ensure paper copies are readable, post the survey on local Facebook channels and include notice at the next select-board meeting to improve participation.
