To the Edit
We strongly urge the Planning Board to reject the proposed Comprehensive Plan in its current form—the plan is the product of subterfuge and deceit, not transparency. Our city charter, Section C6-30-3, states that recommendations in the plan should be made by the Planning Board, exercising its judgment on what is beneficial to the city.
Yet the Planning Board was excluded from fundamental steps of this process. The Board was not meaningfully involved in defining the scope of services, in the Request For Proposals, the selection of contractors, or the use of so-called ambassadors, and you were presented with this plan for the first time only at a hastily called meeting with less than 24 hours’ notice on a Friday afternoon. That is not open governance, and it is not an honest public process.
Furthermore, there were only superficial attempts to simulate public involvement. What was presented seemed more like window dressing than genuine participation. Meanwhile, the plan raises serious concerns for our single-family neighborhoods. Despite assurances that they will be protected, the text sets the stage for alternative housing types to be introduced into these neighborhoods. The reference to Portland, Oregon is revealing—where single-family residential zones have been entirely redefined, if not eliminated, and crime is rampant. The same path is being quietly opened here, despite community opposition.
Even more concerning, the mayor herself has described the plan as something that should reflect her vision. However, the comprehensive plan is not meant to be the vision of any one individual. It is supposed to be the product of a collaborative, community-driven process. Instead, this Board is being asked to act as a rubber stamp, endorsing a process that has treated citizens and even this Board as secondary at best, irrelevant at worst.
To approve this plan under these circumstances would be to endorse a process built on exclusion, haste, and complete disregard for public trust. Stamford deserves better. We deserve a Comprehensive Plan that grows from collaboration between our citizens and this Planning Board—not one drafted behind closed doors and presented as a fait accompli.
We ask that the Planning Board reject this plan and instead commit to creating a new one—one that is transparent, inclusive, and faithful to the Charter’s requirement that your judgment and the voices of the citizens you represent take priority.
Mike Battinelli
Stephen Garst
Barry Michelson
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The writers are members of Stamford Neighborhoods Coalition