The Deep River Economic Development Commission (EDC), in collaboration with the Planning & Zoning Commission, launched a survey on the town website www.deepriverct.us on April 26 to gauge public opinion on economic development in town.

According to the EDC, the results of the survey, the first of its kind the commission has conducted, will help determine the general opinion for the commission of residents and small business owners for development in the town. With the help of the survey, the EDC is hoping to promote a “smart growth strategy,” according to EDC Chair Peter Lewis.

“We’re trying to promote a smart growth strategy to retain existing businesses, attract new businesses,” he said “The objective is to encourage local businesses and residents to give their thoughts and feedback on the town’s current and future economic condition. We’re trying to figure out something to do as a barometer to see what direction folks think the town should move in.”

The survey is administered by AdvanceCT, a non-profit organization that works with municipalities in Connecticut to engage and recruit businesses and advance overall economic competitiveness across the state. The survey marks the first time Deep River and the EDC have partnered with the organization. Lewis referenced AdvanceCT’s previous “exemplary” work with the town of Old Lyme as a reason for collaborating with the organization, which also helped with the analytics of the survey and formed a number of its questions.

Although there are generally no expectations for the results of the survey, Lewis speculates that public opinion will be in support of current local businesses and activity, and that there may be some push against development by the Town Dock, despite previous discussion by the EDC.

“There’s a lot of space by the Town Dock,” he said. “Mt. Saint John School has 80 to 100 acres. We could use some development to kind of keep the tax rate stabilized.”

The survey will be posted on the town website through the end of May, and will need at least 400 responses in order for the result to be statistically valid, according to Lewis.

“Everybody’s voice counts, not just the commission members,” he said. “You want to get a pretty representative sample of what people want, and get an accurate understanding of how they feel about the status quo, and issues that need to be addressed.”