Regional planner offers help, board outlines subcommittee and grant options for master plan update

Stephanie Alexander, a planner with the Central New Hampshire Regional Planning Commission, urged the Planning Board to begin updating Loudon’s master plan and offered technical help with chapter‑by‑chapter work, community surveys and visioning forums.

Alexander told the board the town’s last plan was finalized in 2018 and regional staff can help draft survey questions, run distribution strategies and assist with chapters such as housing and transportation. “We can help you do that,” she said, noting modern survey tools and broader outreach options can raise response rates above the roughly 380 responses received for the 2018 plan.

Board members said housing and transportation should be the first chapters to address. Members asked for a subcommittee to draft updated survey questions and to explore potential funding. The planner flagged the U.S. Department of Housing‑related Housing Opportunities Investment Program as a possible funding source for housing work and said the regional transportation planning budget (UPWP) commonly covers transportation chapters. Alexander recommended starting the work internally (a small subcommittee to draft questions) and then using the regional commission’s survey tools and outreach strategy if the town wants help.

Board members agreed to form a subcommittee and asked staff to check grant availability. Planning Board members Rodney Phillips and another member volunteered interest in housing work; the board discussed meeting logistics and whether to hold preliminary subcommittee meetings just before regular planning board nights. No formal grant application or funding allocation was decided at the meeting; the discussion was to set the project in motion and to pursue possible grant support before committing town funds.