Results Presented Monday Night from Surveys on Downtown Development

After two successful “Downtown Visioning” workshops in June, First Selectman Jim Marpe has announced the next step in the Downtown  Master Plan process – the presentation of  results from multiple surveys. 

On Monday, July 21 at 7:30 pm in the Town Hall auditorium,  The RBA Group (RBA), the consultant team charged with drafting the master plan, will present a summary of the ideas that arose from the ”YOUR DOWNTOWN” citizen survey and visioning workshops.  

Since the “YOUR DOWNTOWN” online survey launched in June, more than 2,900 residents have shared their thoughts on Downtown which is an unprecedented, large response rate for a survey of this nature.  

In addition, approximately 170 people attended the visioning workshops and spent several hours providing input on a variety of  potential concepts for Downtown. 

For those residents who would still like to contribute their ideas, the survey will continue to be available at www.downtownwestportct.com until July 13.  Also the “IDEAS” section  of the Downtown website accepts the opportunity for  expanded commentary and suggestions. 

After RBA’s presentation, the Westport Downtown Merchants’ Assocation (WDMA) and the Youth Commission will share the results of their own independently conducted surveys.  

The WDMA asked over a hundred merchant members about their employees’ commuting and parking practices, while gauging interest in transportation alternatives.  

The Youth Commission surveyed Staples High School students concerning  their thoughts on what they would like to see in a  future  Downtown.

The goal of the July 21  meeting is to  display, discuss and understand  the  ideas and thoughts provided by Westporters as to how they currently view Downtown and what they might envision  as it moves forward. 

Potentially themes and directions will begin to evolve which will then be explored and developed in the later “charrette” planning sessions scheduled  for September.  

Ultimately, this citizen input will help guide the planning effort and be integrated into the final Downtown master plan.  Following this presentation, three additional meetings will be held this summer  to discuss in depth several of the proposed projects that are already planned or in development  for Downtown e.g., Bedford Square, Westport Cinema Initiative – details  to follow. 

Downtown Steering Committee Chair, Melissa Kane had the following comments, “We are thrilled with the high participation rate and and interest that Westporters have shown to date in providing input to the Downtown planning process.  We urge all Westporters to be engaged at some level with what is going on and to participate whenever possible.  

We are making a maximum effort at community outreach and transparency in this planning process.  In particular, we hope many Westporter’s will come to the July 21 meeting regarding the  results of the multiple surveys. 

This is an opportunity  to hear and understand what our  neighbors and fellow citizens are thinking so far about Downtown and how it might evolve.” 

The Downtown Steering Committee (DSC) is providing guidance and technical assistance to the consultant team, led by The RBA Group, in developing the master plan. The full membership of the DSC can be viewed on the town’s project website at www.downtownwestportct.com