City hires Resilience Planning & Design for master plan; staff adds community-facilities chapter

The Planning Department announced Sept. 2 that it selected Resilience Planning & Design of Plymouth to prepare the city's master plan and that the consultant will also conduct a community-facilities chapter to evaluate municipal building capacity and needs. Why it matters The last City facilities-capacity review cited by staff dates to 1999; staff said an updated chapter will inform capital planning and validate facility needs as the city plans for growth, including the impacts of the state school project. Planning staff told the board the additional community-facilities chapter would cost about $20,000 and recommended including it while the master plan is underway. Process and schedule - A joint kickoff meeting of the master-plan steering committee and boards/commissions (Planning Board, Zoning Board, Conservation Commission, City Council, Heritage Commission and others) is scheduled for Oct. 6 at 6 p.m. at the Belknap Mill to collect broad input. - Staff said the master-plan process is expected to run roughly a year and will include public outreach, data analysis, and an implementation chapter with step-by-step ordinance recommendations. Board and staff notes Planning staff said the master plan will be posted to a dedicated website and social channels and that the process will include outreach to boards and the public. The board and staff discussed aligning master-plan implementation with updates to zoning (the board will delay some zoning rewrites until the master plan's recommendations are complete). Staff also noted the study will examine school and public-works needs in light of the state school development. Ending The board and steering committee will convene Oct. 6 to kick off the master-plan effort; staff will publish a schedule and outreach plan and return with progress updates.