The
Planning Board's Role
The Planning Board serves as our guardian of the vision and
plan. It is their job to interface with individuals, businesses,
and
developers to ensure that the town’s best interests are
met as development and growth inevitably moves forward. They
must comply
with government regulation (local and otherwise) and court
rulings that often dictate process and protect landowner rights.
They
must balance the concerns of those immediately affected with
the well-being
of the community as a whole.
In other words, theirs is often a thankless
task. (Let us take this opportunity to thank them.)
Enhancing the Process
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| Photo by Redjar, some rights reserved |
In
the past, the Planning Board’s
review process has been defined as a passive, reactionary process.
Developers
present.
The Planning Board says yes or no, but has little input into
the choices.
By clarifying goals and revising regulations, we give the planning
board the authority to actively pursue approaches and solutions
that will make the development process more efficient, effective,
and
collegial.
Other
communities have found this process brings better results. Developers
like it because it saves time and resources.
The towns like it because the developer can apply savings to
accomplishing Town goals – for
example, increasing the variety and price range of housing,
allocating space for public amenities, contributing to town
services, or building a more robust infrastructure.
But
this changed role only works when the town’s goals are
clear and supported by code. Only then can the Planning
Board share the town’s requirements before developers
begin to design their project.
This plan, once adopted, sets the stage for those
discussions
to occur. Follow-up workshops will put the flesh on the
bones.
Workshop Methodology
We propose that adoption of this plan trigger
a series of time-limited workshops, each addressing
particular aspects of the plan – overlay districts, design standards,
historic preservation, PRDs and conservation development.
Each workshop should include
representation from relevant government agencies,
private stakeholders, and community
volunteers as well as planning and zoning committee
members. The group should review best practices implemented in
other communities
and model legislation.
They
should prepare their recommendations for the Planning Board
within three
months of their initiation.
The
Planning Board should receive those recommendations, resolve
conflicting recommendations, and forward
a completed package of planning
guidelines and code changes to the town board within
a year of the adoption of the Comprehensive Plan.
These assumptions underlie our recommendation for
a workshop methodology:
• Professional agency staff, private
developers, business, community residents, and elected officials
should work together
bringing
their particular perspectives and expertise to the discussions.
• The
process should include more people for a shorter period
rather than fewer people working
sequentially
over a
longer period.
• The
process should be proactive rather than reactive
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