Regional Plan of Conservation and Development, 2006-2015

A MESSAGE FROM SWRPA’S CHAIRMANWelcome to the Regional Plan of Conservation and Development, 2006-2015. ThisPlan represents the South Western Regional Planning Agency’s vision for our region,which comprises the cities of Norwalk and Stamford and the towns of Darien,Greenwich, New Canaan, Weston, Westport and Wilton. I am confident that this Planis representative of the voice of our Region as great emphasis was placed onreaching out to the public, elected officials and municipal boards. The Plan wasadopted by a unanimous vote of SWRPA’s Board on February 6, 2006.The Plan is the result of nearly three years of dedicated effort on the part of SWRPA’sCommittee for the Plan Update (CPU) – which oversaw the development of the Plan –and SWRPA’s staff, which researched and wrote it. All meetings of the CPU werepublicly noticed and announced on SWRPA’s website, www.swrpa.org, which alsocontained a page dedicated to the preparation of the Plan. In the fall of 2005,members of the CPU and SWRPA’s executive director presented the draft Plan toseven different municipal boards and commissions. During the 128-day publiccomment period, SWRPA received and carefully reviewed comments andsuggestions from 30 different individuals, organizations and officials. All of thesecontributions are included in the appendix of the online version of this Plan.While recognizing that home rule is a well-established principle in Connecticut, thisPlan strives to identify those issues that are regional in nature and offerrecommendations toward solutions requiring regional cooperation. The Plan is alsoan integral part of the forward planning process in Connecticut, where there is nocounty government, taking its place between the Conservation and DevelopmentPolicies Plan for Connecticut, 2005-2010 and our Region’s eight municipal plans ofconservation and development, which are necessarily focused on the specific needsof each city or town.On behalf of SWRPA’s Board and staff, I would like to express our thanks to all whoparticipated in this planning process to help make this Plan a well-considered visionthat will serve our Region in addressing the challenges that confront us. I alsoencourage you – the reader – to continue to be involved in ensuring the well being ofthe South Western Region!Daniel A. Wilder, ChairmanSouth Western Regional Planning Agencyi