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Planning Board endorses Plan New Hampshire charrette application for Railroad Square
Summary
The Plymouth Planning Board voted to support an application to host a volunteer-run Plan New Hampshire Community Design Charrette for the Railroad Square area, directing staff to prepare a letter of support and to coordinate with the Select Board.
The Plymouth Planning Board voted to move forward with an application to host a Plan New Hampshire Community Design Charrette focused on Railroad Square, approving a motion to prepare a letter of support and to follow up with the Select Board.
The vote followed a staff briefing from Joseph, who told the board the charrette program brings volunteer teams of architects, planners and engineers into a town to produce visual designs and recommendations. “It’s a $6,500 program fee, but it is waived for 6 HOP grantees over the next 3 years,” Joseph said, and noted the program requires towns to identify a project area at the time of application and provide a soft commitment from local leadership.
Board members discussed Railroad Square as a strong candidate because of recent housing development there and the complexity of the area’s infrastructure — ownership of roads, drainage and connectivity to downtown. One planning board member said Railroad Square has seen housing added “but the infrastructure down there is very, complicated.” Another member suggested alternate areas such as the West Plymouth/Mayhew Turnpike corridor, and board members acknowledged the charrette organizer’s stated preference for village-center projects.
After discussion, an unidentified board member moved to proceed with the Plan New Hampshire application for Railroad Square; an unidentified member seconded. The board voted in favor. Joseph said he would draft the application language and asked for volunteers to assist; the board agreed staff would take the item to the Select Board and seek a letter of support from the Planning Board as part of the application.
No zoning changes or funding commitments were made at the meeting. Joseph told the board that, if accepted, Plan New Hampshire could schedule the charrette anywhere from months to as much as three years out, and that the town would need to coordinate select-board involvement and community engagement if the program is awarded.
Planning board members and staff said they viewed the charrette as a low-cost way to get professional design visuals that could help inform infrastructure planning and future grant applications for the Railroad Square area.
