GOAL:
Balance the use and conservation of Connecticut's air, water and land resources through enhanced and coordinated land use planning efforts.

OBJECTIVE:
Develop and implement a comprehensive and integrated program to enhance statewide land use planning to ensure that conservation and development proceeds in a manner consistent with the carrying capacity of Connecticut's land resources.

STATUS & TRENDS:
Land use planning and its implementation is the primary means by which public and private land resources are both allocated and reserved for many private and public uses ranging from intensive urban development to natural area preserves. Planning and re gulatory authorities are delegated primarily to municipalities by state statutes. However, municipal land use controls are understandably as diverse, both in content and application, as our cities and towns. Further, land uses do not consistently follow growth and preservation strategies promulgated in municipal comprehensive plans. Of particular concern is the need to preserve certain land resources which often transcend municipal boundaries, zoning districts, or other socio-political distinctions. W hile some State and regional initiatives do in fact address planning and resource management issues which are of greater than local significance, they do not generally supersede municipal regulation of private property except in special management areas, the coastal boundary and other areas of particular sensitivity. If current trends continue, some of the State's unique land resources including reservoirs, agriculture, aquifers, recreation, inland wetlands, river corridors and land highly suitable for d evelopment may not be effectively preserved for such uses. Thus, improved land use management should be a principal component of any statewide resource management effort.

STRATEGIES:

1. Continue to improve consistency among State, regional and municipal plans of development.
2. Increase statewide programs for monitoring land use activities at all levels of government.
3. Provide formalized technical assistance and training to local land use decision makers with particular emphasis on performance-type resource-based zoning and state-of-the-art land conservation techniques.
4. Promote and support stewardship of natural land resources by municipal, regional, State, private and corporate interests in a coordinated manner.
5. Encourage intensive development to locate along established transportation routes with adequate capacity for increased traffic and served by mass transit.
6. Promote implementation of the scenic roads, river protection, municipal coastal programs, harbor management plans and other unique natural land resource conservation statutes.
7. Develop a statewide set of criteria for municipal open space planning and continue to provide statutory encouragement and appropriate incentives for natural lands preservation.
8. Support municipal comprehensive planning efforts which balance economic development with environmental conservation.
9. Based upon a comprehensive resource inventory and needs assessment, preserve those unique land resources necessary to meet statewide and regional needs utilizing a combination of traditional and innovative acquisition techniques ranging from fee-simple conservation easements to property purchases.
10. Improve the public’s understanding of the value of open space and natural resource areas and prioritize preservation efforts based, in part, upon widely-perceived needs and public values.