Stonington — Economic Development Commission Chairman Blunt White said the proposed update to the town’s Plan of Conservation and Development is lacking when it comes to recommendations to improve the town’s grand list during a Board of Selectmen public hearing on the plan Wednesday.

“This plan is development light and that needs to be fixed,” he told the selectmen. “We’re hoping you do that.”

White said the plan mentions open space 145 times, conservation 71 times and preservation 35 times, while economic growth is mentioned just four times and the grand list not at all.

He suggested the selectmen support a suggestion by the Greater Mystic Chamber of Commerce to delay the process of adopting the plan until the town hires a director of planning who can review the proposal and complete “a more balanced plan.”

The Plan of Conservation and Development Subcommittee has been working since the fall of 2012 to develop the 139-page document, which offers recommendations to guide the town’s development over the next decade.

The town must approve a plan by July 1 or risk losing state aid unless it receives an extension.

The Planning and Zoning Commission, which is slated to hold an April 14 public hearing and then vote to adopt the plan, already has made changes to the subcommittee’s recommendations. The selectmen can make recommendations to the PZC about changes to the draft.

White made 10 recommendations to beef up the plan in terms of economic development.

These include reinstating the use of master planning tools into the plan to help develop sites such as Liberty Crossing and the mills along Mechanic Street, recommending an annual grand list growth of 1 percent, eliminating the use of village districts, broadening uses in the manufacturing zone, eliminating a proposal to increase lot sizes which he said would make lots and homes more difficult to afford, eliminating a proposal to increase the amount of open space set aside in a subdivision, streamlining the zoning approval process, not establishing a town land acquisition agency and supporting an effort to attract a 100- or more employee company to Stonington.

“The EDC is the champion of the grand list but our words haven’t been heard in this,” he said.

Tricia Walsh, the executive director of the Greater Mystic Chamber of Commerce, said her board of directors agrees with many of White’s recommendations and has “deep concerns” about the proposal. She said her board urges the selectmen to reject the proposal until a professional review is completed and a new plan prepared.

She added the plan “does not do enough to promote prosperity,” which she said is critical for the town to “survive and thrive.”

Other speakers suggested a delay in the plan. The selectmen continued the hearing to a date to be determined.

j.wojtas@theday.com

Twitter: @joewojtas