To the Editor:
On Tuesday Stamford’s Planning Board is set to vote on a contentious “2035 Comprehensive Plan of Conservation and Development”- the city’s master plan for the next ten years. The most vocal debate has focused on the “development” side, primarily the plan to add more residential density in neighborhoods already overwhelmed by massive growth. Renters and homeowners alike are maxed out on traffic congestion, pedestrian dangers, pollution and noise.
On the “conservation” side, residents were clear they want more green space, especially in underserved neighborhoods. The draft plan does the opposite: instead of adding even a square inch of green space over the next ten years, it will allow green space to shrink at the same time it increases density in stressed neighborhoods.
Green space is more than open space and a few street trees; it means healthy open spaces with lots of trees and natural vegetation. Experienced land use planners understand increasing green space is essential to mitigate air pollution and urban heat, improve community health, and enhance sustainability.
Demographic maps in the plan show the West Side, Waterside, South End and East Side neighborhoods have the greatest residential densities, the largest black and Hispanic populations, and the highest concentrations of low-income residents. These neighborhoods line the I-95 corridor, now the busiest highway in the nation, and the plan tells us residents face a shocking 11-year lower life expectancy because of pollution. The urban heat map shows these neighborhoods are also much hotter than other parts of the city because of limited tree coverage and extensive hardscapes, which the plan acknowledges “highlights important environmental justice issues.”
The plan tries to suggest these neighborhoods have reasonable green space now because they have public parks, but a site visit would show otherwise. Lione, Boccuzzi, West Beach, Cummings and Cove Island Parks are dominated by parking lots, buildings, ballfields, artificial turf and hard surfaces that have displaced trees and vegetation. Lione Park – a primary recreational area in one of Stamford’s most underserved neighborhoods – is almost completely covered by artificial turf which many health experts warn is unsafe for children. These are not green spaces.
The largest “park” on the West Side is not even a park; it’s Gaynor Brennan golf course. Everyone knows golf courses use a lot of pesticides. In May 2025 the New England Journal of Medicine reported that people living within one mile of a golf course have a frightening 126% higher risk of Parkinson Disease compared to people living six miles away. Waterside has the same problem: most Waterside residents live within a mile of Innis Arden golf course which, incredibly, is represented as “conservation” land in the plan.
A Core Vision of the 2035 Plan is “A Healthy City.” To get there, the plan claims it will “Promote community health by addressing pollution and supporting personal wellbeing, especially in areas facing environmental injustices.” Those are empty words in a plan that doesn’t protect existing green space let alone add any new green space in our most vulnerable communities.
One sign of good faith would be a plan to reduce hardscapes and artificial turf and renew green investment in existing parks. The plan should also identify new areas for green space going forward. One easy opportunity is the 14-acre waterfront site at the tip of the South End. This lot has been vacant since a developer bulldozed the historic boatyard there over ten years ago. The current plan would waive the site’s waterfront protected status and allow it to become another concrete city. Instead, the Planning Board could designate it as new protected green space in a neighborhood that has become a sea of asphalt and concrete. That, at least, would be a start.
Mary Deery Uva
Stamford, CT
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Mary Uva is a former member of the Stamford Board of Representatives