Meeting Minutes
August 13, 2019
People Friendly Stamford 8/13 Mtg. Minutes
In attendance: Toni Lupinacci, Dice Oh, Rachael Cain, Chris Dawson, Kristyn Gorton, Emily Gordon, Ralf Blessing, Jim Travers, Monica Di Costanzo, Jerry Silber
Zoning Changes - Ralf Blessing
- Ralf Blessing reported that the omnibus text changes in Stamford’s zoning guidelines will support PFS’ mission with items such as: requirements for bike parking/bike racks, landscaping for larger parking lots, sidewalk standards, street tree requirements, charging stations for electric vehicles, locate car parking behind buildings, ban drive through restaurants.
- We will be notified when there will be a public hearing so we can come out and support these changes
Madison Wisconsin. Bicycling Report
- Chris Dawson reported on his recent visit to Madison Wisconsin and how their drive to make it the best place in the country to bicycle has contributed to make it an appealing place and the city is thriving. Please see the attached “Madison’s Platinum Bicycling Committee Report with Chris’ pictures.
Bike lanes/Walking friendly city
- The City is making great progress on completing bike lanes as streets are being repaved. Recent accomplishments are: Stillwater Ave., West Broad, Hope Street, and Newfield Ave. Upcoming plans include Atlantic Street as the I95 underpass is completed and Turn of River Rd.
- The point was made that there are a number of reps on the Board of Reps who do not share People Friendly Stamford’s vision for Stamford. We therefore need to become more active in communicating with the Board that this is something that the people of Stamford want
- On the walking front, the City is making great strides in transforming Boxer Square. Lighting will be added to Smith Street to enhance the connection to Mill River Park. The vision here is to create a “Park trail” that would connect the various parks in town from Leone to Cove Island.
- The City is looking to support “Walk to school day”. Kristyn Gorton volunteered to help with this initiative. We await to hear next steps from the City.
Monthly bike rides
Attendance at our most recent ride has been low. Chris Dawson and Rob Morse will look to improve publicity of our ride
PFS Web site
Dice has done a great job of enhancing and making our web site more current. He will now work on our Facebook page
Merritt Parkway Trail
The City of Stamford is being awarded $160,000 to do a design of the first mile of the Merritt Parkway Trail from High Ridge Road to Newfield. The City needs to do a $40,000 match which needs to be approved by the Fiscal Committee of the Board of Reps. We will attend the next meeting to talk about the benefits of this trail to our City.
Next quarterly meeting
Proposed next meeting is: Wed., Nov. 13, 6 pm
Our mission: To connect the neighborhoods of Stamford in a safe and enjoyable way for those who want to bike or walk
Prior Meeting Minutes
