Comprehensive Planning
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The Leverett Comprehensive Plan is an initiative undertaken by the Planning Board
And you're invited!
Also known as Master Planning, Comprehensive Planning began in Summer 2021 and is expected to be completed by Fall 2023.
Purpose
Leverett has never had a Comprehensive Plan. Its zoning bylaws reflect a time when the threat was overdevelopment, decades ago. Today, the Town struggles with affordability, the school budget, and resources for municipal services. These are social justice issues that affect our Town livability.
Process
The planning process includes Massachusetts state grants, planning and land use consultants, working and steering groups composed of residents who are not on the Planning Board, collaboration among boards and commissions of town government, and community vision meetings to discuss our future as a town.
The final deliverable will be a Comprehensive Plan with evidence-based and community-driven goals and guidelines to inform Leverett policy-making for years to come. The Comprehensive Plan will establish goals and guidance for evidence-based, community-driven development options that aim to broaden our tax base and create shared prosperity.
The two most important qualities of a successful Comprehensive Plan are that it be evidence-based and community-driven:
- Evidence-based: the Planning Board and the Town Administrator have developed State funding in order to work with planning consultants who will use their land use and economic development expertise to gather, evaluate, and communicate the evidence of Leverett's policy needs and economic needs, past, present, and future.
- Community-driven: public meetings, with meaningful participation, will be critical to the success of this work. At those meetings, all Leverett residents will be invited to identify, learn about and discuss problems, to envision our values as a community, and to learn about the costs, benefits, and tradeoffs of different economic scenarios devised from the evidence of existing conditions.
For the detail-oriented, please review our project timeline subpage: https://leverett.ma.us/p/2105/
Outcomes
The immediate outcome of the Comprehensive Plan will be a systematic review of our zoning regulations to explore development pathways that are suitable for our local economic goals while reinforcing our long-standing commitment to environmental protection.
The long-term outcome of the Comprehensive Plan will be a common point of reference for collective decisions about zoning, municipal investments, environmental conservation, livability, and social equity.
Our Commitment
Creation of a Comprehensive Plan falls under the responsibility of the Planning Board, as required by Section 81D. The Leverett Planning Board has seven members, each elected to five-year terms. Planning Board members have a diverse range of direct experience overseeing town zoning and deliberating over plans proposed by community members and developers, designing amendments to zoning bylaws, and communicating and collaborating with civic leaders and community members.
All Planning Board members have a personal and professional commitment to local town government and development policy-making that is evidence-based and community-driven.
Your feedback is welcome at any time. If you have questions, ideas, or concerns, we want to hear from you.
If you have questions about this web page, it is maintained by two members of the Planning Board:
- Richard P Nathhorst: RPNathhorst@leverettnet.net
- Tim Shores: hello@towncommonresearch.com
If you have questions about the Comprehensive Planning project or process, you may reach out to any member of the Planning Board. You are also welcome to attend monthly Planning Board meetings. These public meetings are typically scheduled on the second Wednesday of the month at 7:30 PM. You will find the Zoom link in the Town Calendar event for each meeting.
Previous meetings:
- Thu, May 19, 2022 at 05:30 PM -- Hybrid meeting Town Hall & Zoom
- Tue, May 3, 2022 at 05:30 PM -- Zoom Meeting
- Wed, Apr 20, 2022 at 05:30 PM -- Virtual Zoom Meeting