If you live in Bridgeport and have an idea of how life should be there, members of a committee looking at quality-of-life issues there want to hear from you. The committee is holding a visioning meeting at 6:30 p.m. Thursday Jan. 29 at Bridgeport Elementary School in the cafetorium.
Bridgeport area residents have joined members of the Sullivan Town Council, planning board, zoning board of appeals and codes enforcement officer in forming the Route 31 Development Committee.
“If there are inaccuracies, now is the time to do something about that,” said planning board Chairman Frank Park who is facilitating the Route 31 Development Committee. “We’re not out there looking for changes to make to our zoning laws. If sewers are coming, it is going to have an impact on us, and we need to figure out what that impact will be and how we’re going to prepare for it.”
Park said because of the committee’s mission to prevent sprawl subsequent to the proposed Bridgeport Sewer District, many people are confusing the Development Committee with those working on the sewer project.
“We have nothing to do with the sewers,” Park said. “Only the impact. At this session, Barton & Loguidice will facilitate discussion among residents and find out what they want Bridgeport to look like.”
He said some of the tools to control sprawl and a decline into a strictly commercial- or industrial-looking zone might be to incorporate design standards into the town’s Land Use Regulations. Architectural standards, lighting and landscaping are some of the tools the town could use to keep the area aesthetically pleasing, Park said.
“We want to get people thinking and give us feedback,” Park said. “Hopefully, we’ll find some common threads in what we would like the Route 31 corridor to look like. What do we want to happen there? Once we answer that question, we can zone the area to accompany the vision and decide how it will be implemented.”
For more information, call 687-9190.
