Overview
As Capitol Region municipalities face the ongoing challenges of administering local governments and guiding the development, conservation and preservation of communities, CRCOG’s Policy Development & Planning Department carries out a range of activities to meet local needs. Policy Development & Planning projects cover diverse topics: land use, zoning, housing, sustainable and livable communities, transit oriented development, brownfields, natural disaster mitigation, and data management. Our responsibilities include work mandated by the State Statutes and other projects pursued at the direction of the CRCOG Policy Board and the Regional Planning Commission.
New!
Check out our report and recommendations on supporting Third Places as social infrastructure in the Capitol Region.
This report will help municipal decision-makers at the elected, commission, and staff level better understand what third places are, their importance, and examine how to encourage their development. We highlight great third places in the CRCOG region and outline tools and strategies for communities to help build a more diverse, robust network of third places.
2024 Plan of Conservation & Development
At its November 20, 2024 meeting, the CRCOG Policy Board adopted the 2024 Plan of Conservation and Development (POCD). Click below for more information on the Plan.
Questions? Contact Heidi Samokar via email or phone (860-724-4282).
Priority Climate Action Plan
CRCOG is developing a regional climate action plan, supported by the EPA’s Climate Pollution Reduction Grants (CPRG), a five-billion-dollar program created under the Inflation Reduction Act to help state and regional governments reduce greenhouse gases.
The program consists of two primary phases – planning and implementation. The major deliverables for the planning phases are a Priority Climate Action Plan (PCAP) and a more detailed Comprehensive Climate Action Plan (CCAP). Approximately $4.6 billion in competitive implementation funding will be available under the CPRG program, with an initial requirement that any eligible project must be identified in the Priority Climate Action Plan (PCAP), due to EPA in March 2024.
The first phase involves noncompetitive planning grants at both the state level, and then to the 67 most populous Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs). In the case of Connecticut, three MSAs will receive one-million-dollar planning grants: Hartford-East Hartford-Middletown (led by CRCOG), Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk (led by MetroCOG), and New Haven-Milford (led by SCRCOG).
CRCOG intends to use the CPRG to create a framework for a regional climate action plan, with a particular focus on developing a pipeline of municipal implementation projects and framework for local climate policy and operational initiatives.
Questions?
Contact Kyle Shiel or 860.724.4706
Regional Housing Strategy
CRCOG is embarking on a multi-year Regional Housing Strategy to provide tools to assist municipalities with implementation of their local Affordable Housing Plans, provide training tools and resources, and explore regional roles in creating housing.
The strategy will build upon housing goals and strategies contained in the CRCOG 2024 Plan of Conservation and Development and local Affordable Housing Plans prepared by CRCOG member municipalities. CRCOG is not seeking a new “plan” comprised of goals and strategies (though we recognize new strategies may emerge during this process). Rather, the Regional Housing Strategy will produce a series of products and tools that can be used by CRCOG and its member communities as they tackle housing challenges in order to tangibly increase housing options in the region.
Warehousing Study
The Regional Warehousing Land Use & Traffic study will help state, regional, and local policymakers better understand the challenges and opportunities presented by the growth in e-commerce and associated warehousing and distribution/logistics centers. The study will help provide critical data for assembling appropriate policy responses for transportation, land use planning, and economic development professionals.
