RMA Featured Speaker Katie DeLuca: Planning for Greenwich’s Future

Director of Greenwich’s Planning and Zoning Department, Katie DeLuca, will lead an information gathering session at the April 18 meeting of the Retired Men’s Association. DeLuca’s talk begins promptly at 11:00am.

The session is part of a yearlong process required by the Town’s Charter to produce a Plan of Conservation and Development (POCD) every 10 to 15 years. The public is invited to attend and participate in this event.

How does a community preserve its sense of identity and still respond to the impact of social, economic, and demographic changes? What is it that makes one place develop differently from another? It goes without saying that key land use decisions could have made Greenwich a very different place.

What if the Presbyterian Hospital of New York sold Greenwich Point to private development instead of selling it to the Town? What if the Town had permitted the development of the United Nations in back country Greenwich? Katie will examine how the forces of change affect the town’s physical spaces and residents’ needs and the key land use decisions facing Greenwich today.

Among other issues that will be addressed are over-development, traffic congestion, affordable and diverse housing, maintenance of public facilities, and protection of the environment.

Town planner Katie DeLuca is responsible for helping the community navigate through these issues. The success of the Plan is dependent on the involvement of the community. The Department is currently collecting input from a wide range of sources. This information is used to guide development through its zoning regulations which must be in keeping with the Plan.

DeLuca moved to Greenwich from England at the age of eight. She graduated from Greenwich Academy and earned a Master’s Degree in geography from the University of Connecticut. She joined the Planning and Zoning Department as a base-level planner in 2001 and was appointed Director in 2014.

The Greenwich Retired Men’s Association offers a free program every Wednesday that is open to the public, both men and women; no reservations are required. Our social break starts at 10:40am followed promptly by our speaker at 11:00am.

Programs are at the First Presbyterian Church, 1 West Putnam Ave. in Greenwich. For additional information see www.greenwichrma.org or contact [email protected]