Ninety prime waterfront acres just waiting to be developed

Picking up a powerful package of controversy and opening up a new chapter for the potential development of Fort Trumbull is a terrific challenge for the community and for anyone brave enough to tackle this project.

Right now, the start of 2010, is a prime time to begin. With current development projects and the economy at a standstill, this is the moment to initiate a long-term planning process to define the issues and search for new thinking within the confines of this beautiful, waterfront area. What a gift for development we have in Fort Trumbull. There is nothing like it anywhere along the seaboard between Boston and New York.

What do we New Londoners want to see developed along Howard Street and the Fort Trumbull peninsula? What is our shared vision? Or, better yet, how can we develop a shared vision for this hotly disputed property?

Leadership and community

New London Landmarks believes we need both leadership and community involvement to develop a shared vision for the area. We need the leadership of someone who can carefully review the Municipal Development Plan (MDP). This is a legal document, passed by the city and the state Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD) in 2000. Through the MDP they control development possibilities through most of the area, and essentially hold the "mortgage" on the land.

Consultation with DECD and other interested parties, including Fort Trumbull Conservancy, and the New London Development Corp will be needed to begin a new planning process. Before we have a vision, we must understand what can be done in each of the individual parcels described in the MDP.

We need to understand the specific restrictions and exactly the extent of flexibility in each parcel before new ideas can be developed. If the MDP needs adjusting, now is the time to set about doing it.

A professional urban planner has the knowledge and experience to undertake both the careful review of the MDP and view the entire area, with its existing buildings, streets, utility infrastructure, sidewalks, railroad tracks and extensive waterfront with the eye of an urban designer. Providing ideas on exactly what is called for in "water-dependent uses" is another essential piece of the planning. Developing design guidelines for the area, creating an appropriate urban style in relationships between residential, commercial, and retail development, will help the community find a vision for Fort Trumbull.

Suggestions for land use, the massing of structures; their height, their location on a plot of land, façade materials and other such details should be part of the project.

We endorse the suggestion discussed at The Day's forum that Alan Plattus and the Yale Urban Design Workshop be hired to lead this project. Plattus and his students have exactly the kind of expertise, experience and imagination to take on this challenging project. They have worked in many other Connecticut communities and understand the importance of community involvement in the planning process.

This is what we need to move forward, together, in Fort Trumbull, as Deputy Mayor Adam Sprecace recommends.

Sandra Kersten Chalk is executive director of New London Landmarks. She participated in The Day's recent discussion on Fort Trumbull.