What is a Comprehensive Plan?
A comprehensive plan is an official, long-range planning document that provides policy guidance for the Village’s future growth, development, land use, infrastructure, and services, while also setting a shared vision for the next 10 years and beyond. It evaluates existing conditions, identifies challenges and opportunities, and establishes goals and actions to implement community priorities.
Comprehensive plans provide guidance to municipal leaders, government agencies, organizations, businesses and residents to help ensure that the community’s needs are met both now and in the future. Comprehensive plans are implemented through a variety of tools including land use policies, regulatory measures, zoning changes, and local laws. New York State Village Law stipulates that amending land use and zoning regulations and public capital improvements must be consistent with an adopted Comprehensive Plan.
About
Why does Port Chester need a new Comprehensive Plan?
Guided by the 2012 Village of Port Chester Comprehensive Plan, Port Chester has advanced long-term goals for growth, land use, infrastructure, and community services. Over the past 14 years, the Village has invested municipal resources to help revitalize the downtown and waterfront, strengthen industrial areas, and support mixed-use development. Building on the successful implementation of policy initiatives like the form-based zoning code and various redevelopment efforts, and considering broader changes in technology, the environment, and the economy, now is the right time for Port Chester to update its Comprehensive Plan and define a renewed vision for the next decade and beyond.
This new plan will provide a fresh assessment of key areas including land use, housing, economic development, transportation, infrastructure, natural and environmental resources, parks and open space, recreation, sustainability, resiliency, and municipal services.
Who is developing the Comprehensive Plan?
While the Board of Trustees is responsible for adopting the Comprehensive Plan, its development will be shaped by input from the broader Port Chester community. The Comprehensive Plan Steering Committee, Village staff, and consulting team will develop the plan and integrate public feedback to ensure it reflects the community’s shared vision for the future.
The Comprehensive Plan Steering Committee was established to help guide the development of the Plan. The Committee represents a cross-section of the community, including Village representatives, staff, residents, business owners, and community leaders. The Steering Committee will meet with Village staff and the consultant team monthly to discuss and provide feedback on the draft plan and help plan and conduct public engagement and outreach. The Steering Committee will develop a full draft of the plan which will be transferred to the Village Board for their input and incorporation of additional public feedback before adoption.
Every Voice Matters!
Throughout the development of the Comprehensive Plan, there will be numerous opportunities for the public to get involved and share input. Public engagement includes both in-person events and online resources and activities see the Get Involved page for upcoming events and public surveys. There will be three public workshops, two public surveys, and two public hearings.
The Planning Consultant Team and Steering Committee will also attend “Pop-up events,” setting up a booth at a festival or other pre-existing event, to meet the community where they already gather. Spanish is commonly the first language of Port Chester’s residents and therefore this website and surveys are available in Spanish. In person events will include Spanish language presentations and Spanish-speaking staff.
Planning Process
Click on the graphic above to view as a pdf, including text with optical character recognition (OCR).
The Comprehensive Plan process started in Winter 2026 and is expected to go through Winter 2027. The project is divided into three phases: Phase 1 Review and Analysis, Phase 2 Comprehensive Plan Draft, and Phase 3 Final Plan.
Phase 1 Review and Analysis (Winter 2026 - Spring 2026) includes review of prior plans, relevant policies, and developments; review of the Form-Based Code; sociodemographic analysis; and evaluation of regional issues and trends. There are two deliverables during this phase: a Public Engagement Strategy and an Existing Conditions Report.
Phase 2 Comprehensive Plan Draft (Spring 2026 – Fall 2026) includes topical research (transportation and mobility, economic development, housing and neighborhoods, community, cultural and historic resources, environment, infrastructure, sustainability, and resilience); evaluation of local and regional trends and issues; seven Steering Committee meetings; a visioning survey; a public survey; community stakeholder outreach; three pop-up events; three public workshops and a public hearing (the last workshop will be followed by the first public hearing on the same date); two Village Board of Trustees meetings; development of preliminary planning goals, vision statement, and themes and outline; and refinement of the vision statement and planning goals. The deliverable at the end of Phase 2 will be a Draft Comprehensive Plan.
Phase 3 Final Plan (Fall 2026 – Winter 2027) includes five Village Board of Trustees meetings; a second public hearing; State Environmental Quality Review; Village Board review and incorporation of input; and finalization of the vision statement and planning goals. The deliverable at the end of Phase 3 will be the Final Comprehensive Plan and its adoption.
