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Governments Plan for Development of Land Vulnerable to Rising Sea Level: South Central Connecticut
Background
The South Central Region of Connecticut consists of 15 towns, 8 of which border Long Island Sound. Along the coast, it largely coincides with New Haven County. According to the The South Central Regional Planning Area's Congestion Mitigation Study, "open space, rural lands, and very low-density residential uses are concentrated in the eastern and western edges of the region in Bethany, Guilford, and Madison. The two easternmost coastal towns, Guilford and Madison, are relatively undeveloped compared to the western coastal areas, which include New Haven and its inner suburbs. The suburban corridor between Meriden and New Haven and the coastline of the region have a mix of typical suburban uses including some regional malls and large areas of single-family residential use. New Haven is the region's urban center with a mix of older manufacturing sites, office and institutional uses downtown (including Yale University and Yale/New Haven Hospital), cultural attractions, and dispersed neighborhood commercial uses amongst high-density residential areas. Areas of concentrated commercial and industrial activity also occur in Meriden, Wallingford, and along major highway and arterial roadway corridors, including Interstate 95, which runs along the coastline.
South Central Connecticut is experiencing a sprawling pattern of growth similar to that in eastern coastal Connecticut. Population growth in the outer suburbs of the South Central Region has outpaced growth in the inner suburbs and city centers for the past 30 years. About one-quarter of the region's housing is relatively low density-fewer than 1,000 persons per square mile. As suburban areas grow, basic transportation, water, and sewer systems are being strained, and the region's remaining open space is under pressure for development. Regional Water Authority holdings (36 square miles) comprise 40 percent of the region's open space. Overall, about one-eighth of the region's open space is not permanent, and could be sold or developed at any time. The state is in the process of acquiring permanent open space for several areas along the coast, including Silver Sands State Park in Milford and New Haven's east shore park system. Hammonassett Beach State Park in Madison is Connecticut's largest public beach park. In addition to preserving open space, the region is restoring waterfront and harbor areas, both in recognition of their maritime historic value and to provide opportunities for development and economic growth in these areas.
Likelihood of Shore Protection
Shore protection is almost certain for almost the entirety of the South Central Planning Region except for about half the shore between Youngs Pond Park and East River Wildlife Management Area, plus Hammonasset State Park. The general approach of the study originally identified some other areas of undeveloped or intermediate lands where we might normally expect shore protection to be less likely, but those areas had actually been developed since the land use data had been created.
Governments Plan for Development of Most Land Vulnerable to Rising Sea (PDF, 7 pp., 1.3 MB) was originally published in Environmental Research Letters , Issue 3, Volume 4 (2009).