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09/19/2018 08:30 AMThe work of a town planner is not your typical desk job. More and more town planners are looking at ways to grow towns, both economically and demographically. For Madison’s Director of Planning & Economic Development David Anderson, that means being an active player in the community he serves.
Dave came to Madison six years ago and took on the role of town planner. In the last few years, his job description expanded to become director of planning and economic development. While those two titles might not seem like a logical fit, Dave said merging the two positions is to the benefit of the town.
“Some of our neighbors have economic development coordinators or personnel that work with the town planner and they work collaboratively together, but Madison is a little unique in that we have one position kind of doing that dual role,” he says. “I think its essential, to be honest, that they are combined because they have to work hand in hand.”
Over the years Dave has been involved with numerous projects to try to grow the town’s business and population in a way that fits the character of the town.
“Economic development in Madison isn’t necessarily going to be, ‘Let’s develop our entire Route 1 corridor,’” he says. “Let’s look for opportunities where there’s existing commercial development and enhance it in some fashion. When we are looking at the downtown area, it’s not to suddenly build eight-story buildings all over the downtown, it’s what small improvements can we make that fits within the character of the community and is acceptable to the public and that people have a desire to see.”
Helping ensure reasonable growth means working with a lot of different people. In his role, Dave works with the Planning & Zoning Commission, the Zoning Board of Appeals, the Conservation Commission, the Historic District Commission, the Economic Development Commission (EDC), as well as some of the elected boards and smaller committees.
“I get to know a lot of people in town,” he says. “Truthfully there are a lot of very smart and creative people in Madison and I get a chance to work with them and learn from them and help them and that is really rewarding in a lot of ways. I definitely get the most satisfaction out of my job when I am helping someone achieve what they want to do.”
On the flip side, being involved with so many boards and commissions means Dave has to weigh in on a lot of decisions that some might see as controversial.
“I am involved in decisions that can sometimes be polarizing like food trucks, the [Madison Art Cinemas] marquee, what happens at Academy, and I think that can be difficult because sometimes I am in a position to not necessarily make a decision but to participate in the decision-making process where I know no matter what happens, there is going to be a group of people that is going to be unhappy with the decision,” he says. “As much as we try, we are never going to get everybody to agree and so that can be a challenge.”
Not backing away from challenging decisions is what makes Dave an asset to the town, according to EDC Chair Ryan Duques.
“It’s easier to do nothing,” Duques says. “It’s easier to just say, ‘No, your idea won’t work.’ What impresses me about David is that he isn’t interested in taking the easy way. If a project is in the best long-term interests of our town and residents, he works diligently to find a solution that enables responsible development and use while ensuring that the character of our town is maintained. It empowers me as a volunteer commissioner to see people like David that care so much about Madison.”
Making the Move to Madison
Dave moved to Madison about five years ago with his wife, Cheryl, who is a pediatrician at Yale and the past Turkey Trot champion who once went to the Olympic trials in the marathon, and their now four-year-old daughter Maggie. He grew up in Waterford, headed south to the College of William and Mary for school, and then eventually came back to Connecticut when Cheryl started her residency at Yale.
His first job after returning to the state was as the planning and zoning administrator in East Haven. Once he got the job here in town, Dave said it was a very conscious decision to want to buy a home in Madison.
“You are talking about skin in the game or whatever, but I think because I do live here that I have a really good handle on what the community thinks and what the community values,” he says. “Whereas if I lived outside, I don’t think I would have that same sense because I wouldn’t have as many friends that are part of the community or have those conversations that take place more casually. I think it definitely helps me do my job.”
Sometimes living where you work means never really being off the clock, but Dave said the benefits of living in town outweigh any challenges that might come from always having work on the brain.
“We really like living in Madison as a family,” he says. “It sounds fake to say it, but frequently we consider ourselves lucky to live here because we go downtown, we run into people we know every day, and we go in the coffee shop and they know Maggie’s name and they know who she is. It’s just a very comfortable, simple life and we like that about Madison.”
Moving Madison Forward
As a board member of the Chamber of Commerce and through working with the EDC, Dave has been a part of some of the marketing campaigns to help try to bring young families and businesses to town. He said it’s sometimes hard to put your finger on exactly what makes a community unique, but as someone who enjoys the outdoors, he says highlighting Madison’s natural resources is a good place to start.
“One of the taglines I came up with when we were talking about it at the EDC is ‘Experience New England without Ever Leaving Town,’ because Madison is unique geographically,” he says. “We do have a beautiful shoreline, we also have rivers bordering east and west, and then we have not mountains necessarily but hills and forest in North Madison, so when you are at the beach you might feel like you are in Rhode Island and once you go north into the trails you feel like you are in Vermont or New Hampshire. We have elements of all of those New England qualities right in our own town.”
Looking into the future, Dave said protecting those natural resources while also helping the town to adapt to change is going to be the key to keeping Madison strong.
“A couple things that are a focus for me in the years to come are sustainability as it relates to climate change and as it relates to things like frequency of coastal storms and how do we become more resilient as a town,” he says. “I think trying to diversify the types of housing that we have in Madison is really important…We need to make an effort to offer other kinds of housing types that are going to be attractive towards younger families moving here, but also attractive for people who are maybe looking to downsize but stay in town, so I think that is a real challenge for us.”