Smart Growth, Development And Conservation: Finding The Right Balance

DANBURY — The Danbury Area League of Women Voters and the Social Action Committee of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation will co-sponsor a special forum Wednesday, April 11, at the UUCD fellowship hall, 24 Clapboard Ridge Road. The evening forum will feature three speakers with different perspectives on land use and the dilemma of how to have vital urban centers, open space preservation, and economic development — and have it all right here in Connecticut.

Panelists for the free public program include: David Kooris, senior planner with the Regional Plan Association, win which role he managers a variety of community design projects including the City of Bridgeport Downtown Master Plan and an intermunicipal land use strategy for 14 towns and villages in Orange County, N.Y.; Steven Patton, director of the Devil’s Den Preserve and the Saugatuck Forest Lands Project for the Connecticut Chapter of The Nature Conservancy, who has been involved for the past 15 years in the preservation of critical watershed and open space land in Connecticut; and Heidi Green, president of 1000 Friends of Connecticut, a statewide organization of community, labor, and business leaders committed to promoting sustainable growth and development, urban renewal, conservation of open space, and a vibrant state economy. She is also an avid hiker and has been active in community and economic development in Connecticut for 15 years.

The program will begin at 7:30 with the panel presentations and be followed by a question and answer period. The program is free and open to the public.

The League of Women Voters hopes to increase people’s knowledge of land use policy and emerging issues like Smart Growth and also to encourage more active participation of men and women in their local community land use boards and commissions. The Social Action Committee of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation is co-sponsoring the program as part of its green sanctuary program to raise awareness of environmental degradation.

The fellowship hall is easily accessible from Interstate 84 in Danbury; additional information and directions are available online at UUDanbury.org.

For additional information, contact Lynn Taborsak of the League of Women Voters at 748-0822 or Chris Halfar of the Social Action Committee at 730-0763.