Comprehensive Plan Committee asks Islanders to take survey: Releases document on present conditions
Shelter Island’s Comprehensive Plan Update Task Force (CPTF) is asking Islanders to participate fully in putting together a roadmap for what they would like Shelter Island to be in the future.
A bilingual survey goes live today, Monday, Feb. 22, on the town’s website — www.shelterislandtown.us — and paper copies will be at Town Hall, the Library and some local businesses. The committee and town officials are asking all Islanders to participate in the survey.
A municipality’s Comprehensive Plan dictates policy on multiple fronts, including development, land use, the environment, transportation, housing and other aspects of community life. It’s not merely a statement of beliefs and a guide to successful planning, but shows a commitment to serious ideas to improve the municipality, which in turn is used to attract funding from the state, federal, county and other entities.
The questionnaire offered Feb. 22, according to a press release from the CPTF, asks “what Islanders like about life on the Island, what’s important to Islanders now and in the future, and what changes should be made in the future. The survey has 18 questions and can be completed online in less than 10 minutes.”
Also to be released on Feb. 22, is a look at existing conditions on the Island, prepared by the CPTF, which will be posted online, with printed copies available at the Library. In order to present a plan to the Town Board and the community in the future, the CPTF has to have a clear view of what conditions exist on the Island.
Upcoming Zoom workshops are scheduled for March 18 and April 22 from 6 to 8 p.m. on each date. The March workshop will, according to the CPTF, “help identify the Island’s strengths and weaknesses, and discuss opportunities and threats posed by ongoing local, regional, and global trends, and identify the most important challenges and imperatives that must be addressed.”
The April workshop will look to the future of the Island and identify “how the town might change by 2030 if current trends continue and the town does nothing to change course, and what alternatives for a more desirable future should be considered.”
Supervisor Gerry Siller noted that community involvement is critical to the Plan’s success. “Islanders are encouraged to read and comment on the Shelter Island 2020 profile and to contribute their knowledge and experience by participating in the upcoming survey and workshops,” Mr. Siller said. “We want this to be the community’s Plan.”
For more information, go to the “Plan Update” page on the Town’s website at www.shelterislandtown.us, or contact Edward Hindin at [email protected].
