Select Board begins work on comprehensive-plan committee, sets target timeline and asks for drafting guidance

The Town of Wayne Select Board on Oct. 7 reviewed a proposed charge for a comprehensive plan committee and signaled support for establishing a committee to prepare or update a state-approved comprehensive plan.

Board members discussed whether the committee should perform a full rewrite or an update of the town’s existing plan. Several members noted the town’s prior plan was comprehensive but that statutory requirements have changed, and the committee will need to determine whether the earlier document can be updated to meet current growth-management criteria or whether a new document is required. The town manager and other members said the committee should draft the plan, run public hearings and return a product for Select Board and town-meeting consideration.

Members discussed timeline options and suggested a target to have committee work substantially complete before the town’s statutory submission deadline. The board debated aiming for state submission in mid-2027 to mid-2028 and asked staff to include a definitive internal deadline for the committee (members suggested aiming for completion by late 2027 to allow room for state review and possible regulatory delays). The Select Board chair noted the Department of Agriculture, Conservation & Forestry (DACF) maintains guidance and that towns sometimes submit earlier to avoid new implementing regulations.

The board asked that the committee be charged with producing periodic updates and recommending a schedule for public hearings, and to use the existing plan as the starting point. No final committee membership or charge was adopted that evening; board members asked for editorial cleanups to the draft charge and for committee formation language to return to the next meeting for adoption.