Historic Hubbard Heights Neighborhood Opposed Stamford 2035 Comprehensive Plan

August 21, 2025

Dear City Officials:

After attending the Board of Representatives meeting last evening and hearing the testimony of the neighbors, the reaction from Planning Board representative Lindsey Cohen, and the Sasaki group representative, I came away feeling very disheartened.

Sadly, I am convinced that the process was a sham. Although they say there was extensive community involvement, the decision-making process was left to a few individuals with a clear agenda:

Make room for those coming to the city in the next 10 years,

at the expense of those already living here.

The commission claimed there was “an unprecedented level of community engagement. And 25,000 “impressions.” An impression described by the plan as “each time someone attends an open house, completes a survey, engages with a social media post, or speaks with a team member at a pop-up event, it is counted as an impression.”

· Of those 25,000 impressions, 16,000 were with school children under the age of

18. Leaving just 9,000 to actual taxpayers, if you can believe their numbers.

· What about the rest of the 135,000 taxpaying residents that support this city and

move it forward? They were mostly kept in the dark.

When citizens were invited to open houses or workshops, they were greeted by large poster boards with an agenda already laid out and asked to put sticky notes on the boards (more impressions?).

I went to every single one of these events, and while collecting my sticky notes and my impressions, apparently my input didn’t make an impression on the decision makers. Basically, it was ignored. My requests for preserving our historic neighborhood of Hubbard Heights, and the single-family area was responded to by putting us in a zone where duplex, triplex, multi-plex homes would be allowed in the future, as well as mixed-use commercial properties to fulfill a “missing middle housing” issue for the commission.

The ambassadors were chosen in a very clandestine manner, from what I can tell from what I heard. Although posts on social media sites and on the planning board website apparently sought out concerned citizens, the actual choice of the ambassadors was in private. By a few individuals. One Board of Reps member said that he, a community leader, filled out a questionnaire, and was never contacted. Instead, the ambassadors chosen to represent the citizens were high school students and one UConn student, apparently.

I serve as the president of the Hubbard Heights Association (HHA), representing over 300 households. I was never approached. None of the 15 HHA board members was ever approached, to my knowledge. So, who were these ambassadors talking to? Certainly no one in our neighborhood.

Members of the steering committee were apparently kept in the dark about the plan and not invited to contribute. One ambassador I spoke with said that they were not consulted until the draft play was already created, and was never given an opportunity to express opinions other than on sticky notes at the public open houses.

At the BOR meeting the Sasaki group representative said that “Zoning changes were not part of this process.” What he left unsaid is what is said elsewhere in the plan:

“Stamford 2035 is a land use document that will be used by City leaders, departments, and property owners to make decisions about future development through...zoning board applications!” (p 5 of the plan)

And…

The plan… “serves as Stamford’s “North Star,” providing a clear vision and actionable goals for land use, housing, economic development, public facilities, and more.” (p 5)

So, actionable goals are not zoning changes? But they set up zoning changes. Just like setting up a row of dominoes isn’t setting them in motion. However, all it takes is one zoning board member or one developer application to push that first domino to put the plan in motion.

This argument is misleading and disingenuous at best. An outright lie meant to deceive the citizens and Board of Reps and Planning Board at worst.

Of the 42 residents who spoke at the BOR meeting last night, 42 out of 42 were opposed to the plan. Zero speakers supported the plan. What does that say to you about community engagement?

Lindsey Cohen commented that duplex, tri-plex or four-plex properties are NOT considered “multi-family housing.” In what universe? By whom? Again, statements like these make clear-thinking people feel someone is attempting to pull the wool over their eyes.

Lindsey Cohen also reported that the final Stamford 2035 Comprehensive Plan will be amended and presented to the public for comment on September 9 at a virtual meeting. (September 9th being a very busy primary election day in the city, btw). And the Planning Board will have one more public hybrid hearing a week later. And is expected to vote on the final plan that evening.

Really?

The public gets just one week from the time the final plan is presented to comment before the Planning Board votes on it? This seems like a timeline designed to push this flawed plan through before anybody notices. And the city will be stuck with the results over the next 10 years.

We spent over $460,000 of taxpayer dollars creating this plan. I’m convinced we can do better.

I call on the Planning Board, the Board of Reps, and the mayor’s office to reject this plan, and give the residents the extra time needed to create a real plan that is the result of real community involvement. Not this fake, fabricated engagement.

If you do not, there is another vote coming up in November, when the real results of the public sentiment will be clearly made known.

Sincerely,

Dan Lombardi

Dan Lombardi

President

Hubbard Heights Association