New Castle Master Plan Update Survey to Begin This Week

September 17, 2014 Examiner Media New Castle

The Town of New Castle will begin its telephone survey this week to help officials decide how to update its Master Plan.

Beginning on Thursday, residents may be contacted by phone to respond to a questionnaire related to certain development issues and improvements they would like to see. Supervisor Robert Greenstein explained that the survey, which was developed by Penn Schoen Berland, a market research and consulting firm, should take about 20 minutes to complete. He urged everyone who is contacted to participate.

“It’s a great opportunity to share your opinions and we appreciate your participation,” Greenstein said. “We want people to be aware that if they get called, that they should take the call. We don’t want them to think it’s a cold call and not take it or hang up.”

Greenstein said a rough draft of the survey questions have already been reviewed by the town board and Master Plan Steering Committee. Once the calls are completed in about two weeks the aggregate results will be compiled and shared with the public.

In addition to the phone calls, all New Castle households will receive a mailing this week alerting them to the survey. The mailing will include a prepaid card that residents can fill out and return to the town to provide feedback and share opinions.

The survey marks the second public outreach effort relating to the Master Plan update. In May and June, the Land Use Law Center at Pace Law School hosted a series of public meetings on behalf of the town to determine which issues were most important to residents and stakeholders.

A 200-page report was released in last month, which was used to help devise the survey. Broad categories addressed in the report included commercial development, environment and habitat, public roads and infrastructure, public services and recreation and housing.