Welcome to 2024. Although it may seem very quiet in comparison to previous years concerning the fate of the Mystic Oral School property, one significant series of events is happening in town that anyone concerned with overdevelopment of the school property should pay keen attention to. During the effort to fight the Respler proposal for development of the school, a key component of the effort was the 2016 Plan of Conservation and Development (POCD). (You can find the Plan on the Documents page of this website.) The 2016 POCD, in the Future Land Use map, identifies the Mystic Oral School as Government Facilities and the land surrounding the government property as Rural Residential. Rural Residential is defined in the 2016 POCD as densities of one unit per acre or less, definitely NOT what the town hall planners and the Town Council had in mind for the Oral School property back in 2017.

Why this is important is that the Plan of Conservation and Development is required by the State to be updated every 10 years, so by 2026 the Town needs the updated plan in place. The town is starting this year to develop the 2026 plan. According to a 29 November 2023 New London Day article by Kimberly Drelich, the "town plans to take a new public outreach approach in an effort to hear from more people across the community". The article identified that the town planners were considering the possibility of a "deeper dive" into the Mystic Education Center (Mystic Oral School) to get more feedback "from the neighborhood and the town" on the best use of the property. A website was identified where the meeting dates for the solicitation of public input would be posted. The website link is below. Currently, there are three dates listed on the site as shown below. It will be important to participate in these meetings to ensure that the MOSA voices are still heard by the town.

22 February - Growth, Change, Quality of Life
5:45 - 7:15 Submarine Force Museum

28 March - Shaping the Future of Groton
5:45 - 7:15 Marine Science Magnet High School

25 April - Housing
5:45 - 7:15 Chelsea Groton Bank Headquarters