Westport Relaunches Downtown Master Plan Website

Westport, CT - The Downtown Plan Implementation Committee (DPIC) recently relaunched the website it created to track the progress of Westport's Downtown Master Plan of development.

Located at www.downtownwestportct.com, the newly designed website is "an extension and continuation of the Town’s public outreach effort which began with the initial development of the Downtown Master Plan in the summer of 2014," according to officials.

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“I am excited about the launch of the new website," said First Selectman Jim Marpe in a statement. "I have stressed that we did not want a Master Plan that was just going to ‘sit on the shelf’ but rather a comprehensive plan that was actually going to be implemented. The ‘implementation process’ is where the real work begins and the new website is an important part of that effort.”

Added DPIC Co-Chair and Town Operations Director, Dewey Loselle, “This will be an ongoing, multi-year process to improve our Downtown with approximately 60 potential improvement projects planned in the future. Since the time the Committee was created, it has been meeting regularly and is tackling a number of projects that were slated for the ‘short term’ horizon. We are making steady progress.”

The website provides a history of the project and a summary of the adopted Downtown Master
Plan. The new site also features a comprehensive list of the short, mid, and long-term
recommendations and strategies identified in the Plan. Embedded hyperlinks share updates
related to the implementation of recommendations that have been identified as current priorities.

That new functionality will make it easier for Westport residents to learn about progress and developments in the Downtown area.

“I encourage all Westporters who are interested in the progress of the Downtown Master Plan to sign up to receive announcements from the Committee," said DPIC Co-Chair Melissa Kane, who has spearheaded the communications effort. "I also recommend periodically visiting the website to check on the implementation status of any DPIC project. The Committee is always open to citizens who wish to join a working group that is focused on a particular project of interest. We welcome everyone to attend our meetings and get involved.”

Marpe added, “I want to thank all the members of the DPIC for their continued hard work and dedication. In particular, I would like to thank co-chairs Melissa Kane and Dewey Loselle who keep the implementation process moving forward and committee member Jessica Newshel who played a major role in developing the new website.”

Details on future meetings may be found on the site and will be shared through the DPIC mailing list to all who sign up as subscribers. Typically, DPIC meetings take place the first Thursday of the month. The next meeting will be Thursday, July 14 at 9:00 am in Town Hall, Room 201A.